When my daughter got into Berenstain bears, it was all my fault. I remembered loving the series, associating them with my old school library and a particular comfort there. So I bought her book after book when she was three. As I read them with her, she was fascinated. Here were books about real struggles with family and friends. But I was horrified. I’m not the only one to express the surprise at how regressive these books read (see Sara Petersen’s Washington Post article about it) these days. And like others revisiting this childhood favorite, I too was able to see little else besides the misogyny.
Read the full essay here.