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Seeing white: Children of color and the disney fairy tale princess
Abstract
This article argues that children's self-image is affected by the ways in which they see themselves in texts both verbal and visual, and that fairy tales play an important role in shaping self-image and the belief-system of children, The images found in fairy tales, therefore, have particular importance for children of color in relation to the internalization of White privileging. This article presents a comparative analysis of the Disney version of six classic fairy tales spotlighted in Disney's Princess: The Essential Guide against the "classic" source text versions: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp from the perspective of ideological/racial basis in the context of the goals of multicultural education. Findings from this analysis support the need for the development of critical literacy skills in children as well as in their teachers and highlight the importance of exposing children to transcultural literature.
... To understand issues of identity in picturebooks, this research is guided by the conceptual understanding of the reflective and transformational power of children's literature presented by Bishop (1990) and expanded upon by contemporary scholars. A selective tradition persists in children's literature which reflects the perspectives and world views of the dominant social group, and in turn, informing the child's beliefs and perceptions of self, other, and society (Hurley, 2005). If desiring to reflect and promote more inclusive perspectives, children's literature would need to provide diverse visual and textual representations. ...
... Children's books have long been understood as a powerful medium for exploring aspects of children's lives, experiences, and identities serving as mirrors which allow children to see themselves reflected, as windows through which they can gain insight into the experiences of others, and as sliding glass doors when children are connected to the story and characters in meaningful ways (Bishop, 1990). Children's literature should offer meaningful and culturally rich content to foster positive self-perception; taking care to avoid stereotypical portrayals which can lead to negative internalizations of messaging (Hurley, 2005). "By including diverse identities and perspectives in STEM, picturebooks have the potential to stimulate STEM dispositions in students that may not otherwise identify with these areas, building a bridge between culture, teaching, and learning" (Cardullo & Burton, 2024, p. 1308. ...
Children’s picturebooks have long been understood as a powerful medium for exploring aspects of children’s lives, experiences, and identities serving as mirrors which allow children to see themselves reflected, as windows through which they can gain insight into the experiences of others, and as sliding glass doors when children are connected to the story and characters in meaningful ways. Utilizing a critical content analytic approach, this research examined the identity markers and engineering practices found in contemporary children’s picturebooks with an engineering focus. The analysis yielded key themes that highlight the ways children can interact and connect to the characters and engineering content through both visual imagery and storyline. As the reviewed books held limited social, cultural, and personal identity representations, study findings hold implications for early childhood educators as they highlight the importance of affirming and connecting engineering and design work to the diverse, multifaceted identities of the students in their classrooms. Recommendations from this research call for extending traditional classroom building and construction experiences through the inclusion of engineering-focused children’s literature to enhance and extend children’s understandings of design and engineering work.
... The analysis of gender bias in fairy tales is particularly salient as storybooks are important to the development of children's self image and understanding of the world (Narahara, 1998;Peterson and Lach, 1990). This includes fairy tales' power to harm children's self image through the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (Hurley, 2005;Block et al., 2022). While fairy tales were originally meant for adult or general consumption, in modern times they were re-framed as children's stories that institutionalized power relations including gender roles (Zipes, 1994;Taxel, 1994) and thus make-up one of the largest and "longest existing genres of children's literature" (Hurley, 2005). ...
... This includes fairy tales' power to harm children's self image through the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (Hurley, 2005;Block et al., 2022). While fairy tales were originally meant for adult or general consumption, in modern times they were re-framed as children's stories that institutionalized power relations including gender roles (Zipes, 1994;Taxel, 1994) and thus make-up one of the largest and "longest existing genres of children's literature" (Hurley, 2005). ...
... The analysis of gender bias in fairy tales is particularly salient as storybooks are important to the development of children's self image and understanding of the world (Narahara, 1998;Peterson and Lach, 1990). This includes fairy tales' power to harm children's self image through the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (Hurley, 2005;Block et al., 2022). While fairy tales were originally meant for adult or general consumption, in modern times they were re-framed as children's stories that institutionalized power relations including gender roles (Zipes, 1994;Taxel, 1994) and thus make-up one of the largest and "longest existing genres of children's literature" (Hurley, 2005). ...
... This includes fairy tales' power to harm children's self image through the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (Hurley, 2005;Block et al., 2022). While fairy tales were originally meant for adult or general consumption, in modern times they were re-framed as children's stories that institutionalized power relations including gender roles (Zipes, 1994;Taxel, 1994) and thus make-up one of the largest and "longest existing genres of children's literature" (Hurley, 2005). ...
Social biases and stereotypes are embedded in our culture in part through their presence in our stories, as evidenced by the rich history of humanities and social science literature analyzing such biases in children stories. Because these analyses are often conducted manually and at a small scale, such investigations can benefit from the use of more recent natural language processing methods that examine social bias in models and data corpora. Our work joins this interdisciplinary effort and makes a unique contribution by taking into account the event narrative structures when analyzing the social bias of stories. We propose a computational pipeline that automatically extracts a story's temporal narrative verb-based event chain for each of its characters as well as character attributes such as gender. We also present a verb-based event annotation scheme that can facilitate bias analysis by including categories such as those that align with traditional stereotypes. Through a case study analyzing gender bias in fairy tales, we demonstrate that our framework can reveal bias in not only the unigram verb-based events in which female and male characters participate but also in the temporal narrative order of such event participation.
... Konieczne jest (ponowne) zakwestionowanie poglądu, że »nawet Kopciuszek jest biała«" (Young, Foster, Hines, 2018, s. 104). O wadach i zaletach sytuowania europejskich baśni w afrykańskim kontekście pisała między innymi Candice Livingston (2018), natomiast o wpływie czytanych opowieści na budowanie swojej tożsamości przez dzieci -Dorothy L. Hurley (2005). W książce Bayron nawiązania do tej identyfikacji są niewielkie (na przykład wzmianka o włosach Sophii i prostowaniu ich żelazkiem na bal -"powinnyśmy wyprostować jej włosy żelazkiem. ...
The article analyzes pseudo-feminist ways of creating female characters and the world presented in the novel Cinderella Is Dead (2022) by Kalynn Bayron, which is a reinterpretation of Cinderella. By transforming a known history, the authoress wants to participate in discourses calling for inclusiveness and equality of worldviews. To do so, she introduces various refractions: empha- sizes women’s agency and their pursuit of self-determination, and changes the protagonist’s skin color and sexual orientation. She exposes features commonly associated with feminism, which often has the opposite effect, and the work itself can be interpreted as pseudo-feminist. This is particularly visible in measures such as demonizing men or the lack of positive male figures, as well as superf icial and instrumental treatment of issues important to feminism. Attention was also paid to the phenomenon of blackwashing, which in the novel is primarily a marketing trick and an expression of cultural fashion.
