Piggybook & Gender Stereotyping Essay

777 Words4 Pages
Gender stereotyping refers to the ways societies standardise their ideas about the roles and attributes of male and female . In many western cultures females were regarded as the second or inferior sex. Males were considered dominant and more important. Women were often expected to look after males. Anthony Browne in his picture book "Piggybook" questions the fairness of such attitudes and by telling and illustrating the story of the Piggott family suggests a fairer, Happier way to behave. In page openings 1, 5 and 14 Browne shows us the usual stereotypes and how gender roles can be shared to the benefit of everyone. Piggybook is aimed at children and at parents. Browne gives us in less than 30 pages the story of a middle class family who live by 'Normal' gender roles. As the story progresses the males literally become pigs. Mrs Piggott leaves. When she returns she demands and gets changes so that the family work co-operatively. Opening one shows us a portrait shot of Mr Piggott and 2 sons. They are the salient image in full shot, centre fore ground. Browne wants to represent them as powerful ,proud, confident and perhaps smug. The high key palette suggests this as does their facial expressions and body language. It is a demand shot which also represents power. The reading path takes us from the 3 figures , to the house and car and finally down to the written text which supports and extends the meaning of the picture. The written text uses simple language and repetition to satirise the 3 smug males. The adjective nice is repeated to suggest that these males are boring and concerned only with their comfort and the material wealth. Mr Piggott lives with his 2 sons Simon and Patrick. Notice they have names. His wife is nameless and is mentioned as an after thought. She is not important enough to be in the picture. She has a line to herself" inside the house was
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