Gender Stereotypes In Disney Princess Movies

Once upon a time, Andy Mooney, former Nike executive, attended a Disney On Ice show. While at the show, Mooney observed groups of young girls dressed in homemade costumes as their favorite characters performing in the show. After that, he designed products to make young girls look and feel like their favorite Disney characters. Mooney branded and molded the Princess line, with the featured items including anything from dresses to lunch boxes. The Disney Princess Empire’s story of creation and expansion is comparable to the fairytale stories themselves, with Andy Mooney as Prince Charming and the consumer-products division of the Disney company as the Princess in need of rescue (Orenstein). Prince Mooney salvaged the consumer-products division
Young children are acutely impressionable and the toys they play with and movies they watch as adolescents determine their ideas of their gender roles in society for the rest of their lives (Bispo and Schmid). Consequently, young women who model their lives from the Disney Princesses they played with when they were young could suffer from harmful effects. Bispo and Schmid state: “Because many Disney Princess films portray various stereotypical images, they can be detrimental to a young girl’s development of a positive self-image despite the various positive messages and life lessons the films often convey. Therefore, Disney Princess media’s significant negative role in young girls’ lives outweighs its positive influences” (Bispo and Schmid). Disney Princesses impact females’ self esteem, role in the workplace, and expectations for their
Her ambitions consist of attaining a relatively easy lifestyle that relinquishes her from any obligations, except providing affection for her husband” (Bispo, Schmid). Furthermore, Prince Charming is an animated, fictional character that does not exist in reality. Women who believe that Prince Charming is out there and will come to rescue them and sweep them off their feet often end up sabotaging their own romantic relationships, because of the idea that there is a perfect man that is on his way. This idea makes it difficult or impossible for her to be part of a healthy relationship. These females also do not understand their individual ability to accomplish their dreams or desires without a man by their side to support them, which limits their accomplishments and their overall happiness and contentedness with their lives (Bispo and