Old Disney Stereotypes Essay
Gender in the Media
Final Research Paper – Old and New Disney Stereotypes
Disney stereotypes from a far seem to be changing for the best and leaning towards pleasing the new generations. Yet after analyzing the newer films there are still problems with stereotyping races, and dehumanizing women into fairy tale princesses. For this paper I choose to study how Disney continues to slide by and get away with racial stereotypes and comments by using just enough “good” so that many people do not notice. This essay is trying to answer the question, what scholars Old Disney and how does new Disney challenge it? First I plan on talking about older Disney paradoxes such as race stereotypes starting with older films like Dumbo and ending with the 90’s film The Lion King. Next I discuss the classic “princess” paradox which occur in Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, and The little Mermaid. After this I …show more content…
move onto newer films which seem to set new standards for Disney, however, after researching I have found they still pertain old stereotypes and contain new ones as well. For a company with so much power and very little competition, it would be nice to have our children learn useful information rather than making them feel bad about their selves or learn to classify race in based on faulty accents. Over the years Disney has developed the reputation of having filled their movies created for children, with racial slurs and inappropriate characterization for woman. In older Disney movies there were more blunt betrayals of racial stereotypes such as the black crows in Dumbo produced in 1941. “The crows are very specifically depicted as poor and uneducated. They 're constantly smoking; they wear pimptastic hats; and they 're experts on all things "fly," so it 's really a team effort contributing to the general minstrel-show feel to the whole number.” (joseph 2011) This portrayal of using slang, wearing “pimp” hats, and knowing what’s fly, is making a mockery of the African American culture by covering up the fact the crows are considered uneducated and poor by making them seem “cool”. What is worst is the fact that the voices for these characters are white males interpreting what they believe to be “black culture”. Even the main crow is named Jim Crow, come on Disney, really? I’m pretty sure every scene the crows are apart of is committing some type of minor or major hate speech crime. Disney has continually tried to cover up their tracks by using characters and culture in this way by making it appear as a good thing. For example, it appears for the time that the portrayal of the crows was actually progressive because they are shown helping Dumbo learn to fly, and by doing so they become heroes. This is how Disney uses its power to seem as if they are breaking stereotypes and hopefully by making the crows heroes everyone will forget how awfully they were depicted through out the film. In the Little Mermaid film produced in 1989, Sebastian is characterized as the happy go lucky crab with a strong Jamaican accent. Sebastian is known for trying to convince Arial life is better under the sea because you don’t have to get a real job. If this was said or taught by any one of Arial’s mermaid friends it may not have been a big deal but coming from Sebastian it is classifying Jamaicans culture as lazy and jobless. “So while making Sebastian a charming, party-loving stereotype is a baby step forward for Disney, it 's still a stumble backwards for civil rights.” (Joseph 2011) It is easy to forget this part of the Little Mermaid because Sebastian seems so happy and cool, however he is also the Kings servant and watches out for Arial as apart of his job, no one ever gives Sebastian credit he is more so thought of as a joke. Disney’s Aladdin (1992) may be arguably the most inaccurately and corrupt movie filled with negative stereotypes and misconceptions about Arabs/Muslims and the Middle East. Right from the first scene, the set is a desert background and the “Arabain Nights” song plays and it seems as though the film is taking place in medieval Arabia but then the Sultans palace looks very similar to the Taj Mahal along with many Persian background designs were incorporated into the scenery. (Russo 2008) This is something Disney is famous for, mixing different cultures into one place or person, as if they are all the same and therefore not important. The first song “Arabian Nights” has caused a great deal of anger and offense to Middle Eastern culture, specifically the line “where they cut off your ear, if they don’t like your face”. This line is so incredibly racial stereotypical to the Arabian race because the interpretation is that people apart of their culture will harm those whose appearance is not what they approve of. After many protests the lyrics were changed to “Where it’s flat and immense, and the heat is intense.” This film also depicts the Arab culture as extremely cruel and violent to woman. The first time we are introduced to Jasmine she is trapped in a palace and the guards threaten to cut her hand off. It would have been so much nicer to see Jasmine as a strong female leader before she was locked up. Another peculiar attribute Disney does is make all Eastern people have the same brown skin with no real variation of skin tone and facial features. All the villains look noticeably more ethnic than Aladdin and Jasmine who both appear to be the most attractive characters with the lightest skin. This puts the idea into children’s brains that good guys are white and the bad guys are not (Russo 2008).