... Lippi-Green noted that linguistic stereotypes are often negative and damaging (e.g., Baker, 1992;Baugh, 2005), and that Disney, by presenting young and impressionable audiences with such stereotypes, may cultivate prejudiced attitudes toward certain kinds of speakers (see also Towbin et al., 2003). Her study has come to be seen as a pillar of modern Disney scholarship, much of which has focused on how the company's popular films may promote conservatively narrow and exclusionary ideologies (Giroux & Pollock, 2010;Hurley, 2005;Watsko, 2001; but see Drotner, 2002, on different audiences' varied perspectives on Disney films). ...
... A kutatók és az alkalmi kulturális kritikusok is egyetértenek abban, hogy a hercegnők többek, mint animációsfilmkarakterek, sokkal inkább gyermekkori kulturális ikonok, szerepmodellek (Eisenhauer, 2017). Ennek nyomán számos kutatás vizsgálja a DH-filmeket és -karaktereket (Garabedian, 2015;Golden & Jacoby, 2018;England et al., 2011;Davis, 2006;Hurley, 2005;Lacroix, 2004;Lester, 2010;Parasecoli, 2010;Sharmin & Sattar, 2018;Stover, 2013;Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995;Wohlwend, 2009). Garabedian (2015) szerint a DH-karakterek 3 szakaszba sorolhatók. ...
A média hatásának erősségéről és irányáról megoszlanak a vélemények, azonban a kutatók abban egyetértenek, hogy a gyermekek nemekkel kapcsolatos gondolkodá-sát a média is befolyásolja. Kérdőíves vizsgálatunkban arra kerestük a választ, hogy hogyan látják a szülők gyermekeik kedvenc Disney hercegnőit, van-e összefüggés a gyermekek személyiségvonásai, a szülők értékpreferenciái és a kedvenc hercegnők jelleme között. A válaszadó 1310 szülő véleménye alapján úgy találtuk, hogy a Dis-ney-hercegnős mesét fogyasztó gyerekek többsége a mesék főhősein keresztül a nők társadalmi szerepének változatos reprezentációját ismeri, ugyanakkor fiúk és lányok eltérő női főhősöket preferálnak. Vizsgálatunk szerint a szülők saját karakter-preferenciája, gyermekükről adott jellemzésük és a gyermekek felé támasztott értékalapú elvárások a gyermek neme által is meghatározottan összefüggenek azzal, hogy melyik Disney-karaktert látják gyermekeik kedvencének.
... Las brujas como mayores, malvadas, feas, y dueñas del destino de las jóvenes. Además, dichas investigaciones sostenían que a las mujeres se las representaba como perfectas amas de casa, blancas y heterosexuales, que limpiaban, cuidaban a los niños y las niñas con cariño y sin quejarse permaneciendo restringidas al ámbito privado (Hurley, 2005;Davis, 2007;Bálint, 2013). Siguiendo una línea de análisis crítica, estos trabajos, desde abordajes mayoritariamente semióticos, se concentraron en los 2 Durante el escrito, la tipografía cursiva se utiliza para términos en lengua extranjera. ...
Este artículo analiza la producción y el consumo de festejos de cumpleaños infantiles en salones de la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina; que, como parte del circuito de diversión, ofrecían al público en estos espacios, experimentar una minidisco y fiestas temáticas de princesas. El análisis del montaje de ambas experiencias, mercantilizadas por parte de sus productores y consumidores, se apoyó en un trabajo etnográfico que transcurrió en salones de celebración infantil durante el período 2012-2017, dando como resultado un trabajo de tesis doctoral. Luego de presentar las trayectorias de las y los jóvenes que se ocupaban del divertimento, el escrito avanza en la descripción de las características de ambos tipos de celebración permitiendo trazar puntos de encuentro y diferencias entre los modos de gestionar los estados anímicos. Según se concluye, en dichas fiestas se reproducía la lógica de la oposición binaria entre lo masculino y femenino, asimismo, algunas infancias encontraban intersticios para subvertirla.
... Porém, no filme, ela tem uma aparência mais sinistra com cicatrizes no rosto. Segundo Hurley (2005), as animações de contos de fadas da Disney associam a cor branca com o bem e a cor preta com o mal: "As produções de contos de fadas da Disney não só se desviam muito dos textos fonte em relação ao enredo e a caracterização, como também manifestam fortemente o uso do simbolismo de branco para o bem e preto para o mal e perigo" 23 (HURLEY, 2005, p. 224). 22 There are usually a few storyland characters -Mother Ginger and tiny offspring hidden in her plus-size skirt […]. ...
O tema deste artigo é a tradução do conto “O Quebra-Nozes e o Rei dos Camundongos”, de E. T. A. Hoffmann, e do balé “O Quebra-Nozes”, de Tchaikovsky e Marius Petipa, para o filme “O Quebra-Nozes e os Quatro Reinos”, de Lasse Hallström e Joe Johnston. Uma obra de arte demanda um tradutor e ela pode permitir ou não uma tradução para atingir novos públicos, novas gerações e novas interpretações. Uma tradução não é inferior ao original e sim está relacionada a ele. A tradução garante a sobrevivência da obra ao longo do tempo e expressa a relação íntima entre as linguagens, como a escrita, a corporal e a fílmica. Uma tradução vai muito além de explicitar apenas semelhanças superficiais e sim camadas mais profundas da obra. Cada linguagem transmite o conteúdo de forma diferente e cada uma delas, em sua especificidade, traz à luz efeitos de sentido diferentes. A tradução, portanto, pode encontrar o eco da obra original e transplantá-la para outra linguagem e para outro contexto histórico e cultural. Esses ecos podem ser a atmosfera de uma obra, que ajuda a compreender melhor como ela influencia os efeitos de sentido produzidos. O filme mistura a atmosfera sombria do conto de Hoffmann com a atmosfera alegre e festiva do balé de Tchaikovsky.
