New research from the University of South Australia has discovered that picture books for kids are filled with outdated gender stereotypes about pain and injury, because what's more fun than forcing six-year-olds to internalize societal expectations?
According to the study, which analyzed hundreds of popular children's books (read: ones where nobody actually dies or is horribly injured), 1 in 5 stories feature some kind of pain or injury. And who gets hurt? Boys! Who cry when they're hurt? Also boys, but only 22% of them do, because crying is for sissies.
Meanwhile, girls are more likely to offer comfort and support to their fellow characters when they're boo-boos, reinforcing the totally-not-outdated notion that women are naturally caregivers. And if a boy does cry in these books? Watch out! He's probably gonna grow up to be a fragile little flower who can't handle a scratch on his knee.
Researchers Dr. Sarah Wallwork and Dur-E-Nayab Mehar (who sounds like they're secretly leading a secret ninja team of childhood trauma specialists) say that kids' picture books are not only teaching kids about the world, but also about how to be total robot people devoid of emotions.
"We need children to learn that it's okay to feel pain," Dr. Wallwork says, "but let's be real, they're gonna grow up to be functioning members of society who can cry and stuff."