Teaching to Challenge Cisheteronormativity and Machismo in Three Disney Films: a Didactic Proposal Based on the Analysis of Cultural Products Aimed at Children

Abstract

[eng] The Walt Disney Company is the largest entertainment corporation aimed primarily at children in the world. Its market share has turned it into one of the most important ideological state apparatus in children’s entertainment today. This thesis presents a didactic proposal for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) that invites students to reconsider feminist and LGBTIQ+ concepts through three Disney films: The Little Mermaid (1989), Mulan (1998) and Frozen (2013). It is necessary for young people to understand that there are many gender prejudices that need to be reconstructed. Thus, addressing this reality in the classroom would foster and maintain an inclusive space for all students, as advocated by LOMLOE (32/2022; 33/2022). This teaching proposal focuses on the most emblematic songs of each film: "Poor unfortunate souls", "I'll make a man out of you" and "Let it go", respectively. The didactic proposal intends to reinforce the students’ oral and written comprehension and their written and oral expression skills, by working on some lexis related to emotions, body, and relationships. Then, it invites critical reflection and reinforces the students' social and ethical skills, as cisheteronormativity will be analysed and queer re-readings of these three films will be presented and produced.