Pink or Paris? Giftedness in popular culture.

In gifted education there is a significant body of research that focuses on the socialising influences that enable gifted children to translate their potential into performance. However, there is very little research that has examined what role popular culture plays in the development of talent. This paper reports on the first phase of a research project investigating the impact of popular culture on gifted children and youth. It involves an analysis of the images of giftedness presented in a selection of popular culture texts. This analysis reveals that gifted young people are often stereotypically portrayed as female, studious, non-sporting and not popular. Further, gifted programs are portrayed as undesirable settings peopled with obnoxious characters. The implications for gifted girls, in particular, need attention.