Drawing It All Together

This chapter draws out the main findings from the book and considers their implications, within a general discussion of the scope and generalisability of this study. The extent to which females and males are represented equally and equitably forms the yardstick for assessing the linguistic patterns in the ways the characters are portrayed. The amount of variation in representation accorded to each gender, as well as the nature of that variation, suggests how much the books adhere to traditional gender norms. The data show clearly gendered patterns in terms of appearance, speech, agency, and emotion, with male characters outdoing females in terms of frequency of representation, roles and occupations, and the range of possible identity performances. These linguistic patterns support stereotypical views of gender in every respect. These constructions have the potential to impact significantly on female and male readers and their developing identities, as well as those who do not see themselves in the binary fictional worlds constructed in the corpus. I argue that the representation of gender in children’s fiction could be a positive element in the socialisation of young readers—one that challenges old-fashioned and limiting ideas about gender, and contributes depictions of humans reaching their full potential regardless of whether they are girls or boys. Some suggestions for how to contribute to this project close the chapter.