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Well, I don't have the book before me, but if I remember correctly, the
trains don't have names, do they? Might it not be that the illustrations
indicate gender, not the story? In that case, it would not be the story
that was at fault, but rather the illustrations and the minset of those
who did them. In either case, it should be brough to the attention of the
publisher. It would seem that those who publish children's books today
are more sensitive to the idea that gender bias is built into children's
stories and should be removed. I've seen some excellent work on old
stories published recently that did that through a shift in the way the
story is illustrated.
Marci Abels
maa5906 -at- mwsc -dot- edu
On Fri, 15 Mar 1996, John Gear wrote:
> John Russell writes:
> >I recently obtained a book for my 2-year old called "The Little Train
> >that Could." I hadn't read this book in many years. As I read it, I
> >noticed (for christ sake, I was knocked over the head with it) that all the
> >friendly and helpful trains were female and all the unfriendly, rude, and
> >unhelpful trains were male.
> >I am so angered and offended by this portrayal that I can only read this
> >book satirically to my son, pointing out at every opportunity that the
> >female trains are "scorned feminists" who are "trying to make a point."
