Sexism in classic children's books

[Bi11yOneMate]

So we've just been given some lovely illustrated classic children's books. And of course my darling children want them read as their bedtime stories for the next week.

But dear me, it's driving me insane! I'm having to bite my tongue not to interrupt the story and go off into a women's rights lecture, and how it's not like that now because blah blah blah.

Obviously it would be a shame not to read them, and we have had a chat in daytime about how the stories were written a long time ago when things were unfair. But my kids are only little and I really don't like giving them any sexist rubbish to fill their heads.

How do you deal with it?

I have to admit that I do edit stories as I go along and where I can't change it (normally because I've not noticed until too late) I'll say how silly something is.

Sometimes I'll say, "shall we make this character a girl?"

It helps that my DD is too young to read by herself for now. I'll be back on here for a whole load of book recommendations once she's off reading by herself.

Before you read then you say 'these were written in the old days, and it will be interesting to see how much things have changed since then'.

If they can't read yet you don't have to use the words in the story.

Thanks. I'll try both suggestions.

Tonight's moment of apoplexy was when I was read about Peter Pan wanting a mother or a sister to cook and mend for them. And then whisks Wendy away as soon as he realised she will do. Ffs

Moofolk one can read freely. One sort of reads. One can't and tbh doesn't really listen anyway!

I get in trouble if I don't read the exact words. The older one (6) will read the book before me, memorise it on one read through, then complain if I go ad lib. She has an impressive memory which is great sometimes, and infuriating at others.

Oh I also totally changed them too! I renamed Jo from "The Magic Faraway Tree" Joanne and generally skipped all the racist and sexist bits in books like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series; all the 'swarthy telmarines' in Prince Caspian.
My best experience was reading 'War of the Worlds' and having to say "he said" every time instead of "he ejaculated", as in “His landlady came to the door, loosely wrapped in dressing gown and shawl; her husband followed ejaculating."
I was worried she might start using it in Big Writes at school!!

I totally stop and moan about pretty much every instance of sexism in every book. In a similar vein, I'm currently reading a book that DD is loving but which is really mean to fat people so we've been talking about that as well.

I used to editorialize and ask the kids what they thought about the behavior. Sort of a book review as we went.

I love introducing my kids to much loved classics that i have fond memories of. The odd word adjustment or skipped sentence usually suffices. However I'm definitely struggling with Huckleberry Finn, the racism is just jaw dropping. I would have given up but my 8yo is loving the adventure of a raft journey and all the cheeky swindling. I often have to pause to skim a whole page and then give a precis of the situation. Shall be glad when it is over and we can move on the Wolves of Willoughby Chase!

We used to point it out, laugh about how out of date it was, and eyeroll together.
It wasn't long before the kids were doing the same.
They start to pick up on inappropriate sexism or racism themselves quite quickly.

saisong I'm currently reading "Walkabout" to my 9yo because I remembered reading it at primary school. Like Huckleberry, it's set in a certain time period and meant to show the shock of the children seeing an Aboriginal boy, but it's very hard to read the constant references to his skin colour aloud.
Children's classics are hard going anyway. I do find myself skipping loads. All the technical sailing bits in Swallows and Amazons for example and all the songs in The Hobbit became "and they sang".

Ooo. Forgot to add that I was told today that apparently, Ron ejaculates loudly in book 5 of Harry Potter.

I actually used those sort of books as a way to encourage my daughter to think critically about what she was consuming, from an early age (3/4?). When something 'ist' occurred, I'd ask her what she thought, and she got it very quickly. She's now 10, and usually gives me a run down of a book when she has read it, always telling me about anything she considers problematic - things which she thinks might be racist, sexist, classist, ablist. Great to be able to have these conversations with her. She's past Blyton now, though, so they happen less and less...

LittleLebowski we do have The Hobbit on the go at the moment, reading it with my 11yo (though 8yo is listening in). Not long started and already one interminable song down. I'll bear your tactic in mind!

I would point it out and make it a joke. 'Ha, isn't Peter Pan silly, boys can take care of their own cooking and mending'.

I find they make excellent conversation starters. Why are the girls always in charge of the cooking? Are the ‘hero’ children being kind to the other children (or are they being mean about difference)? What does the dad do in the book that the mum doesn’t, and vice versa? What would happen if you used that word at school?

Though Little Women took us, via ‘why do the Hummels have so many children’, to lack of contraception and rape within marriage. Which I felt was a bit deep for a 9yo, but once you’ve started the conversation, its quite tricky to stop with a determined child questioning you.

Tricks:

change/swap the genders of main characters. This can be tricky to remember in long books.

Stop and talk about the misogyny and racism as they come up

Judiciously edit out parts of the book. This is easiest if you ‘read ahead’ and put sticky notes in to remind you to rethink.

Make decisions about maybe missing out on sharing a favourite book until child reads to themselves.

Consider abridged versions.

Saisong dont you mean "The Wolves that India Willoughby chases"

Why not ask for suggestions for non-sexist classics? They do exist. Try The Warden's Neice by Gillian Avery, or (an absolute must-read) Marianne Dreams.
Anyway, as long as you bring them up right, a few lines in a book aren't going to turn them into Stepford Wives in later life. IMO the most important thing is to engage them with reading. Allow them to use their intelligence. I read the Famous Five when I was a child, and could easily see the sexism, even when I was young. But I still enjoyed the story.
One of the most memorable books I read as a child was Elizabeth Goudge's A Little White Horse, which has got all sorts of odd stuff going on, when you read it as an adult.
If some well-meaning adult had effectively bowlderised it (which is what posters are doing) I'd have missed that pleasure. Stop censoring. Have free conversations with your children about it, and show, in your life, that some of the attitudes in the books are outdated.

What I find fascinating is the longevity of Enid Blyton's books. Back when I was a girl ( and I'm 60) she was frowned upon and many libraries didn't stock her. Yet here she is, more popular than ever!

for being sexist - even then. plus poor quality of writing. Orwell wrote a great essay on good bad books (as opposed to bad good books) and said that the former will always outlast the latter. EB is a perfect example.
If you want to read it, here's the link