Podcast Summary:

New Books Network: Julie Fette, "Gender by the Book: 21st-Century French Children's Literature" (Routledge, 2025)

Host: Gina Stamm
Guest: Dr. Julie Fette
Date: November 7, 2025

Overview

In this episode, host Gina Stamm interviews Dr. Julie Fette about her latest monograph, "Gender by the Book: 21st-Century French Children's Literature" (Routledge, 2025). The discussion dives into how contemporary French children’s books perpetuate or challenge traditional gender stereotypes. Dr. Fette explores the critical roles of industry structures, institutional mediators (libraries, book clubs, and the press), cultural beliefs, and market forces in shaping the content and diffusion of children's literature in France. The conversation is rooted in rigorous research, sociological and historical analysis, and direct engagement with publishers, librarians, and other mediators.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Genesis and Structure of the Book

[03:04] Dr. Julie Fette:

• Post-tenure, Dr. Fette pivoted her research focus to explore childhood socialization through literature:

  “I had become interested in gender thanks to my first book and couldn't think of a better place to search for the roots of discrimination than in the cradle.”

• Central question: How do representation and adult mediators (teachers, critics, librarians, etc.) influence what children read?
• The book is organized around three major institutions: Libraries, Book Clubs, and the Press, each with historical context and a gender-based textual analysis of materials since 2000.

The Uniqueness of the French Children’s Publishing Industry

[06:26] Dr. Julie Fette:

• Vast, professionalized, and heavily subsidized; the industry features solidarity among all "book chain" actors.
• Cultural paradigms: Books are cultural artifacts, not merely commercial products, and children deserve high-quality literature.
• Market characteristics:
  • Government supports (subsidies, lower sales tax).
  • Single book price law (since 1981) to protect small bookstores and publishers.
• Despite the progressive infrastructure, gender stereotypes persist due to structural, professional, and cultural factors:

  "This unique market and culture might lead one to expect a certain progressiveness in gender representations... But there are other factors... that favor the reproduction of gender stereotypes." [09:54]

Challenging the Highbrow/Lowbrow Quality Myth

[10:36] Dr. Julie Fette:

• “Quality” publishers distance themselves from "supermarket books" but may still perpetuate stereotypes.
• Mainstream logic holds that only commercialized, mass-market books sustain outdated gender tropes, while “quality” books are modern and unbiased:

  "They also tend to claim that their books are modern, creative, and free from any gender bias. So by choosing libraries, this book club and highbrow magazines for examples, my goal was to push against this facile and artificial binary." [12:29]

Libraries as Gatekeepers

[12:49] Dr. Julie Fette:

• Librarians curate collections with “freedom of expression,” but there are minimal centralized standards for acquisition.
• Lack of institutional guidance and insufficient training leads to widespread availability of stereotyped books:

  “Despite any good intentions and awareness of gender representations, librarians, just like teachers, are disempowered by institutional structures and by inadequate training…” [13:35]

• Libraries, through their choices and limitations, actively influence which gender representations children encounter.

Survey Methodology and Findings in Libraries

[14:45] Dr. Julie Fette:

• Employed "shelf sweeping" (random sampling method) in both a French school library in Houston and a Parisian municipal library.
• Out of 49 books, 80% contained overt gender stereotypes based on a detailed analytical framework.
• Boys typically featured as adventurers; girls centered in relational or beauty-driven stories; female adult characters rarely depicted in professional roles:

  "...in the library sample, not a single book of the 49 presents a mother with a paid occupation, whereas males identified by socio professional status appear 31 times." [17:44]

Book Clubs and the School Market

[18:11] Dr. Julie Fette:

• The French model: Book clubs are subscription services (e.g., École des Loisirs) distributing monthly books, largely through schools.
• This centralized system dominates the children’s book market and deeply influences what kids read.

Factors Perpetuating Gender Stereotypes in Book Clubs

[20:32] Dr. Julie Fette:

1. Universalism:
   • French ethos of equality often leads to a “color/gender-blind” approach, discouraging advocacy or explicit feminist themes, defending creative freedom and authorial autonomy at the expense of intentional equity.

     “Editors... refusal to intervene, enables stereotypes and automatisms and imbalances to proceed to publication unchallenged.”

2. Suspicion of Activism:
   • Creative freedom is prioritized over “agenda-driven” content; activism is seen as antithetical to artistic originality.
3. Nostalgia [24:07]:
   • Adults and publishers favor classic or familiar books, often reissuing dated, stereotype-laden stories.

     “Adults love to buy treasures from their own childhood for the young people in their lives... only as adults that we realize [the stereotypes].”

