Hello all,
I'm not going to pretend to be anything I'm not. I am looking to find out whether there is an appetite for a product I'm creating.
It's an artwork for children's rooms, nurseries, pre-schools etc. It's an alphabet A is for astronaut etc. The characters depicted are in roles that challenge social norms. Female astronauts, male social workers. During the course of my studies I came across a video of 7 year old children being asked to draw a fighter pilot, fire fighter and police officer (pretty sure that was the professions). All drew them as male. When the children were introduced to females in these roles they thought they were fake, or dressing up. Sadly this is quite a recent video. I feel sad that a male might be brought up to consider a role in the caring profession might in some way emasculate him, and even sadder to think he might be brought up thinking a female can't be an astronaut, Judge or mechanic! The artwork is also addressing the issue of race. There are so few children's books and pictures that have anything other than white children. We all want to believe that our children can be who they choose, that they can excel and be accepted in the world of work, but can they really if by the age of 7 they already have firm ideas about what boys and girls can do and achieve? I would really appreciate any thoughts or ideas. I have posted this elsewhere on mumsnet and have been really delighted with the insight offered and am really grateful for the feedback