Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications

Many of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an imm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xuan Jiang, Linlin Zhang, Diana Rivero, Brittany Torres
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing 2024-07-01
Series:Journal of Global Education and Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jger/vol8/iss2/2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849762088420900864
author Xuan Jiang
Linlin Zhang
Diana Rivero
Brittany Torres
author_facet Xuan Jiang
Linlin Zhang
Diana Rivero
Brittany Torres
author_sort Xuan Jiang
collection DOAJ
description Many of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an immediate impact on individuals’ behaviors and utterances and a long-term impact on individuals’ perceived options academically, professionally, personally, and socially. Recognizing the significance of this matter, this paper employed a meta-narrative review to collect and conceptually and empirically synthesize previous literature on the impact of Disney movies on young children’s gender awareness. Through an academic database search, 49 articles were collected using combinations of the keywords Disney character, Disney movie, young children, early childhood education, classroom practices, and gender. Furthermore, this review, in the pedagogical implication section, highlights the authors’ call for teachers to develop critical mindfulness of gender and shares hands-on activities for children to play with Disney characters in a reconstructive and agentic way.
format Article
id doaj-art-122174b067b24fd098f2f284fa448d21
institution DOAJ
issn 2577-509X
language English
publishDate 2024-07-01
publisher University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing
record_format Article
series Journal of Global Education and Research
spelling doaj-art-122174b067b24fd098f2f284fa448d212025-08-20T03:05:50ZengUniversity of South Florida (USF) M3 PublishingJournal of Global Education and Research2577-509X2024-07-018210.5038/2577-509X.8.2.1327Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implicationsXuan Jiang0Linlin Zhang1Diana Rivero2Brittany Torres3Florida International UniversityFlorida International UniversityFlorida International UniversityFlorida International UniversityMany of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an immediate impact on individuals’ behaviors and utterances and a long-term impact on individuals’ perceived options academically, professionally, personally, and socially. Recognizing the significance of this matter, this paper employed a meta-narrative review to collect and conceptually and empirically synthesize previous literature on the impact of Disney movies on young children’s gender awareness. Through an academic database search, 49 articles were collected using combinations of the keywords Disney character, Disney movie, young children, early childhood education, classroom practices, and gender. Furthermore, this review, in the pedagogical implication section, highlights the authors’ call for teachers to develop critical mindfulness of gender and shares hands-on activities for children to play with Disney characters in a reconstructive and agentic way.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jger/vol8/iss2/2critical feminist lenscounter gender stereotypesdisney charactershands-on activities
spellingShingle Xuan Jiang
Linlin Zhang
Diana Rivero
Brittany Torres
Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
Journal of Global Education and Research
critical feminist lens
counter gender stereotypes
disney characters
hands-on activities
title Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
title_full Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
title_fullStr Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
title_full_unstemmed Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
title_short Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
title_sort meta narrative review of gender portrayal in disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications
topic critical feminist lens
counter gender stereotypes
disney characters
hands-on activities
url https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jger/vol8/iss2/2
work_keys_str_mv AT xuanjiang metanarrativereviewofgenderportrayalindisneymoviesforyoungchildrenanditspedagogicalimplications
AT linlinzhang metanarrativereviewofgenderportrayalindisneymoviesforyoungchildrenanditspedagogicalimplications
AT dianarivero metanarrativereviewofgenderportrayalindisneymoviesforyoungchildrenanditspedagogicalimplications
AT brittanytorres metanarrativereviewofgenderportrayalindisneymoviesforyoungchildrenanditspedagogicalimplications