Communications and Media

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day  is about a boy named Alexander who has a bad day, waking up with gum being stuck to his head and ends with the familys cat choosing to sleep with one of his other brothers. The situations that Alexander has to deal with can easily be that of a girl or boy though Viorsts inspiration for the story was her own son. However, some instances in the story such as the confrontation between Alexander and his two brothers are more associated with young boys after his visit to the dentist he has a conflict with his brother Anthony and is mocked by other brother Nick and Alexanders attempt to retaliate by punching Nick. Other gender portrayals in the story are seen among the adult characters in the story. Occupations in the story have traditional assignments similarly, familial roles follow traditional characterizations. The best example of this is Alexanders mother who provides the boy comfort and assurance that everyone had bad days and that his bad day did not warrant his plans to move to Australia.

Childrens books have been recognized to have an important role in the development of gender role perceptions. Personally, I see the book marks a clear effort by Viorst to have a more liberal view on gender roles and relationships, remarkable considering that the story was written in the early 70s. As seen, though there were gender role and relationship assignments, they are strong characterization and gender reversals can be possible. For example, though the parents roles are stereotypical, the interaction with the father set in the working place and the mother as the giver of moral and emotional support, there is no implication that the roles are exclusive to them or that this is the only role that they fulfill in the familys dynamics. Gooden and Gooden (2001) believe that these types of books are important not only in social orientation but create a positive and liberal view on childrens gender perceptions. More importantly, the continued, if not greater, appeal of the story today shows how well Viorist is able to communicate to not only to children but adults as well.