Even the Lion King, a personal childhood favorite, from 1994 portrays the hyenas as dark, scary and evil creatures who spoke with slang and street words. “The Spanish-accented voice of Cheech Marin and the Black slang of Whoopi Goldberg clearly marked the hyenas racially” (Joseph 2011). Compared to Simba who speaks proper English with mannors and a much lighter coat they hyenas seem like hooligans who have never been taught right from wrong. Simba is even told never to go to the place where the hyenas live because it is “dangers”. This is exactly like when parents do not want their children wandering off in certain neighborhoods that are constructed of mostly black neighbors or other ethnicities. While children watch Disney movies make subtle statements it subconsciously puts racists ideas in their heads. Children are not educated enough to realize these stereotypes are wrong and misconstrued through the media. A child who watches black animals portrayed on T.V as harmful is most likely going to be petrified of a black dog that may perhaps be very friendly. The Lion King, although a different story line from the princess-happily-ever-after stories has also managed to make females out to be weak and need protection. After Mufasa’s death instead of the head female lions taking charge, Scar, the darker evil lion takes power over the land. Not only did Scar take over, all the female lions backed down and allowed it to happen even though there were way more of them than of just him. This idea of man being stronger than any female and any number of females is a horrible theme Disney has thrown into many of their films (Joseph 2011).
Race is a large issue Disney has continuously evoked but there is also the princess stereotype, which has royally screwed up many girls’ minds who were brought up watching these movies. Most Princess movies went along the lines of this: The princess was a beautiful fair skinned, thin, unselfish, nurturing and basically so perfect that birds flew by their shoulders full of song, girl who waited on others, cleaned the house all while treated horribly and never got a simple “thank you”. Due to the fact the princess was so beautiful and perfect they had to be despised by older, cruel, homicidal stepmothers or queens. “These women had way too much power for their own good, embodying the age-old truism that any power at all completely corrupted women and turned them into monsters. In their hands, power was lethal: it was used only to bolster their won overweening vanity, and destroy what was pure and good in the world.” (Douglas 1994) Along the battle between the innocent princess and the black hearted woman, the princess is rescued by a prince she barley knows and they get married and live happily ever after. Douglas makes a very interesting point here; in all Princess movies the villain is an angry power hungry woman who needs to be stopped. If only these powerful woman characters could use their power for good, or perhaps wear brighter colors and less dark eye makeup. These woman villains suggest woman should not be taken seriously or in charge of anything in the real world because who knows what they will do with it. Never has a princess had a strong independent mother who could be considered a role model. There are so many single mothers today who do as good a job, if not better raising their children than a couple who may fight or do not have time for their children. I am not saying either one is better than the other; I am just saying putting down single mothers is not Disney’s job nor is it any other persons in particular. Disney has also taken on the role of letting girls know what is considered beautiful: slender, clear skin, and perky breasts. Unfortunately, most girls find out it is a biological miracle to be skinny and also have breast larger than a small B. However, those desperate enough to be a princess and find their prince can always get plastic surgery to please their man.
‘Cinderella teaches girls they must be domestic when she needs a pretty dress to impress the prince and get his attention.
Since she does not have a dress of her own, little mice offer to help and sew her one. As the mice sing happily while taking care of everything Cinderella needs to get to the ball, one of the female mice sings “leave the sewing to the woman” this tells girls they are supposed to do domestic tasks and not boys.” This particular princess preaches it’s not hard work, but beauty that counts, all you need to do is get a wealthy man to fall for you.
Snow White, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, also like Cinderella, teaches girls they must clean the house and be domestic. According to snow white women are supposed to stay in the home, and your only goal in life should be the acceptance of a man. This movie also adds fuel to the fire in regards to girls hating each other, Snow White teaches girls if you are beautiful enough, some women may try to kill you and in reality that means fear/ dislike girls who may be
pretty.
Ariel from The Little Mermaid, teaches girls they need to be pretty and be silenced, Ursula shows that girls do not need intelligence. A pretty face is all that matters when she tells Ariel to give up her voice but it turns into a song and seems less like an issue and by accepting Ursula’s deal, Ariel teaches girls they must change for a man’s love. She chooses to be human and leave her family for “true” love, so it’s okay to abandon your family for a guy and you must be willing to drastically change your body to be with your man. Ariel is a disgrace to woman she is basically teaching young girls that everything about a girl is superficial. Behind all those catchy sing-a-longs is actually a very crappy person.
