Sexism In Disney Movies

Sexism in Disney movies

Disney movies have a very narrow view of what women should be like. Since the arrival of the first Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, the idea of it has expanded, but rather marginally. There is a clear distinction of what a young women should be and what she shouldn’t be. Those who do not fit the mold of Disney’s expectations are cast aside to become villains, but those who do, end up becoming the damsel in distress. Ultimately, these stereotypes are what influences young girls who watch these films, and can have devastating effects on their self worth and change their idea of what it means to be a women. Films like Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,

raise the question on whether or not these monotone tropes and characteristics that the Princesses possess are harmful to their intended audiences.

In all four of my chosen texts, the princesses have been all saved by their princes. In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is put to sleep, and in order for her to be awoken, she needs to be kissed by her one true love - Prince Phillip, but not before he battles the monstrous Maleficent. In the end, he wins the fight heroically, and saves the princess. In The Little Mermaid, Prince Eric tries to save Ariel twice - once by kissing her but it being too late, and the second time by impaling Ursula with his ship. He succeeds, and ends up marrying Ariel. In Cinderella, Prince Charming saves the princess from her horrendous step-mother by choosing to marry her and in Snow White, she is awoken from her slumber after being kissed by her prince. Neither Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White are shown to be independent and seen taking things into their own hands. They cannot achieve happiness without the help of a man, and are portrayed to be weak women who are longed to be saved. This ultimately sends the wrong message to impressionable girls as they will grow up thinking that the problems that they face can be solved if a boy comes and rescues them, and that only he can bring true happiness to their lives. It enables young girls from being independent and self-reliant if they keep believing the idea that they cannot save themselves and have to rely on other people. It’s interesting to note that right after being saved by their princes, all of the women get married straight after, as though they are a prize for the princes - something that they have won for defeating the villain. This further objectifies them and gives the idea that women are something that can be won - a trophy essentially - as opposed to just viewing them as people.
Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White all echo the values that were held in the early 1900’s - that women are weak willed who needs to be constantly taken care of and supported by a man. In contrast to The Little Mermaid, Ariel attempts to show her independence, and ultimately trying to save herself from her father and his expectations. Ariel, feeling suffocated and depressed because she is a mermaid, attempts to take matters in her own hands and rebels by making a deal with Ursula, granting her legs. Instead of relying on a man to make her dreams come true, Ariel chooses to seek out a solution in order to make herself happy - unlike Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White who relied on someone else to liberate them from their problems. However, this message is later shattered at the end of the Little Mermaid as Eric ends up saving her from Ursula. This cements the idea that yes, women can be strong and save themselves, but not without the help of a man - because without males, a women can never be truly be saved. Ultimately, it is the job of a man to look after a women.

Princesses in Disney movies are portrayed to be very one dimensional - they all have the same talents and ambitions. The talents that they all carry are used to highlight their femininity, thus giving an insight of what Disney values in a women. For example, all four princesses have a talent for singing. In Sleeping Beauty, when she was born, one of the fairies gives her the “gift of song.” Each fairy could only give one gift to her and it's extremely significant that she chose to give that specific talent. It is Aurora’s singing voice that initially attracts Prince Philip to seek her out. Furthermore, this parallels to what happens in The Little Mermaid as Prince Eric is mesmerized by Ariel's voice and causes him to be infatuated with her. Both in Cinderella and Snow White, the main characters also sing. Additionally, all of the princesses have befriended animals that help them. Cinderella has mice, Snow White has her woodland creatures, Ariel has her flounder fish, lobster and seagull, and finally, Sleeping Beauty also has befriended the woodland creatures. These animals are ultimately their closest friends and help them when their prince cannot. All four princesses also have a lack of identity and personality as the characteristics that they share are too similar therefore there is no room for any real character development. They are all shown to be kind, beautiful, helpful, naive and overall the ideal women. On paper, it would be hard to differentiate the personalities of all four girls since they are all so alike. Ultimately, what this tells us is that women cannot be diverse and complex as males. By having these main characters so similar to one another it reaffirms to young girls that if you do not have these these traits then you are not really a girl. People that do not fit these stereotypes after watching these movies will think there is something wrong with them because they cannot relate to the main characters in these movies. Young girls who are exposed to these gender roles will be confined to them and would be forced to abide to these rules of being extremely feminine in order to be accepted. It is most likely that those who cannot relate to them will begin to question their identity.

Furthermore, sexuality plays a large role in Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, therefore contributing to my connection of sexism. In all four of my films the women featured in them have only achieved ‘great things’ because of their sexuality as opposed to their intelligence, wit, determination, or any other positive traits that is not related to their physical appearance. A major example would be the character of Ariel who has given up her voice in order to live on land. As part of the deal, she must kiss the true love of her life for her to permanently to live on land. Since she cannot communicate, she has to rely on her sexuality to get what she wants - further objectifying her: “You’ll have your looks, your pretty face, and don’t underestimate the power of body language,” is what she is told when Ariel raises concern of how she is to woo Prince Eric if she cannot speak. This sends the message to girls that your looks trump your personality no matter what, and beauty is all that you need in your life in order to move forward. Furthermore, in Cinderella, she is only saved from her stepmother because the prince finds her beautiful, and the same thing also happens to Snow White and Aurora. None of the princesses have had to rely on their own personality and charm in order to make someone like them, but rather depend on their sexuality in order to get what they want. The princes are all made to be shallow and only value beauty because they do not get to know the princesses in depth and only take them at face value. It gives the idea that a women's only great asset is her sexuality and ultimately that is all they are good for. It will also teach young girls to dumb themselves down and to only care about their physical appearance because of what we see in these films. The lack of strong, independent women who are also empowered by the sexuality will only cause more problems in society.

It’s also important to note how all four of the princesses are traditionally beautiful reflecting the values held in the 1900’s.

Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White are all white, slender, skinny princesses, lacking diversity in physical appearance. They are overtly thin as their waists are freakishly tiny, as are their wrists, in contrast to their eyes which are huge. Disney did not create an animated women of colour lead until Aladdin’s Jasmine in 1992, so it is clear that the norm was white princesses back then. None the less, the stereotypical way the women are physically presented shows a clear distinction of what is considered to be beautiful - which is an unattainable idea. Cinderella’s step-sisters are drawn to be much larger than her, along with bigger noses and butts. The same is done in Sleeping Beauty as the three fairies are more plump, emphasising that they are not beautiful, but rather dimwitted. Good traits are often associated with skinny people whereas negative ones correlate with those who do not fit the standards. These values from as early as 1937 have not changed as in today’s society - photoshop culture is still prevalent, and the idea of needing to be skinny and airbrushed perfect is still maintained. Though the images from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty reflect the standards of their time, it does not mean that we have overcome these obstacles. These films point out that beauty is only limited to Europeans and that it is very eurocentric - an idea that is still present in today's society, as white-washing is extremely common. It teaches young girls - especially girls of colour, and overweight girls - that there is only one way of being beautiful, and if you do not fit these requirements, you are no longer pretty. It can tremendously harm the self-esteem of these impressionable girls because of the lack of representation in media, especially since these films are marketed for young

girls.

It is clear from the stereotypical ways that the Disney princesses are portrayed emphasises the sexism in these films. Diversity is something that is not explored in any of these films, whether it be about race, weight, character development or personality. There is a structure as to how a women should act and look like, which not only creates strict gender roles, but also harms the intended audiences if they cannot fully identify with the characters.