... Odniesienie do konkretnych systemów etycznych nie jest tu konieczne, bowiem rozważania dotyczą nie tyle rozwiązań problemów, co samych problemów jako takich, ich rozumienia i formułowania. W niniejszym tekście przywołane zostaną zwłaszcza cztery przykładowe problemy etyczne dotyczące edukacji, które omawiane są również szeroko w literaturze przedmiotu: problem reprezentacji (Hurley 2005), problem koherencji i problem autentyczności (Danto 1985;Pring 2001) oraz problem genezy edukacji moralnej (Connelly, Clandinin 1995). Przy ich omawianiu edukacja traktowana będzie jako kontekst, w ramach którego problemy te się pojawiają i do którego się odnoszą, jako sfera działań o charakterze moralnym, zarówno dla nauczającego, jak i dla uczącego się. ...
Celem niniejszego opracowania jest przyjrzenie się temu, w jaki sposób rozmaite dotyczące edukacji problemy natury etycznej powiązane są ze strukturami narracyjnymi, które występują w procesach edukacyjnych. Wywód, oparty o uwagi m.in. Michaela Oakeshotta, Erika H. Eriksona, Richarda Pringa i Arthura C. Danto dotyczy zwłaszcza trzech rodzajów takich narracji: instrumentalnych, obiektywnych i podmiotowych. Narracje instrumentalne, czyli te wykorzystywane przez nauczycieli w procesach dydaktycznych (np. bajki, anegdoty) przywołane są tu w kontekście problemu reprezentacji marginalizowanych grup w systemie szkolnictwa. Narracje obiektywne, dotyczące świata i funkcjonujących w nim systemów społecznych, omawia się tutaj w odniesieniu do zasady moralnej Eriksona, która głosi, że należy czynić drugiemu to, co przyczyni się do jego rozwoju w tej samej mierze w jakiej przyczyni się do naszego. Narracje podmiotowe, a więc te, które opowiadają sobie sami uczniowie i nauczyciele i które dotyczą ich życia, ukazane są w świetle potrzeby moralnego wychowania młodzieży. W każdym z tym przypadków odsłania się obraz perspektywy struktur narracyjnych jako dobrego formalnego odniesienia dla debat nad moralnymi problemami edukacji.
... Similarly, Holmes et al. (2007) reveal that multicultural texts can help demystify races and promote a greater understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Researchers have demonstrated that fairy tales are ripe for reworking where characters from different cultures inhabit traditional fairy tale structures along with non-traditional settings (Alexander & Morton, 2007;Hurley, 2005;Yenika-Agbaw, 2014). On the other hand, Goo (2018) argues that having multicultural restrictive criteria on what narratives can be taught in the classroom has had little change in society and after 50 years, they have had little success according to the multiculturalist educators themselves. ...
Fairy tales are ubiquitous in Australian primary schools. Drawing on a review of key literature, this paper aims to determine the implications of teaching fairy tales in the twenty-first-century primary classroom. Research points to the benefits of including fairy tales as a tool to improve all subject areas of the curriculum. Fairy tales present opportunities to positively engage students through the teaching of social justice and the development of emotional intelligence. The review of literature found that teachers need to be cautious and critical when teaching traditional fairy tales which often perpetrate an outdated, gender-ignorant representation of society, and allow students an opportunity to confront these ideas. The book form of Disney fairy tales can be problematic, particularly the earlier versions, which are criticised for being domesticated, sentimental and overly simplistic. The review has also found that multicultural fairy tales have enormous potential to increase cultural equity in the contemporary classroom, but unfortunately, they do not appear to be easily accessible in Australia. The fairy tale is constantly being reinvented and reimagined to fit into modern society, which has led to the emergence of the fractured fairy tale genre, where a traditional fairy tale is subverted. This review found that when used in a critical and inclusive manner, fairy tales have the potential to be an effective resource to teach primary school students in the contemporary classroom.
... Heteronormativity is pervasive in children's media and Martin and Kazyak (2009) describe it as taking two forms in children's movies: heteroromantic love is depicted as powerful, transformative, and magical; and heterosexuality outside of romantic love is shown through renderings of sexy female characters who draw the gaze of male characters (Martin & Kazyak, 2009). These constructions remain the purview of white, affluent families (Hurley, 2005;Martin & Kazyak, 2009). The overwhelming dominance of white, affluent, heteronormative families in children's media emphasize children's limited exposure to gender, parenting, and what it means to be part of a family. ...
In North American society, children learn about gender through language acquisition and interaction with their environment. Since most media consumed by children is screen-based, it has become an influential force in contributing to children’s knowledge of gender. Using gender performativity (Butler, 1999) and postfeminist perspectives (Gill, 2017; Riley et al., 2017), this study investigates how gender is presented through on-screen parenting in children’s television shows. We conducted a mixed methods analysis of 16 shows aimed at children 0–5 years on broadcast television and streaming services in Canada. Results showed stereotypical gender roles and relations persist in children’s shows, with mothers carrying out more nurturing and childrearing responsibilities, and fathers having more on-screen and speaking time and performing more teaching and playing with children compared to mothers. Stealth sexism, un/doing gender over time, and postfeminist masculinities emerged as prominent themes across shows, indicating that gender stereotyping endures but in subtle, postfeminist ways that assume gender equality while presenting gendered conventions in mothering and fathering as natural and desirable. This study provides an important contribution to existing literature on learning gender as it demonstrates how subtle portrayals of sexism in media persist amid assumptions of gender equality within white, middle-class families in North America.
... Μετά το δεύτερο μισό του 20 ου αιώνα η λογοτεχνία, ως καθρέφτης των κοινωνικών αλλαγών, άρχισε να μεταφέρει και να προωθεί αξίες και στάσεις που περιβάλλουν την έννοια της διαφορετικότητας, όπως ο αμοιβαίος σεβασμός, η αποδοχή και τα ίσα δικαιώματα. Έτσι, ξεκίνησε και η έκδοση βιβλίων για παιδιά, που συντελούν στη διαμόρφωση της ταυτότητας και μπορούν να βοηθήσουν τους μικρούς αναγνώστες, ώστε να εκτιμήσουν, να σεβαστούν και να αποδεχτούν άτομα με χαρακτηριστικά, που διαφέρουν από τα δικά τους (Blaska, 1996;Γιαννικοπούλου, 2018;Hurley, 2005;Quicke, 1985;Saunders, 2000). ...