In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Disney romanticizes domestic abuse. Belle shows that it is okay to be in an abusive relationship by staying with the Beast even though he is an abusive asshole. Beauty and the Beast teaches girls they need to accept that men are dominant in a relationship. It is also very interesting that the main point is suppose to be that appearances don’t matter, it is what’s on the inside that counts, unless you’re a girl’(YouTube Dec 2011) (YouTube June 2011).
In most Disney Princess movies and stories, you do not see the development of two people falling in love, it happens instantly over a shared look, a dance or as simply as in their sleep. This leads young children to believe that love is also this simple in real life, and it does not take any work and will happen naturally. A study done by Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman and Land (2003) found that “the idea that love is easy” and requires no work, is illustrated in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Snow White chokes on an apple and falls in love in her sleep. Another very similar example is in Sleeping Beauty where the prince wakes up the princess with a kiss of true love and they are instantly in love. Wouldn’t that be nice if it was anything like real life…These two movies mislead kids and negatively influence their portrayal of love. As a young adult myself, I defiantly believed for quit some time my “true love” was going to come and swipe me off my feet and there would be no questions, he would be brave and manly, tell me how beautiful I was and never disagree with me. Man was I wrong! Although I am still young, I am pretty sure there is not a man on the planet who is going to physically lift me off my feet and be so perfect which is why I believe it is so important to be independent, comfortable with yourself and alone before you can be with anyone, let alone a “prince charming”. Going back to Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman and Lund (2003), they explain three themes in the princess films which are related to what it means to be a girl/women. The first theme is a woman’s appearance is valued more than her intellect. The second theme is women are helpless and in need of protection, and lastly women are domestic and likely to marry. Young girls should not have ideals such as these stuck in their heads, they should be thinking of what they want to be when they grow up and what they want to do in their lives, not how they are going to find a husband.
After years of debates with Disney they continue to use the princess theme to make revenue and it is not necessarily based on the movies, it is the brand. Disney makes enormous revenue from toys, clothing, foods, and just about all types of consumer products. “As Disney continues to sell their princesses (and make no mistake, they’re selling a brand, not just characters), they continue to show us that people will eat up these negative messages as long as they’re packaged in an appealing way—in this case, in pinks and purples and lots of sparkle. It’s amazing how far they will actually push it.” (Johnson 2013) With out knowing it, simply buying a princess lunchbox or princess gummies is supporting Disney. Children do not realize Disney’s corrupt tactics behind buying these products; they just see the pretty colors and the fact their other friends have them. How is a parent supposed to tell their child they cannot be a princess for Halloween because it undermines women? Children do not understand that, and they should not have to at a young age. It must also be hard to put a limit on how much Disney a child can watch when their friends are allowed to watch an unlimited amount.
Of course many Disney movies are out dated and times have changed drastically. The generations watching Disney now, are growing up in a totally different world where woman are more powerful than ever and there is also less discrimination than ever seen in history. Due to this combination Disney has tried to give off the impression they are changing, and to a certain point they are. Recently in 2009 we saw our first Black American Princess in “Princess and the Frog” and more recently, “Brave” was released finally with a female protagonist and also a strong female lead. At first it appears that Disney is trying to break free from the stereotypes, however when you actually analyze and think about what is going on or the lack of what is going on in the newer movies there are still many incidents that hold Disney to its old standard of stereotyping and not the best choice for children to grow up watching. Disney princesses teach lessons that could permanently damage young girls identity, However, Disney has seen their mistake and changing slowly. Films are beginning to portray women in a more positive light. Certain Disney films are worse than others but progress is being made, for example a newer Disney film “Brave”.
Disney’s Brave is finally starting to change women stereotypes in a Princess film. For the first time we see a regular girl who actually looks her age, she has a round face, full cheeks, crazy unkempt red hair and an athletic build. Quite different than the typical slender, tiny wasted, with boobs and a charismatically vain personality. For once we see a Princess learn about herself and be comfortable with whom she is. At the end of the film Merida uses skills from both her parents to bring the community together and save the day, we see the kingdom is not about material objects or displays of dominance like most princess movies. There is also no happily ever after which entails a prince saving the day and sweeping the girl off her feet and they ride into the sunset. For once the end scene was simply a family hanging out together playing sports (Wallace 2013)
‘Although it is great to see this normal girl portrayed as a princess this is actually something very typical in the film industry, “The rebellious, angsty teen who needs to assert her individuality through looking different.” Therefore this makes it okay for girls to think they need to be different rather than being okay with their selves for who they are. Why does the girl always have to be so rebellious to make a point? Cant she just look normal and stand up for herself?
