Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between

Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children's Entertainment Media

Contributions by Fatima Q. Al Hattami, Sara Austin, Thomas J Billard executive director, Cente, Nancy Bressler, Claire Burdfield, Chrys Egan, Rebecca Feasey Bath Spa University, Susan G. Kahlenberg, Brian L. MacAuley, Jennifer Miller, Jerralyn R. R. Moudry, Annick Pellegrin, Christopher J. Olson, CarrieLynn D. Reinhard Dominican University, Richard J. Schaefer, Heike Steinhoff Edited by CarrieLynn D. Reinhard Dominican University, Christopher J. Olson

Publication date:

20 September 2017

Length of book:

280 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

238x158mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498539579

Current characters in children’s entertainment media illustrate a growing trend of representations that challenge or subvert traditional notions of gender and sexuality. From films to picture books to animated television series, children’s entertainment media around the world has consistently depicted stereotypically traditional gender roles and heterosexual relationships as the normal way that people act and engage with one another. Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children's Entertainment Media examines how this media ecology now includes a presence for nonheteronormative genders and sexualities. It considers representations of such identities in various media products (e.g., comic books, television shows, animated films, films, children’s literature) meant for children (e.g., toddlers to teenagers). The contributors seek to identify and understand characterizations that go beyond these traditional understandings of gender and sexuality. By doing so, they explore these nontraditional representations and consider what they say about the current state of children’s entertainment media, popular culture, and global acceptance of these gender identities and sexualities.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Looking Past Stereotypes of Gender Identity and Sexuality in Children’s Media—CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, Christopher J. Olson, and Susan G. Kahlenberg

Chapter 1: SheZow: Costume Changes and Gender Non-Conformity—Rebecca Feasey

Chapter 2: A Little Queer: Ambivalence and the Work of Gender Play in Children’s Literature— Jennifer Miller

Chapter 3: Hungry for Change: Analysis and Application of The Hunger Games—Chrys Egan

Chapter 4: “I’ll Show You What a Girl Is”: Analyzing Non-Stereotypical Representations of Gender on Liv & Maddie—Nancy Bressler

Chapter 5: “She really knows her stuff”: Counter-hegemonic Messages about Gender in Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins—Jerralyn R. R. Moudry

Chapter 6: Female Gender Modeling Between Now and Then: Two Western Cartoons and Their Resonance with an Arab Culture—Fatima Q. Al Hattami and Richard J. Schaefer

Chapter 7: Cold, Tactless, Brave, Heroic, Technowizards: The New Feminine of Mattel’s Fashion Dolls—Sara Austin

Chapter 8: Feroumont’s, Hubert’s and Kerascoët’s Heroines: Debunking the Myths of Happiness in Romantic Fairy Tales and Romance Novels—Annick Pellegrin

Chapter 9: “Let It Go”?: Re-Inventing the Disney Fairy Tale in Frozen—Heike Steinhoff

Chapter 10: A Computer Boy or a Computer Girl?: Adventure Time, BMO and Gender Fluidity—Christopher J. Olson and CarrieLynn D. Reinhard

Chapter 11: Sexualized Sponges: SpongeBob SquarePants and Gender Identity—Claire Burdfield

Chapter 12: Quantification of Gender: Gender Counter-Stereotypes Across Disney and Nickelodeon Networks Using Content Analysis—Susan G. Kahlenberg

Chapter 13: “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Transgender Superhero!”: Transgender Characters in Marvel, DC, and Image Comics—Thomas J Billard and Brian L. MacAuley

Conclusion: New Role Models for Children? —Christopher J. Olson

About the Editors and Contributors

This book challenges our thinking about gender fluidity, heteronormativity, and sexuality by showcasing their presence in innovative media content for children. The contributors’ in-depth, creative analyses of case studies can enable readers to understand how children’s screens have the potential to promote gender equity!