It's Elementary: What Nancy Drew Reveals about Gender Construction

Authors

  • Johnson Song Stanford University Undergraduate

Abstract

This article examines gender portrayal in children's detective fiction and its implications for gender construction among children. Specifically, the author draws from excerpts from The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, as well as references from Walt Disney films, to analyze how gender portrayal and expectations of characters are influenced by the genre and media in which they are presented. The article begins with a review of research on the role that early literature plays in shaping young children's social understanding. It then considers the conventional depiction of women in detective fiction to establish the stereotypes that are broken by Nancy Drew's emergence in the genre. It proceeds into an analysis of the portrayal of Nancy Drew and a critical comparison with the portrayal of several Disney princesses. Then, the article extends into an inspection of the audience and popular response to Nancy Drew, providing key insight to the greater social impact of women in the detective genre. Finally, the author remarks on what studying gender typification and depiction among children's media can reveal about current discussions on femininity in the workplace, politics, athletics, and broader society.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-14

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Research Article

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License  that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

How to Cite

It’s Elementary: What Nancy Drew Reveals about Gender Construction. (2018). The Cutting Edge: The Stanford Undergraduate Journal of Education Research, 2(1). https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/ce/article/view/1133