Abstract
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.
Keywords
critical feminist lens, counter gender stereotypes, Disney characters, hands-on activities
ORCID Identifiers
Xuan Jiang: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5424-4882
Linlin Zhang: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7653-0102
Diana Rivero: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4305-7967
Brittany Torres: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8012-784X
DOI
10.5038/2577-509X.8.2.1327
Recommended Citation
Jiang, X., Zhang, L., Rivero, D., & Torres, B. (2024). Meta-narrative review of gender portrayal in Disney movies for young children and its pedagogical implications. Journal of Global Education and Research, 8(2), 116-131. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2577-509X.8.2.1327
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons
