How does Liza Donnelly employ the child's perspective to challenge societal norms?

Children, innocent and vulnerable, live in an unpredictable and imperfect society and view it differently. Writers often take advantage of these imperfections to illuminate the flaws of society. Cartoonist Liza Donnelly, popular for her 'Cartooning for Peace' series, focuses on advocacy against gender and sexuality issues, like women's gender roles. Donnelly often uses children's perspectives as her mouthpiece to comment on surrounding issues. Through employing the child's perspective to provide a clearer and more nuanced understanding of societal norms, Donnelly ultimately challenges them and encourages their mitigation in order to create an open-minded society that provides a healthy space for child development.

Firstly, Donnelly employs children's perspective to criticise society's idea of gender roles. Undoubtedly, the young girl's understanding of gender roles is heavily influenced by media and society. Interestingly, despite being in a context where their dialogue is unprompted, the girls' indifferent use of it suggests that they are indoctrinated into gender roles early on, yet lack an understanding of this confining situation they are subject to (Christina Watton, 2021). The negative connotation of the noun 'slut', historically used as a term to shame a woman's sexual behaviour (Vocabulary.com), and the positive connotation of the phrase 'good girl', referring to girls who silently abide by society's norms, acknowledges the girl's understanding that women are either shamed or appraised by society. Furthermore, the derogatory noun 'slut' juxtaposes the phrase 'good girl', signalling two extreme lenses women are seen through. This reveals the strict societal expectations of women, evoking shock and reflection from viewers, reminding them of the implications gender roles have on a young child's self-esteem and sense of identity.

Additionally, the girl's indecision about her choices, expressed as 'I can't decide,' suggests that children perceive limited options for the roles or identities available for women, reinforcing the notion that there are 'ideal types of women' deemed acceptable. Donnelly voices the sad reality of women pressured to 'fit' into certain roles, instead of simply having free will. By using controversial and pejorative terms with child characters, Donnelly powerfully gives the girl an apparent adult voice and viewpoint, shocking the audience.

To emphasise the girl's young age, Donnelly uses a feminine and childlike setting through the colour pink, stereotypically associated with girls and femininity (Kendra Cherry, 2005) and props- a framed unicorn and a teddy bear. The props act as symbols, with the teddy bear symbolising innocence and childhood (Chris, 2023) and the unicorn power, purity, and innocence (National Trust for Scotland, 2019). Ultimately, the adult voice in the child is emphasised, stunning viewers and forcing them to question the extremities gender roles have reached. Emphasising the girls' young age is Donnelly's powerful method of aggressively revealing how young girls are driven to contemplate heavy topics at a tender age, encouraging thought regarding its obstructive effect on girls' self-development. Donnelly conveys a powerful message through her clever use of symbolism and subtle utilisation of setting, provoking reflection from viewers, encouraging deeper thought and evoking pity and sadness. Thus, Donnelly not only criticises the expectations of women but uses the girls' perspective to disapprove of 'accepted' roles, prompting a re-evaluation of societal standards.

To continue, Donnelly continues with the narrative of children at play to showcase how gender stereotypes affect children by employing the child's perspective to satirise society's idea of sexuality. The entire dialogue has a cause-and-effect- structure, reinforcing stereotypes. The declarative sentence from the girl saying 'that means he's gay' simplifies society's belief that liking pink as a male automatically classifies you as homosexual. The connotation of 'pink' is heavily associated with females (Kendra Cherry, 2005), and interestingly, Donnelly utilises pink consistently as a symbol of stereotypical femininity as ascribed by society. Simply, the girls assume the boy is homosexual based on his display of so-called feminine traits, proving these traits are stereotypically associated with the loss of masculinity and homosexuality. Donnelly subtly injects a sense of humour into the accusation by highlighting the weak correlation between the assumptions and the underlying beliefs. Not only does she ridicule society's idea that being feminine makes one gay, but condemns the assumption that gay men aren't masculine. The girls reflect this idea, with the two declarative sentences 'He says he's building a pink power plant ... pollute anything. That means he's gay' articulating this cause-and-effect situation. This holds significance in Donnelly's critique that being masculine requires one to be damaging to fulfil that role. The boy's power plant is not, therefore society will view him as homosexual. Through the portrayal of an innocent child at play being unfairly stereotyped, Donnelly skillfully satirises the criteria for acceptance as 'normal' within gender groups.

However, one could argue that Donnelly reinforces stereotypes. The girls are distanced from the boy, leaning into each other. The unassuming proxemics amplify the stereotype of women being gossips, hinting at how the cycle of perpetuation continues as one stereotyped gender group does the same to the other.