Another similarity to older Princess roles is the forced marriage aspect. Disney is always taking something from women, we have never seen a strong independent woman who has power and is allowed to date and marry who ever she pleases. Although Merida is very brave compared to all other princesses she did not happen to do anything major to modify current gender roles in real life. She seems to be a typical teenager of this time period.
Although Merida is considered to look way more down to earth compared to the normal standard princesses, she still has the typical clear porcelain skin type, which seems to always be the standard norm for beautiful. Why not ad a few freckles? All ginger teenagers in real life have some freckles. An issue that seems to be looked over in many media forms is stereotyping the Scottish culture with silly clothing, instruments, accents and funny words. Perhaps most people turn their heads and do not think anything of this because after all this culture is predominantly very white, so therefore it is okay.’ (Wallace 2013)
The Brave movie also has a strong split between the men and women in the film. Merida and her mother are strong women who challenge their selves and the world while the men act like clowns and children who need scolding and to be put in their place.
Another newer film breaking norms in 2009 is The Princess and the Frog, where for the first time in Disney history the main character and princess is Black. “Princess Tiana, a hand-drawn throwback to classic Disney characters like Cinderella and Snow White, has a dazzling green gown, a classy upsweep hairdo and a diamond tiara. Like her predecessors, she is a strong-willed songbird who finds her muscle-bound boyfriend against all odds.” (Barnes 2013) So it is a first for Disney, yet still has some of the older princess themes including the prince. Although it is great to finally see a black princess, turns out we do not actually get to see much of her because Princess Tiana turns into frog and stays an amphibian for most of the film along with the prince who also happens to be a frog.
Other than the fact that the princess was barley shown as human, Disney also choose to highlight negative aspects of the Black American culture rather than the positive. “The movie was dark. The stereotypical voodoo, black magic portrayal was insulting. When white Disney characters are displayed in their fantasyland, it is “white magic” stars and sparkles and pretty flowers and blue skies, magic wands, and fairy godmothers, etc. Ours, on the other hand, was “black” magic, dark shadows, and ghosts and demons lurking in the shadows. There was not a good spirit surrounding the movie at all.” (Lester 2010) Most Disney Princess movies involving magic is mostly good magic and filled with uplifting spirits, unfortunately Disney has brought out the worst in this film. Tiana is the only Princess in Disney history to have her prince a different race and therefore color as her while also she is the first princess to be apart of a love triangle and has to fight for the prince unlike the others where it is the prince job to lore in the princess. While the idea Disney had to create the first Black American Princess was a start, unfortunately the movie all together was an insult to a large portion of the culture.
For years and years Disney gets away with many things because they are such a large corporation with no competition anywhere near their ballpark (and they literally have a ballpark). The only other competing companies Disney has are Barbie, Bratz and Nickelodeon but these are impotent compared to the world Disney has created. As the years go by and new movies are produced, hopefully new writers will take into consideration the hurtful stereotypes of old Disney and incorporate new standards of hard work, self-righteousness, women empowerment and PLEASE leave out the Princess themes! As my research shows, old Disney stereotypes are a little more blunt compared to newer movies, however the new films still have issues. The new films are in fact breaking the norms and perhaps going in a better direction but nowhere near perfect, so although Disney is branching out there is an outrageous amount of kickers that are actually really still offensive in modern films
Work Cited:
Barnes, Brooks. "Does Tiana, Disney 's First Black Princess, Conquer Stereotypes?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 May 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Douglas, Susan J.. Where the girls are: growing up female with the mass media. New York: Times Books, 1994. Print.
"Female Stereotypes in Disney Films." YouTube. N.p., 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
Hains, Rebecca. " 'Brave ' Princess Breaks Disney Stereotypes. Or Does She?" The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
Johnson, Kjerstin. "Feminist Response to Pop Culture." Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Bitch Media, 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
Joseph, Ben. "The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters." Cracked. N.p., 16 Nov. 2011. Web. Apr.-May 2013.
Lester, Neal A. "Disney 's The Princess and the Frog: The Pride, the Pressure, and the Politics of Being a First." The Journal of American Culture. ProQuest Central, Dec. 2010. Print
Russo, Juniper. "Disney 's Most Racist Films and Characters." Disney 's Most Racist Films and Characters. Yahoo! Contributor Network, 29 Dec. 2008. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Tanner, L., Haddock, S. A., Zimmerman, T. S., & Lund, L. (2003). Images of couples and families in Disney feature-length animated films. American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 355-374.
