The Doorbell Rang is a children’s story written by Pat Hutching. It is very popular among children because of its lively, full-colour illustrations that provide young readers with a meaningful visual context to understand the story. It is also a great tool for teachers because it can be used for teaching numbers.
There are many people who consider that the story contains a moral purpose since it promotes the value of friendship. We can realize this throughout the story as the children of the story share the cookies that their mother has prepared for them with their friends. But although The Doorbell Rang has a moral purpose, which is to teach children the importance of sharing with others, it also promotes sexist values.
The mother in the Doorbell Rang is represented in a traditional female role. She is a typical housewife that is always cleaning the floor, cooking and taking care of her children. This stereotypical representation of women is not positive for children at all since it gives them a sexist message: women can not be equal to men.
This promotion of sexist values in the story is not only represented through the role of the mother but also through the role of the absent father. In this case, he may be absent because he is the only one who works outside. This is also a traditional view of the men’s role in society which is not beneficial neither to girls nor to boys.
All in all, The Doorbell Rang can not be considered part of the stories in which it is shown a positive, respectful attitude towards gender roles. This story is a clear example that although women and men were able to make changes to their traditionally accepted role in society throughout many years, there is still work to be done.
1 comment:
hey the kids in my grade 5 class loved the story and they found no hint of sexism in it so you are wrong this story was also written at a time when mostly men had jobs.
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