A study investigated the impact of popular culture on young children's conception of gender, as revealed through the stories they write and tell. The research was conducted at Grosse Ile High School on the remote Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Quebec, Canada, from 1991-1994 with 46 students ages 6-7 years old. The concept of the child as expert informant to promote understanding of how children learn through stories was the guiding principle of the study. Results showed that while girls narrated a social orientation of the world, centered on relationship, boys narrated a world of action. While girls articulated a domestic world in which all ends well, boys narrated a public world of good guy/bad buy encounters wherein the superhero model handles resolution. While girls appear to recount lived experience as it actually happened, boys embellish real-life experience with fantasy elements. Finally, while social interaction and cooperation take priority in feminine childhood culture, power struggle, rules, and the importance of winning take priority in male childhood culture. Evidence suggests that popular culture has a stronger influence on boys than on girls. In assessing the influence of popular culture, research discussion examines these results in light of the influences of electronic media, children's toys (which polarize gender stereotypes), and transmedia intertextuality. (Contains 14 references.) (TB)