Wallace, Kelsey. "The Five Least (and Most) Princess-y Things About Brave." Bitch Media. Bitch Media, 25 June 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
"What Disney Princessess Teach Girls." YouTube. Youtube, 15 June 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
Final Research Paper – Old and New Disney Stereotypes
Disney stereotypes from a far seem to be changing for the best and leaning towards pleasing the new generations. Yet after analyzing the newer films there are still problems with stereotyping races, and dehumanizing women into fairy tale princesses. For this paper I choose to study how Disney continues to slide by and get away with racial stereotypes and comments by using just enough “good” so that many people do not notice. This essay is trying to answer the question, what scholars Old Disney and how does new Disney challenge it? First I plan on talking about older Disney paradoxes such as race stereotypes starting with older films like Dumbo and ending with the 90’s film The Lion King. Next I discuss the classic “princess” paradox which occur in Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, and The little Mermaid. After this I …show more content…
move onto newer films which seem to set new standards for Disney, however, after researching I have found they still pertain old stereotypes and contain new ones as well. For a company with so much power and very little competition, it would be nice to have our children learn useful information rather than making them feel bad about their selves or learn to classify race in based on faulty accents. Over the years Disney has developed the reputation of having filled their movies created for children, with racial slurs and inappropriate characterization for woman. In older Disney movies there were more blunt betrayals of racial stereotypes such as the black crows in Dumbo produced in 1941. “The crows are very specifically depicted as poor and uneducated. They 're constantly smoking; they wear pimptastic hats; and they 're experts on all things "fly," so it 's really a team effort contributing to the general minstrel-show feel to the whole number.” (joseph 2011) This portrayal of using slang, wearing “pimp” hats, and knowing what’s fly, is making a mockery of the African American culture by covering up the fact the crows are considered uneducated and poor by making them seem “cool”. What is worst is the fact that the voices for these characters are white males interpreting what they believe to be “black culture”. Even the main crow is named Jim Crow, come on Disney, really? I’m pretty sure every scene the crows are apart of is committing some type of minor or major hate speech crime. Disney has continually tried to cover up their tracks by using characters and culture in this way by making it appear as a good thing. For example, it appears for the time that the portrayal of the crows was actually progressive because they are shown helping Dumbo learn to fly, and by doing so they become heroes. This is how Disney uses its power to seem as if they are breaking stereotypes and hopefully by making the crows heroes everyone will forget how awfully they were depicted through out the film. In the Little Mermaid film produced in 1989, Sebastian is characterized as the happy go lucky crab with a strong Jamaican accent. Sebastian is known for trying to convince Arial life is better under the sea because you don’t have to get a real job. If this was said or taught by any one of Arial’s mermaid friends it may not have been a big deal but coming from Sebastian it is classifying Jamaicans culture as lazy and jobless. “So while making Sebastian a charming, party-loving stereotype is a baby step forward for Disney, it 's still a stumble backwards for civil rights.” (Joseph 2011) It is easy to forget this part of the Little Mermaid because Sebastian seems so happy and cool, however he is also the Kings servant and watches out for Arial as apart of his job, no one ever gives Sebastian credit he is more so thought of as a joke. Disney’s Aladdin (1992) may be arguably the most inaccurately and corrupt movie filled with negative stereotypes and misconceptions about Arabs/Muslims and the Middle East. Right from the first scene, the set is a desert background and the “Arabain Nights” song plays and it seems as though the film is taking place in medieval Arabia but then the Sultans palace looks very similar to the Taj Mahal along with many Persian background designs were incorporated into the scenery. (Russo 2008) This is something Disney is famous for, mixing different cultures into one place or person, as if they are all the same and therefore not important. The first song “Arabian Nights” has caused a great deal of anger and offense to Middle Eastern culture, specifically the line “where they cut off your ear, if they don’t like your face”. This line is so incredibly racial stereotypical to the Arabian race because the interpretation is that people apart of their culture will harm those whose appearance is not what they approve of. After many protests the lyrics were changed to “Where it’s flat and immense, and the heat is intense.” This film also depicts the Arab culture as extremely cruel and violent to woman. The first time we are introduced to Jasmine she is trapped in a palace and the guards threaten to cut her hand off. It would have been so much nicer to see Jasmine as a strong female leader before she was locked up. Another peculiar attribute Disney does is make all Eastern people have the same brown skin with no real variation of skin tone and facial features. All the villains look noticeably more ethnic than Aladdin and Jasmine who both appear to be the most attractive characters with the lightest skin. This puts the idea into children’s brains that good guys are white and the bad guys are not (Russo 2008).
