Beyond the Folktale: Unveiling Gender Role Construction and Patriarchal Narratives in Indonesian Children's Literature

This study investigates how gender roles are constructed and normalized in the official folktale editions published by the Indonesia’s Language Agency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. Employing text analysis within the framework of feminist literary criticism, particularly gender performativity and the sex/gender system, the research identifies patterns of representation, stereotypes, and power relations. The findings reveal a consistent division of roles: men occupy the public sphere—associated with hunting, leadership, and work—while women are confined to domestic and supportive roles. Male characters are constructed as brave, strong, and intelligent, whereas female characters are depicted as beautiful, obedient, and devoted. Power relations emphasize men as protectors and decision-makers, with women reduced to objects of exchange or passive recipients of male authority. These narratives demonstrate that folktales are not neutral reflections of tradition but are imbued with patriarchal ideology that sustains gender hierarchy. The study highlights the urgent need for reinterpretation and re-curation of folktale texts in education to foster gender equality and broaden children’s imagination of women’s roles.