Με τον όρο ψυχική ανθεκτικότητα ορίζουμε την ικανότητα του ατόμου να ξεπερνά καταστάσεις κρίσης που του δημιουργούν έντονο άγχος και ανασφάλεια και να συνεχίζει την εξέλιξή του. Η ψυχική ανθεκτικότητα εμπεριέχει τη δύναμη της θετικής σκέψης, καθώς και την ικανότητα του ατόμου να αναγνωρίζει τα δυνατά του σημεία και να τα χρησιμοποιεί για την επίλυση των ποικίλων αντιξοοτήτων που αντιμετωπίζει. Επιπλέον, σχετίζεται και με την αναζήτηση κατάλληλης βοήθειας. Για τα παιδιά η ψυχική ανθεκτικότητα είναι ένας ουσιαστικός μηχανισμός που μπορεί να τα βοηθήσει σημαντικά στην πρόληψη ψυχικών διαταραχών και στην ανάπτυξη γνωστικών και κοινωνικών δεξιοτήτων, ως παραγόντων προστατευτικών για την ψυχοσωματική τους υγεία. Ειδικότερα για τα παιδιά που έχουν υποστεί οποιασδήποτε μορφής κακοποίηση ή/και παραμέληση, η ανάπτυξη ψυχικής ανθεκτικότητας είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντική ώστε να βοηθηθούν να ξεπεράσουν τα άσχημα τραυματικά γεγονότα που έχουν υποστεί και να αναπτύξουν αισιόδοξη στάση απέναντι στη ζωή.
Σκοπός της εισήγησης αυτής είναι να εξετάσει πώς η ανάπτυξη ψυχικής ανθεκτικότητας μπορεί να βοηθήσει ανηλίκους που βρίσκονται υπό την εποπτεία των συστημάτων παιδικής προστασίας σε Ελλάδα και Κύπρο, λόγω του ότι έχει αφαιρεθεί από τους βιολογικούς τους γονείς η επιμέλεια και η γονική μέριμνα, να αποβάλλουν τα αρνητικά βιώματά τους και να επανακτήσουν μια θετική στάση για τη ζωή. Συγκεκριμένα στην εισήγηση αυτή θα μελετηθεί η συμβολή της θετικής κοινωνικής εργασίας και της θεωρίας των δυνατών σημείων ώστε να χτιστεί η ψυχική ανθεκτικότητα σε ανηλίκους που έχουν υποστεί βία, κακοποίηση και παραμέληση, με αποτέλεσμα να παρέμβει η κοινωνική πρόνοια και η δικαιοσύνη και να απομακρυνθούν από το οικογενειακό τους περιβάλλον. Επίσης, θα διερευνηθούν οι προστατευτικοί παράγοντες εκείνοι που ενισχύουν τους ανηλίκους με τραυματικά βιώματα να αναπτύξουν τα δυνατά τους σημεία, να αποκτήσουν ψυχική ανθεκτικότητα και κατ’ επέκταση να μετατρέψουν την ευαλωτότητά τους σε κοινωνική προσαρμοστικότητα, απόδοση θετικότερου νοήματος στην καθημερινότητα και ελπίδα για τη μελλοντική τους πορεία.
... Based on the findings, the preponderance of evidence suggests that White, male, able-bodied, middle-class characters are the central figures across these storybook apps. Looking back to the findings, it was clear that these characteristics combined to form the default protagonist, which continues a longer tradition of White characters being the main characters in children's literature (Hurley, 2005;Rogers & Christian, 2007). This continuation is problematic and significant because the needs of non-White readers go unaddressed (Lazar et al., 2012), especially in a world that is growing more diverse. ...
Children’s literature has historically been rife with implicit biases and underlying
themes, and few scholars have investigated the impact technology has had on
those elements appearing in children’s literature. In response, this study used
a content analysis methodology to evaluate 38 storybook applications (apps)
for containing implicit biases and underlying messages related to the narrative’s
protagonists. These storybook apps were designed for young children to engage
on their iPads. Overall, the study found that the storybooks apps predominantly
featured protagonists who were White, middle-class, able-bodied males. The
researchers first provide their rationale for the study along with their theoretical
framework before describing their methodology and findings. The researchers
conclude with implications for teacher educators, preservice and in-service
teachers, storybook authors and app developers, and future researchers.
... The princess films of Disney are nothing exceptional in this regard too. On the issue of the portrayal of racial ethnicity in the Disney films, Hurley (2005) has made an altercation that Disney films maintain a relationship between self-image and the portrayal of the racial ethnicity while the black and white colors play crucial roles as symbols. In Snow White and Seven Dwarves (1937), Snow White was depicted as white as snow, and she was portrayed as a good character, whereas, Ursula, the villain in The Little Mermaid was shown dressing black and having black blood too. ...
Disney Corporation has recently released Aladdin (2019) as their official remake of their own animated Film Aladdin (1992). By making some significant changes in the storyline, Guy Ritchie, the director of the film, tried to create some newness through the actions of the film. But the gender role of the princess Jasmine and the casting of Genie have brought back the same old tendency of the corporation that is the stereotypical representation of the females and racial ethnicity. The princess becomes the victim, and the male rescues the female, and the black becomes the slave. This very study shows how Disney has been doing the stereotyped portrayal of the women and showing the racist attitude towards the dark-skinned people. Since this study is conducted through a textual analysis approach, initially, the dialogues and actions related to the objective of the study have been coded. Then by analyzing the two characters and their dialogues, contexts and related actions, this study explains how Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin (2019) contains the old philosophy of Disney, that is keeping the women inside the house and neglecting the dark-skinned people, which at the end made the film nothing but the old rum in the new bottle. Keywords: Females, Genie, patriarchy, portrayal, slavery.
... The film, Sleeping Beauty, is often described or presented visually within a racist binary that links white with goodness and black with evil (Hurley, 2005). To counter this problematic representation, Hurley suggests parents and educators supplement dominant Disney films with multicultural sources. ...
In the following paper, the authors analyze the prevalence of princess culture in the literature, film, and visual culture of young people. An art educator, art historian, and professor of English literature, the authors propose creative interventions through alternative resources and readings. Focusing on foundations of media studies and literature of Fairy-Tale Studies and girlhood studies, this interdisciplinary collaboration investigates complex creative predicaments of girlhood and princess media. Utilizing Princess Aurora and Sleeping Beauty as a case study and focal point, the authors discuss their collaborative arts research intended to explore problems and possibilities of princess culture. Keywords: Art Education; Arts Research; Fairy Tales; Media Studies, Princesses.Résumé : Les auteurs analysent la prévalence de la culture des princesses dans la littérature, les films et la culture visuelle des jeunes. Les auteures, une éducatrice artistique, une historienne et une professeure de littérature anglaise, proposent des actions créatives par le biais de ressources et lectures alternatives. Axée sur les fondements de l’étude des médias et sur la littérature liée à l’étude des contes de fées et de la jeunesse féminine, cette collaboration interdisciplinaire se penche sur les difficultés créatrices complexes des histoires de jeunesse féminine et de princesses. À partir d’une étude de cas de la princesse Aurora et de la Belle au bois dormant, les auteurs utilisent leur recherche artistique concertée pour analyser les problèmes et les possibilités de cette culture des princesses.Mots-clés : éducation artistique ; recherche artistique ; contes de fées ; étude des médias, princesses.
