Gender roles and sexism in Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Harry Potter

Gender roles in children’s books are things teachers and parents alike should think about when buying/assigning a book for a child to read. Are the books that our kids have been reading exempt from what we have long fought against? That is, are children’s books exempt from sexism, homophobia, misogyny and all others sources of prejudice? Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter are nice examples of children’s books that will probably be read forever and as such, we should reflect if they are fit for children to read, if they carry good examples for kids and also why children like these books so much. To start with, and taking for granted that most readers are familiar with the plot of these three stories, I would like to pose a question to my reader: how strong is sexism in these stories?

Considering the end of Peter Pan in which Peter remains in Neverland as a child-like “deity”, and contrasting it to the ending of Alice in Wonderland in which after lots of problems, Alice goes back home, we should ask: why it is that Peter Pan has the right to remain in Wonderland (his own dreamland) and live all sorts of adventures as the “master” of the island, whereas Alice needs to go through a large number of dangers and nuisances when she is also living in her own dreamland? Also, let’s consider Wendy in Peter Pan. She practically becomes a housewife in Neverland while her brothers, along with all the other lost boys, have their share of fun and excitement! It seems as though, women and men take on different roles in society even if they are living in a completely imaginary, parallel world. This idea that girls cannot have a powerful position in society, even if they are in a fictitious wonderful dreamland, is discussed further on in the books of the Harry Potter series. At the same time that there are very influential women characters in the series, such as Hermione and Professor Minerva, these women characters still haven’t any position as high as that of the other male characters, Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Voldemort. 

My personal thought on this issue is that, despite their beauty, both Wonderland and Neverland (and I daresay Hogwarts) are not places fit for little girls, which is nothing more than a reflection of the gender roles that have been ascribed to women since the Victorian period. Values which still linger in our 21st century society. Sexism exists and it can be found in all types of arts, reinforced by all kinds of gender roles, and if we don’t fight against them, they will never stop existing. I’m not trying to say here that the books I mentioned shouldn’t be read, but that their plot and characters should always be taken with a pitch of salt. To reflect about how women and men are portrayed in children’s book and to show children that they don’t have be to Wendys in real life is to foster critical discussions and to help children understand that they do not have to comply with gender norms, which in my opinion, is the goal of education! So let us teach Harry Potter, Alice, and Peter Pan, but always keeping in mind our role as critically thinking teachers.

Reference: "The boy who lived: From Carroll's Alice and Barrie's Peter Pan to Rowling's Harry Potter" by Billone, Amy Christine.