Building Gender Awareness From An Early Age: A Study Of Visual And Narrative Literacy In Children's Storybooks In Indonesia
Abstract
Gender awareness is a crucial foundation for fostering inclusive and equitable attitudes from an early age. In Indonesia, early childhood education (PAUD) is a critical phase of instilling basic values, including an understanding of gender-based social roles. However, various studies show that children's storybooks—as the primary learning medium—still contain gender-biased narratives and illustrations, which indirectly reproduce stereotypes and role inequalities between men and women. This phenomenon is a significant concern in the discourse on inclusive education and feminist literacy. The research problem formulation in this study is: to what extent does visual and narrative literacy in Indonesian children's storybooks support or hinder the formation of gender awareness in early childhood? The research gap addressed is the lack of studies that comprehensively examine the construction of gender roles in Indonesian children's books through a feminist media and visual literacy approach. This study uses a qualitative approach with Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis and Stuart Miller's theory of representation. Hall to read text and images in children's books. Media feminist theory was also used to examine how the social construction of gender is shaped through narrative. Preliminary results indicate that most children's storybooks still depict male characters as dominant and active, while female characters are depicted in domestic and passive roles. This reinforces the importance of revising children's literacy content to be more gender-equal