Even the Lion King, a personal childhood favorite, from 1994 portrays the hyenas as dark, scary and evil creatures who spoke with slang and street words. “The Spanish-accented voice of Cheech Marin and the Black slang of Whoopi Goldberg clearly marked the hyenas racially” (Joseph 2011). Compared to Simba who speaks proper English with mannors and a much lighter coat they hyenas seem like hooligans who have never been taught right from wrong. Simba is even told never to go to the place where the hyenas live because it is “dangers”. This is exactly like when parents do not want their children wandering off in certain neighborhoods that are constructed of mostly black neighbors or other ethnicities. While children watch Disney movies make subtle statements it subconsciously puts racists ideas in their heads. Children are not educated enough to realize these stereotypes are wrong and misconstrued through the media. A child who watches black animals portrayed on T.V as harmful is most likely going to be petrified of a black dog that may perhaps be very friendly. The Lion King, although a different story line from the princess-happily-ever-after stories has also managed to make females out to be weak and need protection. After Mufasa’s death instead of the head female lions taking charge, Scar, the darker evil lion takes power over the land. Not only did Scar take over, all the female lions backed down and allowed it to happen even though there were way more of them than of just him. This idea of man being stronger than any female and any number of females is a horrible theme Disney has thrown into many of their films (Joseph 2011).
Race is a large issue Disney has continuously evoked but there is also the princess stereotype, which has royally screwed up many girls’ minds who were brought up watching these movies. Most Princess movies went along the lines of this: The princess was a beautiful fair skinned, thin, unselfish, nurturing and basically so perfect that birds flew by their shoulders full of song, girl who waited on others, cleaned the house all while treated horribly and never got a simple “thank you”. Due to the fact the princess was so beautiful and perfect they had to be despised by older, cruel, homicidal stepmothers or queens. “These women had way too much power for their own good, embodying the age-old truism that any power at all completely corrupted women and turned them into monsters. In their hands, power was lethal: it was used only to bolster their won overweening vanity, and destroy what was pure and good in the world.” (Douglas 1994) Along the battle between the innocent princess and the black hearted woman, the princess is rescued by a prince she barley knows and they get married and live happily ever after. Douglas makes a very interesting point here; in all Princess movies the villain is an angry power hungry woman who needs to be stopped. If only these powerful woman characters could use their power for good, or perhaps wear brighter colors and less dark eye makeup. These woman villains suggest woman should not be taken seriously or in charge of anything in the real world because who knows what they will do with it. Never has a princess had a strong independent mother who could be considered a role model. There are so many single mothers today who do as good a job, if not better raising their children than a couple who may fight or do not have time for their children. I am not saying either one is better than the other; I am just saying putting down single mothers is not Disney’s job nor is it any other persons in particular. Disney has also taken on the role of letting girls know what is considered beautiful: slender, clear skin, and perky breasts. Unfortunately, most girls find out it is a biological miracle to be skinny and also have breast larger than a small B. However, those desperate enough to be a princess and find their prince can always get plastic surgery to please their man.
‘Cinderella teaches girls they must be domestic when she needs a pretty dress to impress the prince and get his attention.
Since she does not have a dress of her own, little mice offer to help and sew her one. As the mice sing happily while taking care of everything Cinderella needs to get to the ball, one of the female mice sings “leave the sewing to the woman” this tells girls they are supposed to do domestic tasks and not boys.” This particular princess preaches it’s not hard work, but beauty that counts, all you need to do is get a wealthy man to fall for you.
Snow White, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, also like Cinderella, teaches girls they must clean the house and be domestic. According to snow white women are supposed to stay in the home, and your only goal in life should be the acceptance of a man. This movie also adds fuel to the fire in regards to girls hating each other, Snow White teaches girls if you are beautiful enough, some women may try to kill you and in reality that means fear/ dislike girls who may be
pretty.
