The other day I was in my local grocery, poking around the book and magazine rack for craft mags, and saw the two books pictured. They are the God's Little Princess Devotional Bible and the God's Mighty Warrior Devotional Bible, both apparently Bible-based storybooks by Sheila Walsh. The pink and blue color-coding makes it pretty easy to figure out which one is for girls.
Incredibly curious about these books, I looked them up on Amazon and found this in the editor's description of the Princess Bible: "[g]irls long to be loved and adored, and give their heart to their hero. God is that hero! The characteristics focused on in this Bible storybook will help your little girl blossom into the princess she was created to be. Virtues to create beauty such as compassion, sharing, and truth are highlighted in fun and engaging ways."
The Mighty Warrior Bible, on the other hand, is promoted with copy reading: "[j]ust like God created little girls in a special way, He created little boys to be mighty warriors . . . even when they feel small. Now with this new devotional Bible in storybook format, boys can learn how to be strong, honorable, courageous and true."
So, God wants girls to be compassionate and loving, and boys courageous and strong?! Back in the day when I hung out at Sunday school, we learned that everyone should be truthful, loving and kind. It wasn't really gender-specific.
Maybe I was lucky to be raised in a denomination that didn't relegate men and women to strict separate roles. But seriously, could anyone in good conscience purchase these books for their kids?
Christianity gets accused of perpetuating gender stereotypes enough without this kind of marketing-driven thing out there. Modern translations of religious texts seem like a great idea to me, but keep my Bible out of Libby Lu.
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