A Study of Gender in Children's and Young Adult's Poetry from the Perspective of Sociology of the Body

Since we have bodies, we are always in situations determined by our bodies. Therefore, even though the body, as an identity-constructing element, organizes any individual’s personal and social life, it is itself affected by technologies and cultural traditions offered in society to such an extent that its cultural aspect overshadows its biological dimension, and prescribes or envisages actions or positions for every individual, which should be called social roles and regarded as the basis of their identity. One example is the organization of bodies according to the sexual and gender modes imposed by society’s cultural forces. This paper studies stereotypical gender and sexual roles, i.e., the Iranian man and woman’s sexuality, as well as their sociological differences in exhibiting the ‘ideal body’ and the ‘desired body’ in accordance with the cultural model in children’s and young adults’ poetry. The theoretical framework of the discussion is informed by ideas of some of the authorities in sociology of the body and the research methodology is based on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative content – experimental phenomenology. The paper concludes that the cultural model of organizing the body in children’s and young adults’ poetry is more in line with the traditional Iranian world and rejects the modern and consumerist viewpoint. Therefore, the roles have been divided between men and women or are expected of them in the form of the ideal and desired body