Tag Archives: Kiddie Lit

by

Kiddie Lit:The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature and the Huggies Commercial

In chapter one of Kiddie Lit :The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature by Beverly Lyon Clark, the issue of the appreciation of children and children’s literature came about. Clark discusses how children are underappreciated in society, but yet many large corporations use them primarily to make a profit. Prior to reading the preface and  first chapter of the book, I had never really paid any attention to the negative connotation that is attached with being a child. Many adults dislike being referred to as a child or childish ; there is something about American society tells us that in order to be important you have to be a mature adult.

In the Huggies Pull- Ups commercial, the slogan is “I’m A Big Kid now” and in my opinion this is a direct implication that because the babies now wear Pull-Ups instead of diapers they are more important and more respected by their parents. The main person in the commercial is an older kid around the age of twelve and he is the tour guide at the “Big Kid Academy”. He is projected to be very smart while he is teaching the babies and their parents about the diapers, while the younger children are projected to be incapable of speaking  or understanding what he is talking about. At the end of the commercial the older child says “if you want to be a big kid like me, grab some Pull-Ups and enroll in the Big Kid Academy today”. I think the Huggies commercial is a direct example of how children are undervalued, but yet used by society for their gains. Viewing this commercial helped me understand exactly what Clark meant in that section of the chapter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAWcVf7m90U

by

Response to Kiddie Lit

In Beverly Lyon Clark’s book, Kiddie Lit, she mentions on page 5 that women “grind children under [their] heels. She also quotes Margaret Fuller who said, “Now there is no woman, only an overgrown child.” With this quote, it explains why women “grind children under [their] heels”. This is because women can’t be acknowledged as an adult until they have not only grown up, but has lost any part of them that would make them seem immature, lacking confidence, irresponsible, and so on. However, if that is the case, then those are the attributes in which we apply to children. Women try so hard not to be associated with children, but in reality, it’s just those attributes in which women do not want to be associated with. However, I believe that it’s not just women who are viewed as a child if they so much as act a little immature and play jokes. I feel that men who are always joking around or saying unintelligent things can also be viewed as a child by other men who have gained respect and by other women who feel that they are mature or have also gained respect. This is seen by interactions around us everyday. With my friends, because I like to play around and joke with them, I am viewed as a child who is immature. But I also view them as childish too because they play around with me as well even though they are older than me. I also feel that though we may play around, when it is time to be serious about things, we can be and we can respect each other as we should.

Thus, I do not believe that just because someone likes to play around or likes to talk in slang or act like children sometimes, that they cannot be overall, mature or respectable.  It isn’t simply that not being a child makes you an adult. There is more to that and I feel that if we stop associating terms like “child” or “childish” with things like irresponsibility, naivety, or stupidity, then being called a child wouldn’t be such a bad thing. In fact, that isn’t even what really makes a child if you simply think better of them. Therefore, if we begin to think better of children, give them some respect, acknowledge their opinions and don’t laugh off their questions as they are trying to learn, then women and men wouldn’t need to set aside their playfulness and wouldn’t be afraid to act more like a person with a bright personality, than just as a model figure in society in order to gain a title of respect that they shouldn’t even need to earn.