Dear Usborne: An Update

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my disappointment in the gender stereotyping of Usborne Publishing's Sticker Dressing and Sticker Dolly Dressing books.

From today's trip to Foyles - Illustrated Classics for Girls // Illustrated Classics for Boys
Usborne: Gender Stereotyping in All Of Your Languages

By way of update, I received the following email response from the Usborne Sales & Marketing Team - and whilst I do appreciate them writing, it will surprise probably nobody that their response is equally problematic:

Thank you for contacting us. 

I would also like to thank you for highlighting your concerns of gender stereotyping in our Sticker Dolly Dressing / Sticker Dressing series. 

This series was conceived and [all sic] an alternative to our Sticker Dolly Dressing series, which is quite firmly pitched at the girl market. Wishing to offer boys an alternative, we came up with Sticker Dressing. Unfortunately, we know from experience and research that some boys can be put off by books that aren’t perceived to be ‘for boys’ and so we decided that the figures to dress-up in Sticker Dressing would be exclusively male. This ties in with you question of male dancers ; we in no way are implying that boys can’t be dancers, only that the mass market of boys would be more interested in knights, and soldiers etc. We also know that this rarely puts off girls, who are happy to read and interact with books whether they look like they are ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’. 

However, as the series progressed we felt – like you – that we should be including some female characters in the Sticker Dressing books. You will see women in Kings and Queens, Pirates and Spooky; I can assure you that more women will be included in future titles in this series. 

You may also be interested to hear that we are have launched a new Sticker Dressing series, which is essentially an off-shoot of Sticker Dolly Dressing called Historical Sticker Dolly Dressing. The series features 1920s Fashion and the upcoming title Edwardian Fashion. It has a much more factual slant and features both men and women to dress. Furthermore, we will also be publishing Sticker Dolly Dressing Action!, which is essentially the female equivalent of Action Heroes. This book features the likes of ‘Air Ambulance Crew’, ‘Emergency!’ and ‘Stunt Girls’ which we feel offers a diverse range of imaginative and exciting professions. 

Ultimately, though, I’m afraid that our decisions are led by the market. The success of a series ultimately lies with the consumer and their decision to buy – or not to buy – a particular product. In the case of our Sticker Dolly Dressing and Sticker Dressing series, both have been incredibly successful in terms of sales. This indicates to us that there is a huge market for these types of books, despite the fact (or possibly because, as some would argue) they show either only men or only women. Indicating which books appeal to boys and which appeal to girls works as a marketing technique because gender is one of the first criteria that is considered by those who are buying a book as a gift. 

As mentioned, we do appreciate your comments and would like to thank you again for encouraging further discussion on this topic here at Usborne; this topic certainly something we are constantly thinking about and will continue to consider in the future. 

To thank you for taking the time to contact us, I would be happy to send you a sticker book of your choice. We have plenty of sticker books which show no gender bias if that is what you would prefer, so we hope that there will be something suitable. Please view all our sticker books here. 

I hope my response to your email has been satisfactory, but if there’s anything else I can help with please don’t hesitate to let me know. 

With kind regards,

Essentially, unsurprisingly, the bottom line is that their research shows that stereotyping sells, so that's what they do.  Which is hardly a progressive stance but perhaps to be expected. 

I am still confused that while "this rarely puts off girls" "some boys can be put off by books that aren't perceived to be 'for boys'". Why is it that girls are apparently happy to read 'boys' books, but boys will not touch 'girls' things?  Is it because the products marketed for girls are fairly often crap? or because it is okay, understandable even, that a girl might wish to be 'like a boy' - why not? boys are strong and powerful, adventurous and exciting, right? - but a boy liking 'girls' things? Crazy.  Maybe it's a reflection of the wider way in which roles or interests predominantly pursued by women are devalued in favour of more important "men's" pursuits. 

And if the Sticker Dolly Dressing books were the original series, before the manly old Sticker Dressing books were conceived, it doesn't address the question of why a less restrictive range of themes was not included (albeit 'just' for girls) to begin with?

I feel a bit as though I'm banging my head against the brick wall of the market, but as the recent furore over Harrods' terribly rubbish book display (with apologies for linking to the Daily Fail. Nice scare quotes around 'non gender neutral' huh?) shows, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the unthinking shovelling of this sort of stereotypical shit.

In the meantime, I'll continue to vote with my wallet and focus on the many really great books out there. 

(if (when. arf) you come across examples of this sort of thing, you can post them to everydaymediasexism.org.uk )