FEMINIST LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN:

A different pedagogy to teach non-hegemonic femininities

Abstract

In this article, we start from the assumption that children's literature is a powerful cultural curriculum, which provides different knowledge and which mobilizes a particular interest in children, especially due to the fun, fantasy and enchantment offered. In our historical-social contingency, the feminist discourse has been used for fundamental proposals for books, in varied genres, which have been produced and disseminated, for children, with a feminist vision. Based on the contributions of cultural studies and gender studies in a post-structuralist perspective, the objective of this study is to analyze a sample of books from the “My Little Feminist” subscription club, which brings together and offers selected works with the intention of disseminating a pedagogy outside of children’s literature. Using methodological elements inspired by the analysis of Foucault's discourse, we argue that these books build a feminist pedagogy that highlights gender teachings for children, outside the predominant gender norm, and highlights non-hegemonic feminine behaviors and performances. We assume that gender is, at the same time, a norm that tries to establish certain positions for men and women and a possibility to deconstruct these norms. In this sense, we understand that these books work to produce a feminist pedagogy that triggers varied procedures, such as the dissemination of the statement that girls (and boys) can be whatever they want; the presentation of rationality and emotion as aspects to be experienced regardless of gender; and the empowerment of black girls, placing them in positions generally unrelated to women.