Ariel from The Little Mermaid, teaches girls they need to be pretty and be silenced, Ursula shows that girls do not need intelligence. A pretty face is all that matters when she tells Ariel to give up her voice but it turns into a song and seems less like an issue and by accepting Ursula’s deal, Ariel teaches girls they must change for a man’s love. She chooses to be human and leave her family for “true” love, so it’s okay to abandon your family for a guy and you must be willing to drastically change your body to be with your man. Ariel is a disgrace to woman she is basically teaching young girls that everything about a girl is superficial. Behind all those catchy sing-a-longs is actually a very crappy person.
In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Disney romanticizes domestic abuse. Belle shows that it is okay to be in an abusive relationship by staying with the Beast even though he is an abusive asshole. Beauty and the Beast teaches girls they need to accept that men are dominant in a relationship. It is also very interesting that the main point is suppose to be that appearances don’t matter, it is what’s on the inside that counts, unless you’re a girl’(YouTube Dec 2011) (YouTube June 2011).
In most Disney Princess movies and stories, you do not see the development of two people falling in love, it happens instantly over a shared look, a dance or as simply as in their sleep. This leads young children to believe that love is also this simple in real life, and it does not take any work and will happen naturally. A study done by Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman and Land (2003) found that “the idea that love is easy” and requires no work, is illustrated in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Snow White chokes on an apple and falls in love in her sleep. Another very similar example is in Sleeping Beauty where the prince wakes up the princess with a kiss of true love and they are instantly in love. Wouldn’t that be nice if it was anything like real life…These two movies mislead kids and negatively influence their portrayal of love. As a young adult myself, I defiantly believed for quit some time my “true love” was going to come and swipe me off my feet and there would be no questions, he would be brave and manly, tell me how beautiful I was and never disagree with me. Man was I wrong! Although I am still young, I am pretty sure there is not a man on the planet who is going to physically lift me off my feet and be so perfect which is why I believe it is so important to be independent, comfortable with yourself and alone before you can be with anyone, let alone a “prince charming”. Going back to Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman and Lund (2003), they explain three themes in the princess films which are related to what it means to be a girl/women. The first theme is a woman’s appearance is valued more than her intellect. The second theme is women are helpless and in need of protection, and lastly women are domestic and likely to marry. Young girls should not have ideals such as these stuck in their heads, they should be thinking of what they want to be when they grow up and what they want to do in their lives, not how they are going to find a husband.
After years of debates with Disney they continue to use the princess theme to make revenue and it is not necessarily based on the movies, it is the brand. Disney makes enormous revenue from toys, clothing, foods, and just about all types of consumer products. “As Disney continues to sell their princesses (and make no mistake, they’re selling a brand, not just characters), they continue to show us that people will eat up these negative messages as long as they’re packaged in an appealing way—in this case, in pinks and purples and lots of sparkle. It’s amazing how far they will actually push it.” (Johnson 2013) With out knowing it, simply buying a princess lunchbox or princess gummies is supporting Disney. Children do not realize Disney’s corrupt tactics behind buying these products; they just see the pretty colors and the fact their other friends have them. How is a parent supposed to tell their child they cannot be a princess for Halloween because it undermines women? Children do not understand that, and they should not have to at a young age. It must also be hard to put a limit on how much Disney a child can watch when their friends are allowed to watch an unlimited amount.
Of course many Disney movies are out dated and times have changed drastically. The generations watching Disney now, are growing up in a totally different world where woman are more powerful than ever and there is also less discrimination than ever seen in history. Due to this combination Disney has tried to give off the impression they are changing, and to a certain point they are. Recently in 2009 we saw our first Black American Princess in “Princess and the Frog” and more recently, “Brave” was released finally with a female protagonist and also a strong female lead. At first it appears that Disney is trying to break free from the stereotypes, however when you actually analyze and think about what is going on or the lack of what is going on in the newer movies there are still many incidents that hold Disney to its old standard of stereotyping and not the best choice for children to grow up watching. Disney princesses teach lessons that could permanently damage young girls identity, However, Disney has seen their mistake and changing slowly. Films are beginning to portray women in a more positive light. Certain Disney films are worse than others but progress is being made, for example a newer Disney film “Brave”.
Disney’s Brave is finally starting to change women stereotypes in a Princess film. For the first time we see a regular girl who actually looks her age, she has a round face, full cheeks, crazy unkempt red hair and an athletic build. Quite different than the typical slender, tiny wasted, with boobs and a charismatically vain personality. For once we see a Princess learn about herself and be comfortable with whom she is. At the end of the film Merida uses skills from both her parents to bring the community together and save the day, we see the kingdom is not about material objects or displays of dominance like most princess movies. There is also no happily ever after which entails a prince saving the day and sweeping the girl off her feet and they ride into the sunset. For once the end scene was simply a family hanging out together playing sports (Wallace 2013)
‘Although it is great to see this normal girl portrayed as a princess this is actually something very typical in the film industry, “The rebellious, angsty teen who needs to assert her individuality through looking different.” Therefore this makes it okay for girls to think they need to be different rather than being okay with their selves for who they are. Why does the girl always have to be so rebellious to make a point? Cant she just look normal and stand up for herself?