4. The Power of Series:
   • Recurring male protagonists in book series reinforce their dominance in the child's literary imagination.
5. Resistance to Moralization:
   • Post-1968, the field rejected didactic, moralistic content, but often confuses joy and inclusiveness with true equity.

The National Canon & Institutional Challenges

[27:15] Dr. Julie Fette:

• The French educational ministry’s reference lists (Éduscol) intended to canonize quality children’s literature, but lack criteria for gender or ethnic equity.
• Universalist reasoning continues to sideline explicit diversity or equality initiatives:

  “Gender equity was never a criteria for a book becoming listed... the universalist outlook is also at play.” [28:22]

The French Children’s Press (Magazines)

[29:36] Dr. Julie Fette:

• Nearly 300 magazine titles read by 70% of French children (print remains vigorous).
• Magazine history:
  • Began male-centric; segregated by gender mid-20th century; moved to co-educational, “mixed-gender” magazines post-1960s, yet a masculine bias endures.
  • Modern “mixed-gender” format often claimed as gender-progressive but can mask continuous imbalance:

    “A mixed gender argument... has become a substitute really for equality. And I believe it's a bit of a false promise.” [32:11]

• Editorial strategies often prioritize appealing to boys, under assumption that boys won’t read about girls (“gender jumping”), risking sidelining girl readers.

Detailed Taxonomy of Gender in Magazines [36:47]

• 5 of 7 comic strips featured boy protagonists.
• Imagery: Boys depicted as active/adventurous; girls shown in smaller/slighter forms (riding ponies vs. horses) or more often in revealing clothing.
• Adult depictions: Female characters mostly mothers or teachers (unless teaching math—then, men).
• Editorial bias: Content often caters to boys to maintain their readership, cementing a “self-fulfilling prophecy” of gendered preferences.

Room for Change and Future Projects

[39:41] Dr. Julie Fette:

• France's industry is uniquely suited for reform due to its infrastructure and existing small publishers focusing on gender/LGBTQ themes (e.g., Talon Haut).

• Attempts to compare French and American children’s books revealed striking universality of persistent gender stereotypes.

  “The real problem is the gender stereotypes in kids’ hands remains universal in the 21st century.” [40:27]

• Looking ahead, Dr. Fette plans to research representations of ethnic diversity, migration, and otherness in French children’s literature.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the invisibility and normalization of stereotypes:

  “Gendered roles and expectations are invisible and therefore normalized for girls and boys, and it's only as adults that we realize this.” (Dr. Julie Fette, 24:38)

• On structural causes:

  “Librarians, just like teachers, are disempowered by institutional structures and by inadequate training in children's literature. So they don't have much agency to customize the supply...” (Dr. Julie Fette, 13:35)

• On universalism as a barrier:

  "The idea that equality is best achieved through color or gender blindness... activism in favor of any one social category is considered, or could be considered problematic with a universalist outlook." (Dr. Julie Fette, 20:39)

• On the limitations of the “mixed gender” magazine approach:

  "I argue that it was de facto still a kind of masculine market... the mixed gender argument... has become a substitute really for equality. And I believe it's a bit of a false promise." (Dr. Julie Fette, 32:11)

• On the tendency to prioritize boy readers:

  "There’s a widespread assumption that girls will gender jump... boys will not. So boys won’t read a book about girls. This is a widespread assumption that I believe has become a self-fulfilling prophecy." (Dr. Julie Fette, 35:20)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Dr. Fette’s background: 02:07–03:04
• Book genesis & structure: 03:04–06:17
• French publishing industry distinctives: 06:17–10:20
• Highbrow/lowbrow quality fallacy: 10:20–12:38
• Libraries as gatekeepers: 12:38–14:34
• Library survey methods & findings: 14:34–18:02
• Book clubs & their mechanisms: 18:02–20:15
• Structural factors (universalism, nostalgia, series): 20:15–26:50
• National canon & institutional obstacles: 26:50–29:20
• Children’s press & mixed-gender formats: 29:20–36:33
• Detailed taxonomy of press stereotypes: 36:33–40:29
• Future projects & conclusion: 40:29–41:35

Tone and Closing

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Fette’s tone is analytical yet hopeful. She is careful to present overwhelming evidence without moralizing, expressing a desire to engage both scholarly and publishing audiences constructively. She closes with optimism that France—and other cultures—are equipped for change toward gender equity in children’s literature.

For more insight, read "Gender by the Book: 21st-Century French Children's Literature" by Dr. Julie Fette (Routledge, 2025).