Moreover, Donnelly condemns the categories constantly created by society. The girl speaking is a victim of society, classifying the boy based on a stereotype. Surprisingly, his facial expression shows a happy and unbothered attitude, characterised by his smile. It hints at his innocence and naivety to the situation- he just happens to like pink, but has not been exposed to how his actions strip him of his identity. Through his facial expression, Donnelly heavily mocks the ridiculous conclusions that society makes about gender and sexuality. She comments on the implications of stereotyping gender roles and sexuality through a child's viewpoint, reminding viewers of the damaging values that are passed down to children. Thus, Donnelly cleverly satirises society's idea of sexuality and the need to categorise people into certain profiles.

Moreover, colour symbolism to challenge gender roles is explored with Donnelly criticising their restriction on children's self-expression and identity. The modality of the declarative sentence when the child reminds her mother 'But Suzie says we have to wear pink', characterised by the effective auxiliary verb 'have', showcases societal pressures on children to conform to certain roles to be accepted. Despite liking the blue her mother is offering, the young girl actively chooses to listen to Suzie - essentially, to fit in. In this case, 'Suzie' acts as a representation of a restrictive society that reflects the chain of perpetuation between different age groups, as she ironically contrasts the older generation, the mother, whose perspective is progressive and liberating.

Creatively, Donnelly powerfully costumes the child from head to toe in pink, with a pink skirt and shirt, hinting at her desperate need to be accepted into the female gender. Cleverly, Donnelly once again uses pink as a symbol of femininity and blue as masculinity. She clearly articulates the child's belief that she can not accept blue, lest she is considered masculine because of societal categorisation. There is a clear internal conflict evident in the child's thoughts, as seen in the speech and thought bubble. The thought bubble exposes the girl's immediate reaction to the blue shirt her mother projects- 'That's nice!'. The exclamatory sentence in an excited tone declared through the adjective 'nice' exposes her enthusiasm and longing to match her mother by wearing blue. Contrastingly, the thought bubble with her secondary thought 'But Suzie says we have to wear pink', has a resigned tone, displaying her apathy to conform to the stereotype her friend has introduced to her. Thus, Donelly invites viewers to pity her by exposing her dispassion to be subject to the stereotype- despite her efforts- while harshly condemning the limits gender roles play on a child's self-expression, instigating viewers to consider a social change in the interest of their youth.

Furthermore, Donnelly educates parents on their key role in releasing children from gender roles. Despite her daughter insisting that she has to 'wear pink' because of societal influences, her mother contrasts her through costume, dressed in blue heels and a skirt. By handing out the blue shirt, the mother introduces a new idea which opposes what the girl has been taught. Notably, she wears a skirt and heels, extremely feminine, yet blue, articles of clothing. Creatively, Donnelly asserts the idea that being masculine- or whatever is stereotypically male symbolised by blue- does not reduce one's femininity. Through the mother's actions, she effectively plays a role in dismantling gender roles, positively affecting her overall ability to express herself. Therefore, parents realise the power and ability to reverse learned societal norms. By hinting at an underlying solution, Donelly provides a clear avenue to dismantle gender roles and educates parents on the role they play in encouraging children to transcend restrictive gender roles.

In conclusion, Donnelly utilises the child's perspective to explore societal roles and strongly challenge them, aiming to deconstruct them. Through presenting the child's perspective, viewers come to terms with the adverse effects of gender roles and stereotypes. Sharing the child's perspective forces viewers to observe societal norms from a different angle, revealing the implications of their actions on certain groups, but more importantly, children. Using the innocence of children to her advantage, she prompts viewers to re-evaluate their stance on societal norms, in hopes of dismantling them.

Chris. (2023, January 5). Meaning and symbolism of Teddy bears. Symbolism & Metaphor. https://symbolimandmetaphor.com/symbolism-of-teddy-bears/

Christina Watton. (2021, May 27). Deconstructing Liza Donnelly cartoon. Genially. https://view.genial.ly/60af03ba748e921034787c38/interactive-image-deconstructing-liza-donnelly-cartoon

Donnelly, L. (2011, November 13) Wearing Pink. [Cartoon] Retrieved from https://whendotheyservethewine.com/2011/05/13/living-your-dreams/

Donnelly, L. (2012, January 17) Lego Land. [Cartoon] Mom's Clean Air Force. Retrieved from https://www.momscleanairforce.org/lego-land/

Donnelly, L. (2020) Untitled. [Cartoon] The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://seejane.org/gender-in-media-news/liza-donnelly-i-cant-decide-what-i-want-to-be-when-a-grow-up-a-good-girl-or-a-slut/

Kendra Cherry. (2005, November 23). The color psychology of pink. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-color-psychology-of-pink2795819#:~:text=The%20color%20pink%2C%20for%20example,all%20things%20feminine%20and%20girly

National Trust for Scotland. (2019, November 28). The unicorn - Scotland's national animal. https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/the-unicorn-scotlands-national-animal#:~:text=With%20its%20white%20horse%2Dlike,strength%20of%20their%20healing%20power

Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Slut. In Vocabulary.com Dictionary. Retrieved January 12, 2024, from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/slut