...Gender Roles and Disney The Disney princess has become one of the most iconic symbols of Walt’s ever growing empire. The disney Princess’ franchise first began in 1937 with the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs making Snow White the first princess in the now infamous princess lineup. The franchise continues with the most recent disney princess movie Tangled ( Rapunzel) which came out in 2011. Disney and their filmmakers caused great controversy with their princess’ such as race. Disney broke their european tradition by adding their first African American Princess to the line up. Princess Tiana of The Princess and the Frog in 2009 which still caused controversy. Another one of Disney’s biggest controversial topics was gender roles and how women and men are portrayed in these disney films. Gender roles are separate patterns of personality traits, mannerisms, interests, attitudes, and behaviors that are regarded as either "male" or "female" by one's culture. They are what is considered the “ Norm” for the male and female sex. There are stereotypical behaviors normally associated with either gender such as Women are suppose to be more passive aggressive, overly emotional, and illogical, just to name a few characteristics. While men tend to be more tough or in control, leaders, Not crying or wimpy and a womanizer As suggested in Kimmel’s “ Bros before Hos”: The Guy Code in Language Awareness (469). These same messages are often presented to children through the media they...
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...Analysis of Gender Roles in Disney Princess Films Jasmit Singh 213749361 Traditional and Popular Culture – 1900 9.0 Susan Niazi – Tutorial 6 Whether it’s the colours they wear, the activities they engage in or how they behave, men and women are known to play different roles in society. These established gender roles “are not innate or natural but a product of society”. Children, adolescents and adults all learn gender roles through the environment they’re surrendered by. One of the many huge influencers that help shape gender roles is media. Although “there has been a lot of change over the years in terms of what is considered appropriate societal roles for men and women, this change is not reflected in contemporary film”. The ideology of mainstream media continues to focus on the males being the heads of society, which in result, shows an unequal representation of the females. From an early age, media puts an image into young minds, informing them how males and females should think, act, behave and appear. In many television shows and films, one can easily see the distinct difference between the role of a male and a female. Often films are enforcing stereotypical gender roles where the male is seen to holds more importance in society than the female. Amongst many film producing companies, Walt Disney Pictures for decades have been enforcing stereotypical gender roles in their princess films. Though it may not be outright obvious, Disney productions play a huge role in fostering...
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...Media is a powerful agent when it comes to entertaining children. It influences the youth in our society that they have to act gender appropriate, and act a way that the youth are socialized to learn. Media uses the gender socialization to their advantage just as how Disney production does. Movies like Cinderella, Snow White Disney movies target particularly the youth and their thinking as well as putting ideas into their head about what is to be proper man and proper women. Growing up, a lot of young children love to watch Disney movies, but they don’t realize that they are affecting them. Young girls look up to the different princesses hoping that one day when they grow up, they will meet their prince charming the way Cinderella met as...
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...have been guilty of an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of gender roles especially for women. In the early years, women were portrayed as submissive, emotional and dependent on males and males are portrayed as the lead hero in the movie, saving the day and getting the girl in the process (Gilpatric, 2010). However, in recent times, we can observe a new trend in recent movies. Films such as Tomb Raider (2000) and Kill Bill (2001) have emerged showing women in a new light. Similarly, films such as Gladiator (2000) and Finding Nemo (2003) have showed a softer side of males that is rarely shown on screen. So what is have the film industry progressed towards a fairer and more accurate of gender in movies? Literature Review In recent studies, Gilpatric (2010) uses violence as a tool of measure to demonstrate that movies are still depicting gender stereotypes in violent female action character. This is backed by Sternheimer (2003) as she argues that even though females appear to be independent, they are still dependent on males which reinforces traditional gender stereotype. Nevertheless, there has been a noticeable trend that there is a fairer portrayal of gender in films in recent years (Nelmes, 2007). Such a trend is evident in Finding Nemo as Brydon (2009) claim that even Disney, the champions of gender stereotype, has the capacity to steer away from traditional gender roles. Heroines in films have “cross[ed] variable gender boundaries” (Brown, 2003, p. 52). In another article, Brown...
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...lots of legendary duds were original ideas. Here’s the thing though, no matter how many perfectly good movies we’re getting out of Hollywood’s current obsession with adaptations, sequels, and reboots, too much of it is bad for the soul of a movie culture. New things, new experiences,...
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...The Changing Gender Roles in Disney Animated Movie Productions For decades Disney has been using gender inequity to portray the females and males as princes, princesses, and evil character roles influencing the youth of our world that watch animated movies. However they are not alone. The animated movie making industry has long been known for its gender bias following in the footsteps of long ago written fables, folktales, myths, and fairy tales generalizing stereotypical male and female images from the movie industry and our society in general. The culture surrounding animated Disney movies has showcased females through feminine weak characteristics and identities that have influenced the younger generations by their actions, and they have...
