The Little Mermaid Feminist Criticism

1116 Words3 Pages

Would you sacrifice your whole life for something you recently like? Ariel is the youngest mermaid in her family, her father is King Triton. She has red hair, blue eyes, she likes to go on adventures and discovering thing with her friends, Flounder the fish, Sebastian the crab and some more. Since Ariel is the youngest one she is oppressed and demeaned by her father and society, which is Ursula, to do the things that she doesn't really care and rather go on a adventure. In The Little Mermaid by Disney Princess, the feminist criticism is that Ariel is willing to sacrifice her voice to have a chance with the prince. Ariel would rather pick going on sunk ships and find humans remains than to sing with her sisters as a family.Ariel’s voice is …show more content…

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel had to give up her beautiful voice to just get legs and be with Prince Eric. She had to accommodate with Prince Eric to make them both fall in love with each other, even though he just a cute guy but she is willing to give up being a mermaid for love and get marry to each other. Even when they have not really chatted because Ariel was muted, she had no voice and still Eric liked her because she was funny and the “perfect girl”. When Ariel saw Eric on his ship, she instantly liked him for the way he smiled, acted and he was cute. A few moment after she saw him, there was a storm and Eric fell out of the ship, Ariel swam toward to him and saved the love of her life. However, when she brought him to the shore, she realized that they both formed another world and she wanted to be with him. In order of that, Ariel had to transform herself into a form of human and leaving her mermaid world to be able to fit in and make Eric to like her, and at least fall in love with her. In other words, Ariel showed the fact that in the society the women tend to sacrifice their passion and enthusiasm of life for their love ones (Disney, 2016,

Show More
Related

  • Transcendentalism In The Movie Moana

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    She shows the most self-reliance when she sets out against her dad’s will to find Maui a demigod who stole the heart Te Fiti and make him return the heart to restore order. However, she struggles during her journey to realize that she can be self reliant and doesn’t need help by repeating to herself “I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat and restore the heart to Te Fiti.” to help remind herself what her mission is and that she can accomplish it. Disney incorporated this to show that young girls can do things by themselves. Disney incorporated the message that falls into self reliance and that is trusting oneself when others may not believe in you.This came into play when Maui left Moana to return the heart herself because he damaged his magical fish-hook and did not want it to break. Leaving Moana the task finishing what she started

    Read More

  • My Alter Ego; Ariel

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first reason why Ariel is most like myself is because of her love for adventure. In the film, The Little Mermaid, Ariel wonders off to ship wrecks and swims up to the surface to speak to birds to identify human objects. She is always on the run for an adventure, much like myself. If I am not at home taking care of my family, we are out at the Kermit sand hills, taking last minute trips to Indiana, or spending the weekend at my families’ lake house. Like the quote in The Little Mermaid and on “IMDb” says, “If only I could make him understand. I just don't see things the way he does. I just don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad,” I too agree, the world is a beautiful, magnificent place and taking adventures and exploring is something that has always been appealing to me.

    Read More

  • Lust, Loss, and Immorality in the Little Mermaid

    1877 Words  | 4 Pages

    Under the sea, in an idyllic and beautiful garden, stands a statue of a young man cut out of cold stone – for the Little Mermaid who knows nothing but the sea, the statue stands as an emblem of the mysterious over-world, a stimulus for imagination and sexual desire, an incentive for expansion of experience, and most predominately, an indication that something great and all-encompassing is missing from her existence. Traces of curiosity and a vague indication of the complexities of adult desires mark the child mermaid; in such a stage of development, the statue will suffice. However, as the Little Mermaid reaches puberty, the statue must allegorically come alive in order to parallel the manifestation of her new-found adult desires – the statue must become a prince in his world of adulthood above the sea. Thus, powered by an insistent and ambiguous longing for self-completion, the Little Mermaid embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and, to her ultimate misfortune, prematurely abandons her child-like self as sexual lust and the lust for an adult life takes hold of her.

    Read More

  • Disney and Traditional Stereotypes

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. 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.

