Tearful Girls and Angry Boys

Emotionality has long been associated with women and girls in Western culture, as well as being negatively valued in opposition to rationality. In this chapter, variation in the amount of emotional expression and its nature is evident across the genders. Crying is particularly common for girls and women, with emotions typically shown in the eyes and faces, and their feelings can render characters unable to act on the world. Negative emotion is also evident for males, but it is more likely to be anger, even malice. The passivity of female feelings versus the agency of male emotion makes this aspect of representation especially important for child readers, as it supports existing gendered discourses, and continues the social norm of devaluing the feminine.