Kindergarten Feminism

As a teacher, I try to tread with caution about the opinions I share with kids. I've mentioned my issues with middle-schoolers and homosexuality before, but the Kindergartners are a totally different ballgame.

The munchkins are different from big kids because they repeat without interpreting. This is the age where they start looking to adults for their affirmations and codes on many behaviors, including gender and racial roles. I spend some time thinking about what their racialized and gendered world looks like, and how I can reflect their world back to them positively in the books I provide for them in the Library/Media Center.

I had an amusing adventure in gender today. I did a readaloud in the Kindergarten class with Allie's Basketball Dream (Barbara E. Barber). It's the story of a young Black girl whose father buys her a basketball, only to be told by all of her unfeminist friends that girls do double-dutch and boys play basketball. But don't worry - Allie sticks it to all of her lame friends and shoots some pretty awesome baskets at the end of the story. Then, of course, everyone gets over their silly opinions and wants to play with her. Feminism and cooperation for the win! Check the breakdown on this:

Diversity Points for Allie:
+1 for a strong female character openly challenging a gendered opinion
+1 for the strong female character being non-white
+1 for a multiracial group of children depicted in cooperative, preexisting friendships
+1 for depicting an awesome, sensitive, and loving dad of color
+1 for boys and girls who change their unfeminist opinion on example and model inclusive behaviors
+1 for an urban environment that isn't the ghetto

6 Feminist Points! Barbara E. Barber, you are Feminist and Fabulous! Congrats on your inclusive entry into children's fiction!

All of this is awesome. Take this really lovely moment in the story where Allie takes down gender expectations across all sports:

"Well," Buddy snorted, "some guys think that girls shouldn't be playin' basketball."

 "That's dumb!" Allie bounced her ball. "My cousin Gwen plays on one of the best high school teams in her state. She's won more than ten trophies!" [...] "Some girls think boys shouldn't be jumping rope," Allie continued. "They think the boys are no good at it. That's dumb too."

Girl preach. So full of win, right? But when, I asked my Kindergarteners, "So, if girls can play basketball, can boys play double-dutch?" ... the answer was still a resounding NO. I didn't quite know what to do with this. First of all, some of the munchkins were clearly not listening to the author's message in the story! Basic fail, y'all.

Alas, one story isn't going to change the gender expectation already ingrained in these five-year-olds. My kids are bombarded with hypermasculine images of LeBron James and Derrick Rose. Their world offers an extremely narrow view of what adult (black) men do, other than basketball and rapping (and that one guy who is president). I'm fairly sure there's a weekly argument with a boy over their extremely unlikely future dreams of music or sports fame. And it's hard for them to understand, because that's all they know. I even think it's hard for the boys to concede that girls can enter a realm they so strongly consider theirs.

....Okay. I guess I get a little invested in the messages of children's books. But I'm hoping that today, I challenged some Kindergartenders' gender expectations today, made some girls feel like they could play sports, and made some boys feel like they could jump double-dutch.