of the narrative. The representation of the “horse-crazy girl” draws from gendered discourses about the role of care by providing female characters with something to unconditionally care for to reinforce the boundaries of appropriate femininity. It positions female characters to discover their value and self-worth, not through action, but through the provision of care. The result is that Bonnie and Sam’s characterisation as “horse-crazy” serves anchor them within discourses “of the domestic and the feminine” (Bratten, 1997, 11). As such, the representation is limiting because exists within clear, idealised and narrow boundaries constructed by socially-appropriate notions of femininity.
This contestation between gendered feminine notions is …show more content…
The series is often reliant on “gender is a primary method of categorisation” as well as the basis for wide-spread generalisation (Diekman and Murnen, 2004, 383). Diekman and Murnen (2004) argue that this categorisation is often seen in depictions that reaffirm attitudes that “boys do this, but girls do this” which recurs frequently in the Bonnie and Sam series (383). This representation results in the reinforcement of social perceptions that there are significant gender differences. The traditional gender discourses work “cumulatively to construct a view of … males and females being very different from each other” (Sunderland, 2011, 213) to circumscribe social and cultural ideas of what it means to be female or male. There are two key distinctions in behaviour between female and male characters in the Bonnie and Sam series: emotional, nurturing, stoic, and detached. These representations of gender difference acquire meaning by “reinforcing the values of nurturing and emotional vulnerability…by making them appear natural, inevitable, and desirable as culturally legible signs of 'femininity”” (Cohan and Shire cited in Gilbert, 1992, 191) whilst promoting the value of responsibility and authority as a part of masculine ideals. This adherence to traditional constructions of gender does not always occur within deliberate policies, but rather more subtly such as Bonnie and Sam’s desire to participate in beauty rituals with friends or horses (228) or in the fact, that all the male characters are obsessed with motorised vehicles (70, 112, 130). Moreover, the overarching representations of female characters present in the Bonnie and Sam series “implies an allegiance to traditionally feminine concerns and values” (Nodelman, 2008, 173). These traditional gender discourses privilege dominant constructions of gender that suggest
This contestation between gendered feminine notions is …show more content…
The series is often reliant on “gender is a primary method of categorisation” as well as the basis for wide-spread generalisation (Diekman and Murnen, 2004, 383). Diekman and Murnen (2004) argue that this categorisation is often seen in depictions that reaffirm attitudes that “boys do this, but girls do this” which recurs frequently in the Bonnie and Sam series (383). This representation results in the reinforcement of social perceptions that there are significant gender differences. The traditional gender discourses work “cumulatively to construct a view of … males and females being very different from each other” (Sunderland, 2011, 213) to circumscribe social and cultural ideas of what it means to be female or male. There are two key distinctions in behaviour between female and male characters in the Bonnie and Sam series: emotional, nurturing, stoic, and detached. These representations of gender difference acquire meaning by “reinforcing the values of nurturing and emotional vulnerability…by making them appear natural, inevitable, and desirable as culturally legible signs of 'femininity”” (Cohan and Shire cited in Gilbert, 1992, 191) whilst promoting the value of responsibility and authority as a part of masculine ideals. This adherence to traditional constructions of gender does not always occur within deliberate policies, but rather more subtly such as Bonnie and Sam’s desire to participate in beauty rituals with friends or horses (228) or in the fact, that all the male characters are obsessed with motorised vehicles (70, 112, 130). Moreover, the overarching representations of female characters present in the Bonnie and Sam series “implies an allegiance to traditionally feminine concerns and values” (Nodelman, 2008, 173). These traditional gender discourses privilege dominant constructions of gender that suggest