CONSTRUCTING CHILDHOOD AS A GENDERED IDENTITY: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF FAIRY TALES AND CHILDREN’S STORIES

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the discursive construction of gendered childhoods using a critical discourse analysis approach. The study concentrates on the discourse operation to build, in a normalizing way, and sustain gendered identity through language, visual representation, and arrangement of narrative. The study applies critical discourse analysis and gender performativity and feminist media theory to understand the ideology of masculinity and femininity that is constructed from the selected stories. The findings suggest that gender identities are systematically created through patterned language choices, visual coding, and story placement as a means to reinforce hegemonic gender norms. Although in recent representations, there is a move towards more agentic figures of female characters, these are still embedded in discursive structures that reproduce inequality. This research paper, which is set in a Pakistani social-cultural context, highlights the interaction of the spread and globalization of children's stories and the local gender norms in the socialization of gendered identities. This paper goes beyond description of the representation of children in the media and demonstrates how the media functions as a space of ideological production for children. The research contributes to the critical discourse studies of feminism, particularly in the Pakistani context, and draws attention to the importance of critically analyzing the textual discourses on children as formative cultural products.