Toni the Superhero

Use this forum to discuss the July 2018 Book of the Month "Toni the Superhero" by R.D. Base
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bclayton13
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Re: Toni the Superhero

Post by bclayton13 »

I think it would be. I'm an American but my family lives in a very rural area, so the gender roles are still kinda set here. I think a little boy growing up with this would break that mold a little and that's definitely a positive thing. Growing up in the city, I get mad when we're hosting a party and not a single man helps cook or clean up after because it's "woman's work". Ugh. Maybe a little boy pitching in would make them more ashamed of themselves for being lazy!
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Post by holsam_87 »

Bookmermaid wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 04:37
Helen_Combe wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 03:56
Bookmermaid wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 03:14 Do you think Toni's participating in what was traditionally strictly girls' chores in many cultures be a deterrent or a catalyst for either a father or mother to share this book with his or her boy child ? :techie-studyingbrown:
It’s an interesting question. In the West, such distinctions are being broken down all the time. We now have female fire fighters and male nurses. I would hope that in other cultures, this book will be a catalyst.
In my culture as well a female can get into any job for which she is qualified. However, many males still hold stereotypes of boy' s tasks as oppose to girls. Toni the Superhero doing those roles translates to Toni the sissy. Thanks for sharing.
Breaking those stereotypes become more and more important. From my standpoint showing Toni doing these chores would show encouragement towards not only a good work ethic, but just being a good citizen.
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Post by DorcasToo »

Growing up at that early age(2-4years) everyone did everything. Stereotyping came in at around 7 years and with it came division of roles. Unless the parents encourage it the theory above isn't true.
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Post by Heiress »

Really???This gender equality program is what is influencing our mentality today...was there ever a restriction to what girls can do and what boys can do.This is as a result of societal damage and the bad painting some of our cultures have done to our once beautiful society.Anyone would have been in Toni's position and what if he wasn't a male let's not consider irrelevant factors that are not even characterised as the basis for our discussion but lets be honest and realistic with our diverse points of view....My point is Toni can perform any chore regardless of who was formally doing the chore or who the chore was created for if there is such a thing like that.
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Post by Charlaigne »

MsTri wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 12:31
AmySmiles wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 09:25 Growing up I remember males and females doing chores no matter what they were. It seemed to me like when it came to adults is when the gender roles broke out. I guess it is different from everyone's perspective.
That's how it was when I was growing up; my mother made sure that BOTH my brother and I learned to cook, clean, do laundry, iron, darn socks, etc. We both also had to mow the lawn and learn to change a tire... Just what the heck do these men think they're going to do between living at home and being married? What about confirmed bachelors? It's just mind-boggling.
Your mother sounds great. I wish my mother was like yours.

As children, my sister and I had to do all the domestic chores while my brother never had to lift a finger. My brother still lives with my parents at the age of 42. He never left.He has a job, has Netflix, has a social life, drives and travels by himself, but no desire to live independently or get married. He says he can cook but his cooking ability is fairly basic.

Now my sister and I have no contact with the parents while they live with their Golden Child. They deserve each other, lol.
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Post by Elizabeth Pass »

I didn't even consider girl-chores and boy-chores while reading this book. In my family we all learned how to do all the chores and would switch off every week. As we got older, we divided the chores based on what we were good at and disliked doing least. It was a team effort.
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Post by Carly-maricque »

Bookmermaid wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 03:14 Do you think Toni's participating in what was traditionally strictly girls' chores in many cultures be a deterrent or a catalyst for either a father or mother to share this book with his or her boy child ? :techie-studyingbrown:
I do not think the chores in the book are gendered chores. The chores shown are both girl and boy chores for children.
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Post by prinjeh18 »

Gravy wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 03:57 Sadly, many cultures still impose sterotypical gender roles, to the detriment of the child, and sometimes to the people who have to deal with them later in life.

I had a friend when I was younger. He loved to play "girls" games. House, dolls, etc...
He also had to live with an abusive step father who hated this about him.

There are no "boys" chores or "girls" chores, and knowing that this book defies gender stereotypes would be a point in for it, in my opinion.

However, there are those, such as the man I mentioned, who probably wouldn't want it in their house.

I feel so badly for kids whose parents can't see the pain they put their kids through. And even worse for those whose parents just don't care, as long as they don't go against the status quo.
I agree! Often cause of children rivalry.
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Post by Storm+ »

I don't think any of the chores done by Toni are strictly chores meant for a girl, and even if they were, I don't think the author would be specifically intending to set out to change this stereotype. To be honest, it wasn't even a noticeable theme within the story, nor was it addressed in any way. Because of this, I don't think parents would really notice the challenging of gender norms unless it was in a culture where gender norms are extremely predominant, in which case it might discourage them from showing their male sons this book. Otherwise, I don't think there would be much of an issue.
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Post by prinjeh18 »

In our country, all chores can be done both for boys and girls, but I guess in some countries chores done only for a specific person.
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Post by kfwilson6 »

I think there is still a common trend that the boys in the family learn more traditionally male tasks while girls learn traditionally female tasks. I want my children to be as self-sufficient, knowledgeable, and handy as possible. I regret that my parents never taught me certain skills like changing a tire. Thankfully I have a husband who is incredibly handy and doesn't mind teaching me these things. We both want our future children to learn all of the things each of us can do and more. There will be no gender stereotyping in the skills/chores/tasks they do.
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Post by Kibet Hillary »

I think the era of gender-stereotyping of roles is gone and if not is slowly waning out. It is not uncommon nowadays to find boys doing what was traditionally perceived as roles for girls and the vice versa. I, therefore, think that this will have little or no impact on the ability of a parent to give this book to any of their kids. Moreso, the main important thing is what the children will eventually take home from this book. The lesson is more important.
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Post by Zain A Blade »

It would totally depend on the individual values of the parent. For me, personally, I would love for my kids to see that when it comes to household chores (or any activity for that matter) there is no gender-assignment.
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Post by Kibet Hillary »

This is what I also strongly believe in. The gender stereotyping of roles may not do us any good eventually. There are some things that we cannot change, as a matter of fact. However, roles, especially house chores, can be done by anyone. Parents also have a great role to allow kids to learn from a young age that there is nothing wrong with doing some tasks traditionally assigned to a certain gender. It is good to note that change is inevitable and no one should be shocked when things such as house chores will no longer be stereotyped.
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Post by ea_anthony »

Bookmermaid wrote: 01 Jul 2018, 03:14 Do you think Toni's participating in what was traditionally strictly girls' chores in many cultures be a deterrent or a catalyst for either a father or mother to share this book with his or her boy child ? :techie-studyingbrown:
I have not yet read Toni the Superhero, but it is high on my to read list. I come from a culture which used to have a strict divide between boys and girls chores. However the last 20 plus years have seen serious changes about this and other boy child/girl child issue especially in the urban areas and especially amongst educated folks. Hopefully this book will most likely come into the hands of urban educated folks before the traditionalists.
Ignorance promotes divisiveness, knowledge encourages diversity. :techie-studyingbrown:
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