    Read More

  • Disney and Gender Identity

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society cements certain roles for children based on gender, and these roles, recognized during infancy with the assistance of consumerism, rarely allow for openness of definition. A study conducted by Witt (1997) observed that parents often expect certain behaviors based on gender as soon as twenty-four hours after the birth of a child. The gender socialization of infants appears most noticeably by the age of eighteen months, when children display sex-stereotyped toy preferences (Caldera, Huston, & O’Brian 1989). This socialization proves extremely influential on later notions and conceptions of gender. Children understand gender in very simple ways, one way being the notion of gender permanence—if one is born a girl or a boy, they will stay that way for life (Kohlberg 1966). “According to theories of gender constancy, until they’re about 6 or 7, children don’t realize that the sex they were born with is immutable” (Orenstein 2006). The Walt Disney Corporation creates childhood for children worldwide. “Because Disney are such a large media corporation and their products are so ubiquitous and wide spread globally, Disney’s stories, the stories that Disney tell, will be the stories that will form and help form a child’s imaginary world, all over the world, and that’s an incredible amount of power, enormous amount of power” (Sun). Because of the portrayal of women in Disney films, specifically the Disney Princess films, associations of homemaker, innocence, and dependence are emphasized as feminine qualities for young children. Thus, children begin to consider such qualities normal and proceed to form conceptions of gender identity based off of the movies that portray the very specific and limiting views of women (...

    Read More

  • Construction Of The Female Self Summary

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings Of the Disney Heroine, Jill Birmie Henke, Diane Zimmerman Umble, and Nancy J. Smith are looking at the female self and how it was developed based on two theories: Standpoint by Parker Follet and the psychological development of girls by Gilligam. That by examines gender identity especially girls and how media exposure affects them through analyzing five of Disney movies: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Pocahontas. They segmented the article into three titles: The Oxymoron of Power and the Perfect Girl where they introduced the two theories in which they built their critic on, Construction of the Female Self where they talk about the evolution in the female character from Cinderella to Pocahontas, and Construction of Self in Relation to Others where they talk about the evolution of the self in relation to others from power-over to power-with until power-to. Finally they concluded that even if the female character in Disney’s movies was changing to become more

    Read More

  • The Little Mermaid Comparison

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    In both versions, the mermaid meets the prince and he falls for her beauty, but he’s already betrothed to another. However, Anderson’s mermaid has to endure not only physical, but also mental and emotional hardships. She is unable to communicate with the prince to reveal she was his true savior, and with every step the mermaid experiences agonizing pain. Andersen’s mermaid has to stand by and watch her love marry another and her chance of an immortal soul slips out of her grasp. Soon after the wedding, the mermaid is approached by her sisters with an opportunity to return to the sea, but she would have to commit a terrible, and selfish act. The story goes like this, “Before the sun rises, you must plunge it [a knife] into the heart of the prince; when his blood sprays on your feet, they will turn into a fishtail and you will be a mermaid again” (Andersen). The mermaid faced a difficult dilemma, one that all individuals face—self betterment or selfless sacrifice. Andersen’s mermaid chooses selfless sacrifice, tosses the knife overboard and cast herself into the ocean. This ending is not what most would call happy, but it reveals some remarkable life lessons and an incredible depiction of selflessness. Not all stories have to have happy endings to satisfy a reader (Whitty); this story for example holds so much more depth, substance, and emotion because it does not have one. Disney chose a happier, predictable ending where Ariel marries the prince in the end; this ending makes it easy to smile, but lacks in allowing the reader to develop much more emotion than

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.

    Read More

  • The Little Mermaid Short Story Analysis

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    No matter how much we try and do everything right, some things just are not meant to be and the mermaid was not meant for the prince (Ingwersen). Love can make people go crazy and they will do anything to receive that same love and passion back from them (Cravens). In this story, the little mermaid is madly in love with the prince and she does everything and anything to gain love back from him. “Stick out your little tongue, and let me cut it off in payment, and you shall have the potion." "Let it happen," whispered the little mermaid” (Andersen).

    Read More

  • Domestic Norms In Film

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women were seeked out as witches if they were different but this also “deepened the divisions between women and men, teaching men to fear the power of women” (p. 165). This division between women and men can be seen through The Little Mermaid with it being the division between human and mermaid. In the scene where Ariel goes to Ursula because she decides she wants to be human, this is a scene of Ariel accepting that she is different and that in order for her to be welcomed by the other humans, she must also be like them. Instead of it being men fearing the power of women, it is humans fearing anything that is different from them. Not only is it the fear from humans, we can also see that Ariel is not confident that she would be able to introduce herself to the Prince if she wasn’t a human like him. Before Ariel makes her decision she contemplates on the fact that she would no longer see her family anymore and in the end that’s not enough for her to decide not to become a human. From this we can see that her urge to be a human and to be accepted by this man transcends anything