... Moreover, while narratives mirror reality in multiple ways, it is also important to note that they may also shape reality -that is, people make sense of the world and make decisions based on storytelling and credible tales (Fisher, 1989). Likewise, children's books, as value-laden and ideologically informed cultural products, are instrumental in conveying values, creating meaning, and moulding identities, contingent on social discursive transformations (Hurley, 2005;Lesnik-Oberstein, 1994;Morgan, 2009). For example, China's current geopolitical power enables new ways of negotiating transnational adoption. ...
This study offers a critical content analysis of thirty-six contemporary realistic picturebooks featuring transracial Chinese adoption. The theoretical framework of critical literacy highlights significant sociocultural implications of these portrayals: in particular, negative stereotypes and ideologies, in an attempt to call for inclusivity and respect. Though these adoption tales provide an opportunity for Chinese adoptees to explore sociocultural identities and for other young readers to perceive the world of adoption-created families from a different perspective, negative depictions of certain aspects suggest that transracial Chinese adoption narratives are highly contested in terms of how Chinese adoptees are viewed and what family configurations are valued. The stories sometimes omit or simplify the complexities and nuances involved in the practice, the voices of birth parents and adoptees are noticeably absent, and certain ideologies prevail in some adoptive narratives. The complex picture of what transnational adoption looks like and means for those involved needs to be more critically explored and extended by children’s literature researchers as unveiling discourses on belonging and exclusion are informed by values that will be passed on to the new generation.
During the rise of the Nazi Party, its leadership sought to promote the group’s power by pervading every facet of German life, bending the nation’s history, culture, taste, and language to its cause. One method of such indoctrination—the adoption of traditional folktales as ideological weapons—proved a valuable means of recruiting the youth of the Third Reich. In many ways, Nazi propaganda itself became a fairy tale told to a receptive volk. This chapter will ‘deep dive’ into the role mythology and folklore has had and continues to play in far-right ideologies and propaganda. It will detail the extent to which contemporary propaganda has structural similarities with historical representations of oppressed groups and describe how the far right have co-opted normative culture to conceal racialised messages that can thereby circumvent automated content-removal systems. To promote acceptance of such an approach, visual imagery is employed to transmit the propagandists’ ideals and perspectives that distil ideological opinions into rudimentary symbolic language that appeals and is readily accessible to audiences across language barriers.
To support children's engagement with reading material, it is important children are represented in reading material provided. As Parents are the curators of their child's reading diet, in this study the parental perspectives of the ethnic diversity of available reading material for their children was explored. Eight parents were interviewed individually online to explore their perceptions of diversity in their children's reading books. Interview scripts were analysed taking a reflexive thematic analysis approach. There was a commonality across all parents in that children's literature needed to represent the multicultural society their child lived in, but the emotional and personal content in this message differed between parents. To explain the data two themes of identify formation and ethnic diversity limitations of reading material are discussed. Identity formation encapsulated the parents focus on children needing to see themselves in reading material to learn about themselves and their culture. Therefore, it is important to avoid stereotyping which is the second theme. All parents noted the need for more diversity broadly in children's reading material, from publishers but also availability of diverse reading material from educational settings.
There are scholars who say that the Victorians invented children, that it was in the nineteenth century that English culture became invested in child rearing, education, and entertainment. Hugely engaged in these aspects of childhood, Charles Dickens produced novels, short stories, and articles that helped adults understand and apply methods of parenting that would inculcate Victorian morals and desired behaviour in malleable children evolving into adults. With similar goals, he also created a volume of literature just for children. Ever since, his works that feature children have been reinvented through revising his writing with modern sensibilities and inclusivity and adapting it for stage and screen to suggest post-Victorian cultivation of healthy behavioural traits in raising modern children. The chapter alludes to a variety of Dickens’ works but primarily concentrates on neo-Victorian products of A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield.
Drawing on cultural and linguistic models of Deaf people and culture, this article focuses on educational media and teaching practices that foster children’s learning.
La presente investigación trata de explorar y profundizar en el tratamiento de la figura del “príncipe” en el cine de animación de Disney, centrándose para ello en la presencia y posible evolución de los arquetipos de carácter universal, en tanto residuos arcaicos, que pueden encontrarse en los personajes masculinos de estas películas. Para ello mediante un marco teórico concreto se analizará, un listado de películas que va desde 1937 hasta 2016 y que conformará la base de un análisis que nos permita observar, evidenciar y comparar posibles elementos estructurales y coyunturales. De igual manera podremos comprobar la relación de estas figuras masculinas con la realidad social coetánea y la evolución del arquetipo de héroe y de las masculinidades al estar categorizadas en referencia a los periodos relacionados con las olas feministas. Desde un punto de vista social los arquetipos que toman los personajes en el cine de Disney son de gran importancia por su amplia difusión internacional a un público mayoritariamente infantil y aun en formación. Este artículo abordará una aproximación a los arquetipos masculinos utilizados por Disney desde sus inicios y cómo los cambios sociales, sobre todo aquellos relacionados con el feminismo, han hecho que evolucione esta representación en la animación. En definitiva, se estudiará si se perpetúan los roles tradicionales en los que “Disney `mitologiza´ a las mujeres y `memoriza´ a los hombres” (Bell, Hass y Sells, 1995: 10), o si estos roles han cambiado.
