Magical triumph or miserable illusion?: Gender and race constructions in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'.

摘要

Understanding the ways in which media can influence how children learn about the world around them has been of particular concern for scholars throughout the years. Children's media have been shown to contain numerous gender and racial stereotypes that, arguably, have an impact on social development. This thesis focuses on a textual analysis of the first two movies in the Harry Potter series, using the perspectives of feminist theory, critical white studies, and social cognitive theory to develop a greater understanding of how mainstream children's media continue to perpetuate the gender and racial ideals of the dominant system of white patriarchy. It was found that both male and female characters fall into traditional gender stereotypes, with little room for nonconforming. Whiteness continues to be presented as the dominant expression of race with very little attempt to acknowledge the true diversity of modern society beyond a half-hearted attempt at visual multiculturalism.