Where the Wild Things Were: Boyhood and Permissive Parenting in Postwar America
by Henry Jenkins
Many thanks to NYU Press and NetGalley for providing me with
an advanced copy of Henry Jenkins’s excellent new book Where the Wild Things Were: Boyhood and Permissive Parenting in Postwar America. It took me a
little while to get through this book, but it was well worth it. Jenkins’s
scholarship focuses on the shift towards permissive parenting, which he defines
as a shift from more strict discipline for children, or kind of like a view of
children as little adults, to one that focused on parents being more attuned to
the needs of their children. While there has always been debate about parenting
styles and approaches, Jenkins’s definition and examples of permissive
parenting are not necessarily absentee or devoid of any kind of discipline.
Rather, it looked more like the kind of authoritative parenting style that is
often touted as being high on responsiveness for white, middle class families.
Jenkins credits the noted pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock and cultural
anthropologist Margaret Mead as the two influential thinkers who helped to shift
the parental paradigm towards this more responsive approach. However, Jenkins
also provides some background in looking at developmental theorists like Freud,
G. Stanley Hall, and later, Erik Erikson, who also helped shape this approach
towards more responsiveness to children. I really loved learning about the
Child Study Teams, and how Hall in particular recruited mothers to help serve
as kind of observational scientists about their own children’s development. Jenkins
notes that incorporating the mothers’ perspectives and observations allowed for
more real data to verify some of the developmental trajectories that children
experience. He contrasts these kinds of real-world applications with the more mechanical
(and popular at the time) approaches of Watson and the early days of
Behaviorism, which was the dominant mode of Psychological research at the time.
Beyond looking at theoretical and developmental differences,
Jenkins real analysis examines the kinds of media and resources that parents and
their children engaged in, and how the permissive or responsive approaches were
incorporated into popular media, especially in books, films, and television.
Although much of this was before my time, I still experienced many of the
after-effects of this kind of approach to parenting, since my parents,
especially my mom, were exposed to this style, and we can still see how
influential children’s media like Sesame Street continues to influence
children today. I also grew up watching Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood and
reading Dr. Seuss books, two topics that feature prominently in Jenkins’s analyses
of permissive parenting and child development. It was fascinating to read about
the thinking that went into some of these texts, shows, and films, since I
often enjoyed them as a child, not really thinking about the educational or
philosophical approaches to child development behind them. Yet, Jenkins’s
detailed scholarship and analysis helps to provide an interesting perspective
about the ideas and philosophies that helped to shape many of these cherished
parts of people’s childhoods. I also loved how he frequently connected the
media and resources to Spock and Mead, showing their influence on these books
and shows.
While Jenkins primarily focuses on white, middle class baby
boomers, he also brings in perspectives of Black and Asian boys, while also
discussing how rigid Mead and Spock’s views of gender roles were. It’s
interesting to consider, as Jenkins does, what their views might be like today,
since it seemed like their perspectives, especially Spock’s, were continuously
evolving. Jenkins brought up some other texts, like Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy
Day and a strange Golden Book called Tootle that I’ve read with my
own kids. I got Tootle for my son, and it became one of his favorite
stories, but I’ve always been troubled by it. Jenkins seems to suggest that the
story is more about obedience and conformity, but I also wondered whether there
was something about sexuality in the book as well, as Tootle, a fast train who
fails to stay on the tracks, is reprimanded for following his desires to be
around flowers and play in the field, rather than work. Regardless of his take,
I was glad to see that there was someone else questioning this message, and it
also made me think about the larger issues of how powerful messages can be in
children’s media and literature. This also resonated with me in why Jenkins’s
book is so important today, as there are continued battles about which books
children can access in schools. As Jenkins states in his Coda, a Vice Principal
was fired for reading a popular and humorous book with his students. The book, titled
I Need a New Butt, was a funny story about a boy discovering his body,
something that happens with all kids. Yet, parents complained, and the Vice
Principal was fired for sharing his love of reading with students. As Jenkins
shows throughout the book and his research, children’s literature and media can
be powerful ways to not only help children learn important life and
interpersonal skills, but they can also be used to impart important cultural
lessons and values. Furthermore, this kind of literature and media can be
powerful tools for handling difficult times and challenging emotions, as
Jenkins’s chapters analyzing Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood highlight. These
were some of my favorite chapters and gave me a new appreciation and insight
into this important show. It’s also emblematic of this kind of responsive
approach to children, showing them that people are willing to listen to them
and consider their ideas and needs seriously. Other chapters examine shows
ranging from Dennis the Menace to Johnny Quest, which interestingly
brings in an Indian character for multiculturalism. As Jenkins shows in his
research, this also aligns with an increase in adoptees from Asian countries, so
it was trying to be more representative of the changing demographics in
American society. One of the more interesting shows that Jenkins analyzes also
starred Jay North, of Dennis the Menace fame. It was a later show in the
60s, titled Maya, about a boy who traveled to India to find his father,
but also goes on journeys with another Indian boy, discovering his own
identity. I’ll try to seek this show out because it sounds like a fascinating
story that was also examining different aspects of identity, culture, and the
expanding global society. Another chapter examined Lost in Space, and
how the boys in this story both represented elements of boyhood during this
permissive approach to parenting but also created a kind of aspirational
character that tried to showcase the importance of science.
As Jenkins notes in both the book’s Introduction and Coda, ideas
about parenting approaches and philosophies are nothing new. We can see today
how much pushback and blame this kind of responsive parenting gets for problems
in society. There was also blame and consternation in the 60s, where many,
including Spiro Agnew, the disgraced Vice President of the Nixon administration,
blamed Dr. Spock and permissive parenting for social change. That’s what makes
Jenkins’s book even more important today. His careful analysis and
consideration of the different media, shows, movies, and texts that children experience
in during their formative years also show the kind of thought and consideration
that went into their development. In particular, it was reassuring (for me) to
know that there was a conscious decision to show children that the world can be
considerate and caring, and that emphasizing their importance and uniqueness in
the world is important in helping them understand their own roles in the world,
while also developing a sense of autonomy and independence. I know that I was
thinking about my own children as I read this book, and how different their
childhoods are from my own. Regardless, I still try to share books and movies
with them that I think they might appreciate and learn something from. I’ve
also tried to read more recent books like The Wild Robot that my kids
really enjoy and are also somewhat pedagogical in teaching lessons and
imparting values. With continuing challenges and battles about what students
can access and even what and how people should parent, I feel like Jenkins’s
book is not only enjoyable to read, but also necessary in understanding in the
shifts in parenting styles.
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