Another similarity to older Princess roles is the forced marriage aspect. Disney is always taking something from women, we have never seen a strong independent woman who has power and is allowed to date and marry who ever she pleases. Although Merida is very brave compared to all other princesses she did not happen to do anything major to modify current gender roles in real life. She seems to be a typical teenager of this time period.
Although Merida is considered to look way more down to earth compared to the normal standard princesses, she still has the typical clear porcelain skin type, which seems to always be the standard norm for beautiful. Why not ad a few freckles? All ginger teenagers in real life have some freckles. An issue that seems to be looked over in many media forms is stereotyping the Scottish culture with silly clothing, instruments, accents and funny words. Perhaps most people turn their heads and do not think anything of this because after all this culture is predominantly very white, so therefore it is okay.’ (Wallace 2013)
The Brave movie also has a strong split between the men and women in the film. Merida and her mother are strong women who challenge their selves and the world while the men act like clowns and children who need scolding and to be put in their place.
Another newer film breaking norms in 2009 is The Princess and the Frog, where for the first time in Disney history the main character and princess is Black. “Princess Tiana, a hand-drawn throwback to classic Disney characters like Cinderella and Snow White, has a dazzling green gown, a classy upsweep hairdo and a diamond tiara. Like her predecessors, she is a strong-willed songbird who finds her muscle-bound boyfriend against all odds.” (Barnes 2013) So it is a first for Disney, yet still has some of the older princess themes including the prince. Although it is great to finally see a black princess, turns out we do not actually get to see much of her because Princess Tiana turns into frog and stays an amphibian for most of the film along with the prince who also happens to be a frog.
Other than the fact that the princess was barley shown as human, Disney also choose to highlight negative aspects of the Black American culture rather than the positive. “The movie was dark. The stereotypical voodoo, black magic portrayal was insulting. When white Disney characters are displayed in their fantasyland, it is “white magic” stars and sparkles and pretty flowers and blue skies, magic wands, and fairy godmothers, etc. Ours, on the other hand, was “black” magic, dark shadows, and ghosts and demons lurking in the shadows. There was not a good spirit surrounding the movie at all.” (Lester 2010) Most Disney Princess movies involving magic is mostly good magic and filled with uplifting spirits, unfortunately Disney has brought out the worst in this film. Tiana is the only Princess in Disney history to have her prince a different race and therefore color as her while also she is the first princess to be apart of a love triangle and has to fight for the prince unlike the others where it is the prince job to lore in the princess. While the idea Disney had to create the first Black American Princess was a start, unfortunately the movie all together was an insult to a large portion of the culture.
For years and years Disney gets away with many things because they are such a large corporation with no competition anywhere near their ballpark (and they literally have a ballpark). The only other competing companies Disney has are Barbie, Bratz and Nickelodeon but these are impotent compared to the world Disney has created. As the years go by and new movies are produced, hopefully new writers will take into consideration the hurtful stereotypes of old Disney and incorporate new standards of hard work, self-righteousness, women empowerment and PLEASE leave out the Princess themes! As my research shows, old Disney stereotypes are a little more blunt compared to newer movies, however the new films still have issues. The new films are in fact breaking the norms and perhaps going in a better direction but nowhere near perfect, so although Disney is branching out there is an outrageous amount of kickers that are actually really still offensive in modern films
Work Cited:
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Douglas, Susan J.. Where the girls are: growing up female with the mass media. New York: Times Books, 1994. Print.
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Johnson, Kjerstin. "Feminist Response to Pop Culture." Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Bitch Media, 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
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Lester, Neal A. "Disney 's The Princess and the Frog: The Pride, the Pressure, and the Politics of Being a First." The Journal of American Culture. ProQuest Central, Dec. 2010. Print
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Wallace, Kelsey. "The Five Least (and Most) Princess-y Things About Brave." Bitch Media. Bitch Media, 25 June 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
"What Disney Princessess Teach Girls." YouTube. Youtube, 15 June 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.