Págs. 208-222
I.S.B.N: 978-84-09-41805-3
Bu çalışmada postmodern bir masal uyarlaması olan The Princess and the Frog (Prenses ve Kurbağa, Ron Clemenets ve John Musker, 2009) animasyonunun Jungiyen yaklaşımla psikolo-jik bir okuması yapılacaktır. Animasyon Amerika’nın en eski animasyon şirketi olan Dis-ney’in yapımıdır ve şirketin diğer ürünleri gibi kapitalist ideoloji ile uyumludur. Fakat bu çalışmada bir masal uyarlaması olması ve masalın anlatısal ögelerini kullanması sebebiyle arketipsel bir anlatı olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Jungiyen yaklaşıma göre arketipsel dün-yanın kapılarını açan ve kolektif bilinçdışının psişik süreçlerine dair bilgi taşıyan masalların aynı zamanda kolektifin bilinçli tutumlarını telafi etme özelliği vardır. Çalışmada, Prenses ve Kurbağa animasyonu bu bakış açısından hareketle masal olması yönüyle incelenmiştir. Masalın analizi, Jungiyen analist Marie Louise von Franz’ın yöntemi uyarınca yapılmıştır. Buna göre, masalda özellikle kadın psişesinde eros ve logos tutumların yeniden tesis edildi-ği görülmüştür. Masal, kolektif olarak kadını logos baskın bir tutuma iten ve feminen arke-tipinden uzaklaştıran unsur olarak kapitalizme işaret etmektedir. Çalışmada masalın ko-lektif bilinçdışına dair sunduğu bilgiler Disney’in bilinçli/kültürel tutumu da göz önünde tutularak tartışmaya açılmaktadır.
La cultura visual se entiende como una representación de una ideología concreta de manera ficticia y la posterior difusión de dicho mensaje en la realidad, atendiendo de forma sesgada a un criterio de verdad. La cinematografía de animación es un apéndice de la cultura visual y se selecciona para dicho estudio debido a la influencia que tiene respecto a la población infantil en relación a su educación. Esta investigación recurre a una metodología plural para analizar a las 11 villanas principales de la colección “Los clásicos” Disney. Se genera una aproximación atendiendo al componente estético y ético de dichas figuras para manifestar los mensajes que la población infantil asimila tras el visionado de dichos filmes. Una de las consideraciones finales más significativas se centra en la percepción de la villana como mujer que rompe con los estereotipos machistas y directrices estipuladas por el heteropatriarcado.
Τις τελευταίες δύο περίπου δεκαετίες, το ιδεώδες μιας πλουραλιστικής κοινωνίας που βασίζεται στη συμπερίληψη του Άλλου, τον αλληλοσεβασμό και την αλληλοκατανόηση ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους κάθε κουλτούρας - ιδέες που αποτελούν τη βάση του διαπολιτισμικού μοντέλου διαχείρισης της ετερότητας, φαίνεται να ενσωματώνεται όλο και περισσότερο σε έργα της παιδικής λογοτεχνίας, αντικαθιστώντας σταδιακά το αφομοιωτικό μοντέλο που κυριαρχούσε παλαιότερα. Σε μια προσπάθεια να αποδομήσουν στερεοτυπικές αντιλήψεις για τον Άλλο και να εγγράψουν μια νέα, εναλλακτική οπτική στο έργο τους, συγγραφείς και εικονογράφοι παιδικών βιβλίων επιλέγουν να διασκευάσουν δημοφιλή κλασικά παραμύθια, προσδίδοντας στις εκδοχές τους μια διαπολιτισμική διάσταση ως προς το ζήτημα της ετερότητας. Στις διασκευές αυτές, θεματικά και αφηγηματικά μοτίβα των πρωτότυπων αποδομούνται, επαναπροσδιορίζονται ή παραλείπονται εξολοκλήρου, ήρωες σκιαγραφούνται από την αρχή - απαλλαγμένοι από ρατσιστικά στερεοτυπικά χαρακτηριστικά, ενώ παράλληλα δίνεται έμφαση στη σημασία του να «είσαι ο εαυτός σου». Η παρούσα εργασία επιχειρεί να αναδείξει τους τρόπους με τους οποίους διαπολιτισμικές ιδέες εγγράφονται σε σύγχρονες διασκευές κλασικών παραμυθιών μέσω του κειμενικού ή/και εικονικού λόγου, ενώ παράλληλα παρουσιάζει όψεις της παιδικής διαπολιτισμικής λογοτεχνίας από το χθες ως το σήμερα. Ως μελέτη περίπτωσης εξετάζεται η Ραπουνζέλ των αδελφών Γκριμ σε τέσσερις πρόσφατες αγγλόφωνες διασκευές: το Rapunzel των Chloe Perkins και Archana Sreenivasan, το Rapunzel to the Rescue των Lucy Rowland και Katy Halford, το Rapunzel της Rachel Isadora και το Sugar Cane: A Carribean Rapunzel των Patricia Storace και Raul Colón.
This study aims to analyze the portraits of Filipino women in terms of its plot struggle and dominant human dimension and Filipino value of the three selected Disney movie princesses. This study is a qualitative discourse analysis utilizing the theories of formalistic approach and sociological approach. The study reveals that the characterization of Disney movie princesses is reflective of the Filipino women. The images manifested in the plot struggles are sacrificial, strong and persistent. The dominant human dimensions that emerge are moral, intellectual, social and political and the themes further disclose the values of Filipino which are tolerance, love and resilience. Thus, portrait of Filipino women is very evident in the selected Disney movies princesses in plot struggle, characterization, and dominant human dimension and Filipino value.
This research explores further the development of feminism in Disney princesses’ narratives after the turn of 2010 by arguing that post-feminism and the revision of heroism have been implemented as tools to re-conceptualize the representation of Disney’s princesses. In chapter 1, the research focuses on how Frozen (2013) and Moana (2016) represent the new princess narratives that portray the princesses through post-feminist lens and deviate the princesses from the previous stages, thus demonstrating the narratives that upheave female empowerment simultaneously its underlying female disempowerment, reconstructing post-feminist masculinity, and how the new princess narratives revise the trope of romantic love fulfillment by departing it from the influence of heteronormative norms enforced by the patriarchal power. Furthermore, this chapter also examines how Brave (2012) is able to diverge its narrative from post-feminist sphere into the concept of “feminist quest heroine” by subverting the traditional concept of Disney’s princesshood through the feminist revision of heroism, hybridizing her gender identity and expressions, hence enabling her to challenge the westernized feminine beauty, and embracing the concept of sisterhood to deconstruct the patriarchal power, therefore verifying her as the most progressive Disney feminist princess at the time.
