Gender relations, comic books and children's cultures: Between stereotypes and reinventions
The article discusses the production of children's cultures based on the experiences of 3 5 year old children with the language of comic books, focusing on gender relations. It is part of a doctoral research project conducted at FE UNICAMP and investigates a case study in a municipal pre school in the Greater ABC region in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It assumes that comic books viewed as media production interfere with children's ways of life, often reinforcing stereotypes found in sex differences. Combining philosophy, sociology and childhood education, it discusses how small children interact with comic books and what they reproduce, invent or reinvent when inspired by such materials. It emphasizes that comic books are part of children's material cultures and unveil symbolic aspects of children's cultures, which they share with each other and with adults in such a way that they observe patterns and identity values being negotiated in the sense that not only do they reproduce stereotypes of heteronormative culture, but also cross the boundaries of gender. In sum, the article sheds light on the challenge of bringing children to the debate about gender relations from the perspective of pedagogical proposals which might overcome sexist practices present in educational institutions.