solved The first novels of Alcott and Alger created popular categories

The first novels of Alcott and Alger created popular categories of novels for girls and novels for boys. In America in the late 1800’s and much of the 1900’s, many aspects of culture— sports, fashions, recreational activities, school, careers—were divided by gender. It was widely assumed that girls did things or needed things that boys did not and that boys did things and girls did not. So it is not surprising that many children’s books were written specifically for or about one gender. Even today many adults continue to hold this view about culture: some people see films divided into  “chick flicks” and “guy movies,” for example. The assumption behind this distinction is the assumption that these sexually segregated cultural artifacts and experiences teach (there’s didacticism again!) boys how to become men and girls how to become women. The assumption continually generates discussion, debate and occasionally anger. The assumption is definitely controversial.
For this discussion, I want you to think about your experience with imaginative reading. As you reflect, has your reading included certain books because the book appealed (or was thought to appeal) to your gender? Did parents, librarians, teachers or friends assume or direct you toward some books and away from others because of gender? In school did a book choice for class assignment seem more appealing, for example, to the boy in the class than to the girls? Or vice versa? Did you find stories that included both male and female protagonists equally enjoyable? Are there certain literary plot lines you find inherently male or female.
The purpose of this discussion is not to prove that single gender books are inherently bad or good, something to be gotten rid of or something to be celebrated. Rather, the point of the discussion is to see how the experience of class members reflects what has been a norm in children’s literature in the past and continues today. We want to know how common the distinction between girls’ books and boys’ books is playing out early in the 21st century among readers.