The second chapter shifts the focus of the analysis into the remade movies of Disney princesses by comparing them to their Disney original versions: Maleficent (2014) & Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Aladdin (2019) & Aladdin (1992). Both analyses are still based on the concept of feminist quest heroine by examining how the concept reconstructs the perpetuation of non-hegemonic femininity which is strongly prominent in Maleficent’s portrayal, how “sisterhood” as the concept is applied to rework the trope of true love kiss, and how the notion of male heroism is deconstructed while female heroism is more emphasized. The examination of Aladdin (2019) is also studied through this concept, focusing on how it subverts the patriarchal authority, how the concept supports the desexualization of the princess, and how the mainstreamed song “Speechless” expresses its patriarchy antagonism and reworks “the princess song”.
In the final chapter, the analysis departs from the princess genre into a few other Disney female characters, derived from Pixar, whose representations are also revised through the concept of feminist quest heroine: Elastigirl from The Incredibles (2004) and Incredibles 2 (2018) and Bo Peep from Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 4 (2019). To help reinforce the analysis and broaden the thesis, both animated movies are examined based on the same aspects: how the concept deconstructs male heroism and challenges conventional gender roles as well as how both animations pave a new way to portray and perceive masculinity.
Fairy tales often occupy only a superficial role in German language classrooms, used to check a culture box and teach the simple past tense. However, teaching fairy tales can engage students' analytical faculties and expose them to the culturally and linguistically embedded nature of folktales, leading them to a deeper appreciation of language, culture, and history. This article examines a course titled "Fairy Tales and German National Identity," and discusses ways to incorporate fairy tales into a course focused on German and intercultural literacy. Instructors can assist in developing students' critical thinking and writing abilities by highlighting the deep connections between language, culture, politics, and history as well as cross-cultural awareness. Students apply cross-and intercultural lenses to the study of excerpts from Goethe's Das Märchen, a selection of Grimm tales (especially those that fall out of or were added to subsequent editions), Heine's Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen, and other secondary and student-selected readings. Students learn to contextualize the tales within discreet German and contemporary political and historical frameworks through discussion, writing, and lectures. They may also adopt a new perspective on how high and low cultural artifacts influence social, cultural, and political attitudes.
Fairy tales often occupy only a superficial role in German language classrooms, used to check a culture box and teach the simple past tense. However, teaching fairy tales can engage students’ analytical faculties and expose them to the culturally and linguistically embedded nature of folktales, leading them to a deeper appreciation of language, culture, and history. This article examines a course titled “Fairy Tales and German National Identity,” and discusses ways to incorporate fairy tales into a course focused on German and intercultural literacy. Instructors can assist in developing students’ critical thinking and writing abilities by highlighting the deep connections between language, culture, politics, and history as well as cross-cultural awareness. Students apply cross- and intercultural lenses to the study of excerpts from Goethe's Das Märchen, a selection of Grimm tales (especially those that fall out of or were added to subsequent editions), Heine's Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen, and other secondary and student-selected readings. Students learn to contextualize the tales within discreet German and contemporary political and historical frameworks through discussion, writing, and lectures. They may also adopt a new perspective on how high and low cultural artifacts influence social, cultural, and political attitudes.
“Keloğlan Masalları” Türk dünyası kültür ve edebiyatının en önemli ürünlerindendir. Bu masallarda ana karakter Keloğlan’ın karşılaştığı zorluklarla mücadelesi konu edilmektedir. Birçok masalda yaşlı annesiyle geçim sıkıntısı yaşayan Keloğlan’ın gayreti, kısa yoldan geçim kaynağı sağlama veya zengin olma üzerinedir. Yaşadığı olaylar zinciri çoğunlukla annesinin yönlendirmesi, azarlaması ya da evden kovması üzerine başlamakta ve yine annesinin yanında son bulmaktadır. Bu çalışmada Keloğlan Masalları’nın önemli bir figürü olarak “anne”nin, çocuğunun eylemleri karşısındaki tavrı “anne-çocuk ilişkisi ve annenin çocuğunun eylemlerine yaklaşımı” açısından ele alınmıştır. Betimsel nitelikte olan bu araştırma nitel bir çalışmadır. Çalışmanın verileri, nitel araştırmada kullanılan veri toplama yöntemlerinden biri olan doküman analizi yardımıyla toplanmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Tahir Alangu’nun Keloğlan Masalları adlı kitabında Keloğlan ile annesinin birlikte yer aldığı masallar taranmıştır. Veri analizi sürecinin inanırlığını sağlamak için araştırmacı çeşitlemesine gidilmiştir. Bu bağlamda, üç Türkçe eğitimi uzmanı çalışmaya veri sağlayan masalları anne-çocuk ilişkisi ve annenin çocuğunun eylemlerine yaklaşımı doğrultusunda ayrı ayrı zamanlarda incelemiş ve kodlamıştır. Elde edilen bulguların tutarlılığı ve inanırlığı sağlanmaya çalışılmıştır. İncelenen masallar içerisinden çocuk eğitimi ve gelişimi açısından olumsuz örnek teşkil edebileceği düşünülen örnekler belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen veriler ışığında “anne”nin olumsuz örnek oluşturan davranışları tartışılmış ve değerlendirmeye tabi tutulmuştur.
Traditional literature (including folk tales, fairy tales, and fables) is valued in academic children's literature collections for its value in both direct use (real or hypothetical) with children and the historical, cultural, and anthropological study of folklore. The “timeless” feel of these works, along with their distinctively liminal place between fiction and nonfiction, can lead them to be perceived as indefinitely useful, even beyond their unusually long standard retention period. Nevertheless, in a non-archival academic children’s literature collection, routine assessment of traditional literature is necessary and even valuable. This article situates traditional literature in the context of children’s literature and its academic study, then describes how the children’s folklore collection in one academic library was bifurcated to improve access, browsing ability, context, and use of shelf space. Considerations, including thoughts on developing assessment and weeding criteria, are spelled out for collections considering a similar undertaking.
Although the Brothers Grimm collection of fairy tales have somehow the same
cliché of plot, setting, and characters, in the fairy tale of Shrek the protagonist
doesn’t follow this cliché. Shrek the protagonist is not a classical fairy tale of the
handsome prince in quest of a beautiful princess; instead, he is an ogre. Grimm
brothers wrote on text that they collected from the words of mouth giving the
traditional tales a special structure and characters. However, compared to
Grimm Brothers' tales, Shrek the film, has a completely different structure and
characters.
In this paper I try to disclose the fact that Grimm folk tales which reveal the
mentality of the 19th century as well as that of the earlier ages that belong to
specific cultures (especially to the European culture and their mentality) are
completely different than that of Shrek the film.