    Read More

  • Feminism In Peter Pan

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women are crucial to society. They are our voices, and they revolutionize our people. More importantly, mothers are a big part of our society. J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan is a magic-filled story about a mischievous young boy named Peter, and his tribe, the Lost Boys, who explore and go from raising themselves to attaining a mother. This story can be studied under the lens of the Feminist Critical Theory, which focuses on women empowerment and their outstanding role in society. Literature allows society to explore this role, which J.M Barrie displays impeccably in his book. Barrie’s book definitively presents Wendy’s journey from childhood to motherhood, her role in the development of Peter and the Lost Boys, and the idealization of women. Peter

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes In The Little Mermaid

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to A. Waller Hastings Ariel didn’t have to face her consequences. The movie ends with Ariel’s father trading his life to the sea witch in order to save her. “Once again Disney’s heroine survives to find happiness thanks solely to the heroism and sacrifice of male characters” (O’Brien). Because of this, Ariel doesn’t grow or mature. Instead, everyone lives happily ever after thanks to the men in Ariel’s life (Hastings). Now, there’s nothing wrong with living happily ever after. However, this perpetuates an unrealistic expectation of life for impressionable viewers that abide by Mulvey’s theories on narcissism and how viewers may relate themselves to the object on the screen (Storey, 110). The image of a helpless damsel in distress being saved by men with no further consequences to her life is harmful because it may give viewers a distorted view of reality. The damsel in distress stereotype erases all of Ariel’s prior independence due to the fact that she has to be

    Read More

  • Theme Of Sexism In Aladdin

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Aladdin, the law requires women to be married by the young age of 16, and for princess Jasmine, she must marry a prince. Often times, the male political parties in power take away a woman’s choice to not only marry who she wants, but also when she wants to marry them. When the potential suitor for Jasmine storms off in fury after putting up with her insubordination, Jasmine explains to her father that the suitor was too self-absorbed and her father gets mad at her for having her own opinions on the man, when clearly the only opinions that matter are those of the father. This implies she is not allowed to express her feelings, and furthermore she is forbidden to act on them as well. As long as the father finds him suitable, Jasmines opinions on her future husband are

    Read More

  • Cinderella, Pretty Woman and Feminism

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pretty Woman is a modern take on the classic Cinderella story where a poor misguided girl meets her prince and her life is dramatically changed. This film has fairy tale elements, but the biggest element in the movie is the use of sex; Vivian, the main character, is a prostitute. She meets her “prince” and is swept off of her feet, but what this really means is that she is bought for an entire week by a handsome, wealthy business man. One would assume that he was buying her for sex, but this is not your average prostitute transaction. This movie has a lot of third wave feminism ideals. Third wave feminism deals with using the female gender and sexuality to further the cause and portray their views. The ultimate goal of this paper is to show that Vivian Ward (portrayed by Julia Roberts), is the poster girl for third wave feminism.

    Read More

  • Feminism In Movies Essay

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feminist theory was derived from the social movement of feminism where political women fight for the right of females in general and argue in depth about the unequality we face today. In the aspect of cinema, feminists notice the fictitious representations of females and also, machismo. In 1974, a book written by Molly Haskell "From Reverence to Rape: The treatment of Women in Movies" argues about how women almost always play only passive roles while men are always awarded with active, heroic roles. Moreover, how women are portrayed in movies are very important as it plays a big role to the audience on how to look at a woman and how to treat her in real life due to the illusionism that cinema offers. These images of women created in the cinema shapes what an ideal woman is. This can be further explained through an article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' written by a feminist named Laura Mulvey in 1975. She uses psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud to analyze 'Scopophilia' which is the desire to see. This explains how the audience is hooked to the screen when a sexy woman is present. In a bigger picture, where Scopophilia derives from, 'Voyeurism' is also known as feeling visual pleasure when looking at another. Narcissism on the other hand means identifying one's self with the role played. It is not hard to notice that in classical cinema, men often play the active role while the women are always the object of desire for the male leads, displayed as a sexual object and frequently the damsels in distress. Therefore, the obvious imbalance of power in classical cinema shows how men are accountable to moving the narratives along. Subconsciously, narcissism occurs in the audience as they ...

    Read More

More about The Little Mermaid Feminist Criticism

Open Document