The females and stereotypes in Disney animated films gradually changed over the years; From the early 1900s, beginning with their first feature film Snow White (1937) to their most recent box office film Frozen (2013). Since the Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923, the way the roles of women were portrayed depended on the time period. Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959) were the first Disney princesses in the era. All three princess were portrayed as helpless or a damsel in distress, who were saved by a prince's sword or kiss. Cinderella, in particular, was a prime example of this stereotype. Living with her neglectful stepmother and sisters, she was repressed from all of the daily activities her step family would partake in. She was regularly tormented and made to slave around; cleaning and cooking for her spoiled family members. She didn't have the self esteem to stick up for herself. All three of these princesses had secondary characters to care for them, to have a happy ending and "marry the prince". The godmother in Cinderella magically giving her a dress, carriage and glass slippers, and the house mice helping her as well. Snow White has the seven dwarfs, and Sleeping Beauty had her three fairy godmothers. With the second wave of women's rights surfacing, Disney upgraded their roles of females as well. With The Little Mermaid(1989), Aladdin(1992), and Beauty and the Beast(1991), they all had different roles, and they shared one specific trait: curiosity. They also strived for something new. Belle was the most remarkable with the fact that what defined her was her brains and intellect. Beauty and the Beast really pushed the patriarchal views of women in France at the time. Gaston being th... ... middle of paper ... ...cent films show complete independence and variety in characteristics. Works Cited Thomas, O. (1995, October 26). Cinderella. Christian Science Monitor. p. 12. Garside, C. (2006). Essentialized Females Animated. International Journal Of The Humanities, 3(6), 33-40. England, D., Descartes, L., & Collier-Meek, M. (2011). Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses. Sex Roles, 64(7/8), 555-567. Zarranz, L. (2007). DISWOMEN STRIKE BACK? THE EVOLUTION OF DISNEY'S FEMMES IN THE 1990s. Atenea, 27(2), 55-67. Snow White (December 21, 1937). Film Cinderella(February 15, 1950) Film. Sleeping Beauty(January 29, 1959) Film. The Little Mermaid(November 17, 1989) Film. Aladdin(November 25, 1992) Film. Beauty and the Beast(September 29, 1991) Film. Mulan(June 19, 1998) Film. Lilo and Stitch(June 21, 2002) Film. Brave(June 22, 2012) Film. Frozen(November 27, 2013) Film.
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and many other Disney movies all have one thing in common, they feature a female lead who needs a male figure to save them. However, things started to change after the release of Mulan in 1988. Movies that were only representing female leads as weak and always needed to rely on someone, started to feature females who showed off their more masculine side. Mulan was one of the first animated films that had started to dive into that, not to mention it was based on a true story, making it even more powerful. In the article “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Pixar/Disney”, authors Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden explore Pixar movies show male characters who were not afraid to show their emotions
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
Since Disney’s Snow White appeared in 1937, Disney princesses have been a present in pop culture. With the release of new movies frequent and re-release of decades old movies inevitable, a continuous stream keeps Disney princesses in the foreground of adolescent society. It is with the value of entertainment they have been created and as entertainment they should be viewed.
The Classic Years, movies that were made during this time: “Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), 101 Dalmatians (1961).” (Amy M. Davis 2008) was describe as the binning years of Disney. The gender roles were typically for a male would be a tall, handsome and strong while the female, was the damsel in distress. When a female was shown, it would show her in a traditional role in doing house work, cleaning, and gardening, etc. The middle Era, Movies that were made during this time: “The Rescuers (1977), The Fox and the Hound (1981) and The Black Cauldron (1985).” (Amy M. Davis 2008) Took a deeper turn especially when Walt had past leaving Roy Disney to continue his work. The company started to go into debt and there were not many films that had been made. The women roles remained the same. Then there was The Eisner Era, the movies that were made during this time: Belle (1991), Mulan (1998), and Jane (1999).” Which was when Disney ramped up by creating more Disney films. Although, the turning point in these films in which allowing a leading female roles. When Walt Disney past away, Disney (the business) started to change with the times in allowing female have leading roles and releasing them to the public. During this time, Disney allow women to become dependent unlike the women from the Classic
Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future. According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. The women in Disney movies are always beautiful, which helps them to find a man.
In the 1950s Disney character such as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” depicted women as still innocent and meek, thereby alluding to the permanence of pre-feminist stereotyping of women in popular culture (Cheu 150). In the two fi...
Walt Disney Films are known to be as an incredible and outstanding fantasy stories producer. It created more than a hundred of films. Majority of what has been produced rely on fictional stories. The films that were released used animation to capture children’s interest and musically performed as well. Walt Disney produced fantasy stories like The Little Mermaid 1989; Sleeping Beauty 1959; Beauty and the Beast 1991; Cinderella 1950 and more. The tales most often than not were always about the life of a princess in search of her prince charming.
After World War II Disney came out with a few more feature animated movies such as: Cinderalla, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty. One thing that Snow White, Cinderalla, and Sleeping Beauty all have in common is that they are all stories about princesses who live happily ever after with their prince.
For over ten decades, The Disney Corporation has been entertaining families with animated films. As such, Disney princesses have gained notoriety over the years and even received their own line of products in the 1990s. Moreover, Disney princess movies and related products have brought in billions of dollars through sales; and being a household name, children all around the world are familiar with the movies. What is critical here is that many of these movies, if not all, portray negative stereotypes that are subliminally hidden under the prestige of a “fairy tale world”.
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
Disney promotes sexisim by forcing young girls to live in a patriarchal world. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The little mermaid, Aladdin, and Snow White are all examples of popular Disney movies that encourage young viewers that they need a man to save the day. Yes, it’s true that there are recent movies such as Moana and Frozen that prove otherwise, but how long will it take to completely get over the fact that women are mainly viewed as secondary citizens compared to the men? There are countless examples of how Disney movies influence this theme, and how much the female characters’ actions, ideas and thoughts are not included in a Disney movie.
"Disney Princesses: Classic Fairy Tales Or Gender Stereotypes?" Hartford Courant, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
Disney and old fairytales threaten gender politics and ideal women roles by giving certain stereotypes for domestic and personality traits. Fairytales that have turned into Disney productions have sculpted domestic roles for women that consist of cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. Disney has also created these princesses with personalities that are shy, passive, and vulnerable. The cause of these stereotypes are making individuals obliterate their own identities and becoming clones from the mold that was prepared for
In society today, there is pressure from all sides to conform to a certain ideal of beauty. People are overwhelmed with the different types of images and media forms that are telling people how to act and what to look like. Media is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. It has the power to educate, affect social change, and much more, but if taken incorrectly people will take drastic lengths to change something about themselves. There have been many attempts to empower women through different types of media, but many have failed miserably. Over the last couple of years, Disney has struggled greatly with the representation of women throughout Princess movies because young girls are hounded with images of princesses,