Argues that children have much to gain and little to lose from an increase in the number of female main characters in stories, from increased portrayal of nonstereotyped role models in stories, and from the use of female-inclusive language in reading materials. (Author/MP)

This book seeks to explain how gender affects human development from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood. The book's introduction states the two theses of the book: first, gender differences appear primarily in group, or social, contexts; and second, gender differentiation can be understood only in a developmental context--the sexes…