Gender stereotypes and the gendered identity of women: the influence of literature
Type de matériel :
13
Our research wished to demonstrate how gender stereotypes present in our societies can, through the reading of a novel, impact the construction of a woman’s gendered identity through different generations. Thus, 17 women between the ages of 20 and 71, from the same sociocultural background, were asked to read the novel The Perfect Nanny (Slimani, 2016). Following this reading, a semi-structured interview was conducted to learn about their perceptions of the stereotypes present in the book and the impact of these on the construction of their gendered identity. A thematic analysis modeled on Braun and Clarke (2006) allowed us to observe the presence of stereotypes in the book, in terms of descriptions and the roles attributed to the characters. Thereby, our participants evoked personal questions about their role and behavior in society. We did not observe any intergenerational effect, as the differences observed were more related to the individual and her life course than to her age. In conclusion, our results show a link between the construction of women’s identity and societal stereotypes through vectors of socialization such as novels.
Réseaux sociaux