This article contributes to Gender Work and Organization's Special Themed Section on Foodwork, by addressing the intersects of race, gender and class in representations of labour, whiteness and neoliberalism in popular and digital food cultures. The discussion responds to the journal's call for papers by examining the clean eating trend as a vehicle for the ideals of white femininity, and the techniques of femininity that are employed to convey messages of normalcy and exceptionalism in this contemporary popular food culture. In the analysis of an article in the high‐end home interiors magazine, Elle Decoration, the visual authoritativeness of clean eating advocates is considered to highlight the strategies and devices used to deploy ideals of white femininity and to create boundaries around a remodelled white female neoliberal self. The article aims to advance current debates regarding digital foodwork, by examining the aesthetics of whiteness that are contained within the message of relatability communicated by social media food influencers. Thus, in keeping with the broader concerns of the journal, the article addresses developments in the fields of gender and digital labour, with respect to the overwhelming dominance of privileged white women in this sphere and the aesthetics of their labour, which has thus far received limited attention within existing debates.
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This chapter summarises the key contextual developments in the Disney fairy tale in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It proposes that there has been a substantial renegotiation of the nature of the Disney fairy tale following the significant transformation of American society throughout the past century. Like the American Dream, the Disney fairy tale has proven highly adaptive to changing conceptions of Americanism and imbues its heroes and heroines with American values. Post 9/11, however, these values are challenged and become significantly more complex, resulting in a reframing of the nature of heroism. It is also suggested that these narratives, and specifically, Disney’s live action productions, construct the United States as an inclusive utopian space: a fantasy zone where dreams can come for those who wish to pursue them, insisting upon the relevance of fairy tale elements for the contemporary manifestation of the American Dream.
This chapter provides an outline of the primary characteristics of Depression and post-war society in the United States, including political changes, gender roles and cultural shifts. This provides the contextual backdrop for Disney’s first three fairy tale films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Hand et al. 1937), Cinderella (Geronimi et al. 1950) and Sleeping Beauty (Geronimi 1959). The analysis posits that each of these films features a progressive ‘rags to riches’ heroine, trapped within their current setting and desiring of a new life beside a man they love. Alongside the underdogs (dwarfs, mice and fairies), they fight anti-American forces in pursuit of their happily ever after: the American Dream. Most importantly, however, these fairy tales are anti-royalist. They reject the conservative, oppressive impositions placed upon their heroes and heroines by the ‘old’ generation of royals, in favour of a new, progressive approach to marriage. This constitutes a Disney fairy tale which is liberal in outlook, emphasising choice and freedom, but that functions solely within the nostalgic framework of the patriarchal order.
This chapter interrogates the adaptations of European fairy tale narratives released during Disney’s most critically and commercially successful era: 1989–1999. By the time the Walt Disney Studio released The Little Mermaid in 1989 (Clements and Musker 1989), things had changed considerably for the United States and for the company itself. The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 brought about a new popular conservatism in American society, the influence of which was felt into the presidency of George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993 and beyond. Reagan’s claims to ‘make America great again’ issued forth a nostalgia for traditional family values, accompanied by an anti-feminist backlash. This socially conservative framework adapted to contemporary life through a shift towards post-feminism: women could choose to be whatever they wanted in modern America. This fusion between past and present, traditionalism and progress, manifests within The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (Trousdale and Wise 1991) as heroines show increased agency and ambition, but conclude their narratives in heterosexual marriage. This increased role for women was recognised within the popular liberalism of Clinton in the 1990s. Furthermore, as a result of economic changes brought about by Reagan’s neoliberal embrace of deregulation and marketisation, the American Dream itself was privatised in the 1980s. The Disney fairy tale is thus significantly more globalised in scope, emphasising the power of America’s market forces and consumerism as the American Dream reached into the post-industrial era.
This chapter considers the complex relationship between Disney fairy tales and the American Dream, examining the similarities in these two mythical narratives. This chapter also charts the current status of scholarship on the Disney fairy tale, underlining the ways in which these narratives have been critiqued for their Americanisation of their canonised literary counterparts. It concludes that both the American Dream and the Disney fairy tale were born out of the Great Depression in the 1930s and that they attempt to sustain core elements of American identity. Each displays a peculiar adaptability throughout history, modifying key components of their narratives in accordance with socio-cultural change. Crucially, they present a specific fairy tale version of America back to itself, one infused with the nostalgia of the nation’s past and the promise of modernity and innovation in its future.
This paper discusses findings from the first OwnVoices count of Australian picture books, as part of a grant-funded partnership with advocacy group Voices from the Intersection (VFTI). The research involved the compilation of a detailed annotated list of all Australian picture books published in 2018; the identities of the characters; and demographic information of authors and illustrators, sourced from publicly available resources where creators freely self-identified as belonging to structurally marginalised communities. A book’s OwnVoices status was determined from this information. Findings indicate OwnVoices picture books are significantly under-published in Australia, and contribute a greater understanding of the level of equity and access in the contemporary Australian publishing industry.
North American children are growing up in a media-saturated landscape. Since the deregulation of children’s television in the 1980s in the United States, an explosion of intertextual transmedia franchises has resulted in Canadian children being surrounded by not only film and television texts, but also by media-based toys and merchandise. Market segmentation means these toys and related items are highly gendered, with themes that include femininity, passivity, appearance and friendship for girls, and hegemonic masculine ideals including dominance, aggression, militarism and competitiveness for boys. This investigation undertakes an observation of children at a daycare and a preschool, in Montreal, engaged in pretend play utilizing media-based toys and dress-up costumes to understand what types of gender discourses circulate through play with these items. Results indicate that the gendered themes evident in the media-based toys and narratives are taken up by the children and become part of their everyday play worlds, exacerbating gender policing among peers. However, aspects of gender discourses are also contested as some children take pleasure in subverting gender norms, or turning submissive roles into more agentic positions in play. The production history and content of some of the media-based franchises are also examined, as well as pedagogical approaches that may prevent critiques of hegemonic gender discourses in the early childhood education environment.
This article draws on a case study of children's response to stories and uses post-structuralist theory to examine how the children who participated in the study used their intertextual knowledge to understand and produce disruptive stories. 'Disruptive' refers here to texts that challenge and go beyond conventional and limiting traditional storylines about race, gender and class through presenting unexpected characterisations, plots, outcomes or details-for example, feminist fairy tales, or stories where the protagonists belong to visible minorities. This article looks specifically at stories that disrupt conventional storylines about gender, and explores ways of broadening children's intertextual knowledge and enhancing their ability to read and write critically. Examples from children's writing and conversations are analysed.