Summary Of Sexism In The Novel By Enid Blyton

Controversial events can happen in this unstable and opinionated society at about anytime, and about anything as people with different opinions and views clash in order to get their viewpoint across. These include about racism, gender and political events that have happened. Enid Blyton is a typical example, as she was a very controversial English child writer, whose books have been among the top sellers in the world ever since the 1930’s. Blyton was mainly recognized for her works like ‘The Secret Seven’, ‘The Famous Five’ and ‘Noddy’, just to name a few. However from the 1950’s onwards, these books became challenged by literary critics, teachers and parents as it came to light that these books were hugely controversial. This was due to the

Having said this, it becomes abundantly clear, that during ‘Five Fall into Adventure’, the male characters take a dominant role within the story which could be considered as sexist. It is also the stereotypical attitude which these books have; “He went out to the kitchen after supper and offered to wash up for Joan. ‘I always do it for Mum,’ he said.” This is just one example of how the males are portrayed as the stronger sex, as the young man offered to wash up for ‘Joan’, almost as if he is taking a job which is native to Joan away from her. This can also be seen as sexist as it portrays the young boy expecting her to do the washing up. Furthermore, these books are aimed at the younger audience, so the children reading these stories, will pick up these plots and adapt them into a real life

That choice is, according to Coetzee, illustrated by Anne and her ability to choose as to whether she wants to join in on the sibling adventures or not (96). The idea then comes to mind that she is not criticized for not wanting to participate and that every girls choice should be accepted. The second aspect is that Blyton creates “opportunities for female characters to succeed in traditionally more masculine tasks and activities”, something which can be seen through George (86). This is a very good point made, as usually within this period, women would be expected to take part in domestic chores and not really have a say in much else, however Blyton has gone against stereotypes and shown that women can do activities that men can do. At the time this obviously caused controversy due to the fact men would not have agreed with Blyton’s writing, however it could be argued that it may have been motivational for women, as it could push them to get the freedom of speech they