The Role of Holy Pixels in Shaping Children’s Religious Identity and Gender Roles: Analysis of Kaneez Fatima and Ghulam Rasool Animated Series

Abstract

This study analyzes the role of animated series in shaping children’s religious identity and gender roles through a qualitative Corpus Assisted Discourse Analysis (CADS) of YouTube series ‘Kaneez Fatima and Ghulam Rasool’ produced by Dawat-e-Islami. The study is grounded in two theories; Gee’s theory of discourse which views language as a social practice through which identities, roles, and values are enacted and Gee’s Analytical lens of identity, and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which emphasizes learning through observation, imitation, and modeling. The study aimed to analyze the representation of religious and gender identity by Muslim cartoon characters that serves as symbolic models for audience children to follow and imitate (SLT). Data for the study were comprised on transcripts of cartoon episodes’ that were collected from three YouTube channels—Kids Land, Madani Channel English, and Dawat-e-Islami English—using purposive sampling. The corpus was compiled in .txt files, comprised on 29,461 words, including 16,037 words from ‘Kaneez Fatima’ series and 13,424 words from ‘Ghulam Rasool’ series. By using Sketch Engine, the data were analyzed through Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis (CADS), followed by corpus-driven thematic interpretation. Findings of the study reveal repeated usage of Islamic vocabulary, practices and rituals, that constructs religious identity by positioning children within Islamic moral and ritual frameworks, exemplifying the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as a role model. Similarly, through distinct lexical patterns found in both series represent gender roles: female- centered discourse emphasizes domesticity, modesty, nurturing, and beautification (e.g., “kitchen,” “pardah,” “scarf”, “softness,” “makeup”, “bangles”), while male-centered discourse highlights leadership, strength, moral responsibility, and religious authority (e.g., “sacrifice,” “prophethood,” “power,” “fight”). These findings support the view that children’s media transmits moral and religious values through revisiting core ideas in repeated cycles and socially meaningful discourse.