A recent study out of the University of Lincoln has found the Mr Men and Little Miss book series to be sexist. The findings are based on 47 Mr Men and 34 Little Miss books published between 1971 and 2014.
The study found that throughout the series male characters were given more words than female characters. While females were given an average of 54.5 words per story, males were given 61.5. So, if males talk more it’s sexism, but if females talk more it’s a gender stereotype.
In 51.5 per cent of cases, Little Misses were saved by another character, while Mr Men were only saved 32.6 per cent of the time.
Further, the study claims that the stories encourage gender stereotypes with some characters, such as Little Miss Chatterbox and Little Miss Bossy. An example of a “stereotypical” passage cited by the study was:
She managed to find herself the perfect job. She now works for Mr Lazy! She cooks and cleans for him.
