Animated film as a space for presenting and contesting masculinity

Abstract

Animated movies can be treated as one of the forms of cultural transmission that can be a source of gender stereotypes. Therefore, they are involved in the process of constructing images of femininity and masculinity, especially among young viewers. The author of this article presents what are, in his opinion, the most popular ways of categorizing masculinity, and then juxtaposes them with the typology of masculine characters presented in contemporary animated films. The empirical material used in the study is based on a qualitative content analysis carried out on the fifteen most popular titles from the years 2011–2015. Certain difficulties regarding the description of the characters presented in animated films, using categories from classical theories of masculinity, are indicated. The author presents a new category of masculinity – selective masculinity.

Keywords

• masculinity
• animated films
• gender stereotypes
• gender studies
• men’s studies