The Department of American Studies: Literature and Media is pleased to announce a guest lecture by Rebecca Hains (Salem State University, USA), a Fulbright Visiting Scholar to the Jagiellonian University
The title of the talk: “The erasure of counter-stereotypical girls from Disney’s toys: Exploring toy, transmedia and audience tensions”
Date: May 17’ 24, Time: 11:30am
Venue: Collegium Heliodori, Sala Górna
Abstract
Counter-stereotypical female characters from Disney- and Disney-subsidiary films have frequently been excluded from, underrepresented in, or misrepresented in toys based on their films. Employing a feminist cultural studies perspective, this talk considers a decade-long pattern of erasure and gender stereotyping, including the cases of Luisa Madrigal from Encanto (2021); Rey from The Force Awakens (2015) Honey Lemon and GoGo from Big Hero 6 (2014); Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014); The Black Widow from Avengers (2015); and Merida from Brave (2012). It explores these characters’ treatment in relation to media and toy industries’ relationship; toys’ roles as transmedia texts; and fan critiques, many amplified on social media using hashtag activism. The study’s analysis reveals tensions in Disney’s transmedia environments as various stakeholders—filmmakers, toy marketers, and audience members—negotiate a conflict: the disconnect between more equitable and inclusive female representation on screen, which many audience members value; and gender-stereotypical assumptions about female characters’ value in the toy industry, which publicly available discourse suggests frustrates and alienates some audience members
About the speaker
Rebecca C. Hains, Ph.D. is a professor of media and communication at Salem State University, where she researches children’s media culture from a critical/cultural studies perspective. Hains authored the books Growing Up With Girl Power: Girlhood on Screen and in Everyday Life (Peter Lang, 2012) and The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years (Sourcebooks, 2014) and has contributed to anthologies such as 20 Questions About Youth and Media (Peter Lang, 2018) and Deconstructing Dolls: Girlhoods and the Meanings of Play (Berghahn Books, 2022). She has collaboratively edited several collections, including Cultural Studies of LEGO (Palgrave, 2019) and The Marketing of Children’s Toys (Palgrave, 2021), and has published in various journals, including Women’s Studies in Communication and Girlhood Studies. She serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Children and Media and is a 2023-2024 Fulbright Scholar to the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.