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...Angel Pelaez Mrs. Larsen AP Language, Period 3 21 November 2014 Disney Research Paper In society, gender roles (a set of social and behavioral norms that are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex) are everywhere. For a long time men and women had to do certain things throughout their lives. It was expect that men would be the ones that had to work, while their wives had to stay home to take care of the house, the kids, bills, etc. Over time, these gender roles have changed. Females now take on tasks that only men were supposed to do. Gender roles appear in places that one wouldn’t expect: Disney movies. Disney movies do a great job at showing how gender roles were portrayed at the time the movie came out. Most notably, in these movies, males fulfill a certain appearance stereotype (tall, muscular, handsome, etc.). The same stereotype applies to females as well (makeup, being slim, posture, etc.). In Disney movies, the male protagonist is almost always good-looking, muscular, tall, etc. An example of this is Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid movie. In the movie, he’s tall, light-skinned, muscular, and handsome. He’s almost “perfect”. In the essay ....Happily Ever After (Or What Fairy Tales teach Girls about being Women) Alice Neikirk states “the hero, often a prince, is generally described as brave and handsome.” Over time, the appearance of the male protagonists have changed. For example, Flynn Rider from Tangled is just a slim, not...
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...has played a large role in creating social norms. Most people have access to some form of media: television, phone, and film. Through the use of media, society has applied the stereotypes perceived on the groups being stereotyped. Through the use of advertisements, television shows, and films, the media silently manipulate how the audience views each gender. Advertisements are to blame for the constant reminder of gender roles. In one advertisement for a neutral product, sidewalk chalk, a group of girls were coloring on the sidewalk while one boy rapped and performed a small dance routine. It was very apparent that the young boy was the leading character. Allison Lantagne asked, “Are consumers of sidewalk chalk actively trying to send this message of submission to their 9-year-old girls?” This is likely not the case, but the advertisers are continuing to send these messages to the consumers. There are other advertisers who are breaking the stereotypes. Tide has taken measures to move in a better direction. In one commercial, a man makes the statement “I’m a stay-at-home dad,” and later goes on to braid his daughter’s...
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...very first Disney princess movies in the early 1900s, young girls are portrayed naturally falling in love with the princess characters. However, the fairy tale ideals these movies contain are only in place to mask the negative impact that they are actually having on young girls. For years these movies have been teaching girls to be sweet, emotional and a damsel in distress so that their Prince Charming will fall in love with them and save them from danger. This trend is shown in multiple Disney princess movies where the princesses are dependent on their prince, these insecure and naïve princesses are not the role models that young girls...
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...changes were added by Disney to make a more interesting movie, or to forward a sexist agenda. A multitude of sexist messages are present in Disney movies teaching young girls that they are expected to fill a submissive role in society. The fairy tales are symbolic of women’s lives being shaped by male influences. Over time, the sexist message in Disney movies has become less apparent, but it has never disappeared; it is merely buried within a classic fairy tale that the “magic of Disney” has transformed into a sexist lesson. Naturally, these movies must not have a traumatic affect on little girls. Parents are not actually harming their daughters by allowing them to indulge their fairy tale fantasies. Not according to Jack Zipes, leading expert on fairy tales and German professor at the University of Minnesota, the movies have “a type of gender stereotyping . . . that has an adverse effect on children, in contrast to what parents think . . .. Parents think they’re essentially harmless – they are not harmless” (Giroux, “Roared” 103). Maria Tatar, Harvard folklorist, also sees harm in the movies since “[Disney] capitalizes on the worst part of fairytales” placing the focus on the material world and removing the cunning and intelligent roles that the females once played (Healy). However, these messages surly must not be intentional, and they are open to interpretation, right? Not according to Mary Beech, director of franchise management for Disney Consumer Products, who...
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...The inspiring Disney movie Mulan has both men and women stereotypes that are part of our society. In the beginning of the movie the main character Mulan is being prepped to see the towns matchmaker because she is now old enough to be married into another family. This could be showing little girls once they reach a certain age it is crucial to get married to please and honor your family just like it does in Mulan. The women characters in Mulan are the subordinates compared to the men; expecting one man from each family to fight against the invaders of China regardless of age or disabilities. When Mulans father gets called even though he already fought before and was injured Mulan tries to plead with the courtier. Being told she dishonors her father for speaking out of turn shows the typical stereotype that women should not voice their opinions and speak without permission. She ends up running away and impersonating a male soldier to protect her father; which if discovered she would be killed by the Army. While training for war with General Shang male stereotypes are then shown teaching little boys what a man is. The song “I’ll make a man out of you,” describes what a man must do or be to be a real man. General Shang first asks the question if he was sent daughters and not sons further implying that the women should be...
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...Every little girl wants to feel beautiful. She dresses up in sparkly costumes and stumbles around in her mother’s high heels because this is what has been ingrained in her mind as beautiful from her favorite Disney movies. From infancy to adulthood, we cherish the princess movies that we feel connected to. We all wanted to be part of Ariel’s world or be rescued from Maleficent’s evil grasp. However, we never question the value of these Disney Princesses influence on young girls. Are these princesses setting a good example for the aspirations of today’s children? The grasp of Disney Princesses reaches incredible lengths. They’re international symbols that are recognizable all over the world, but perhaps they are not the best role models to idolize. Disney Princesses do not represent positive icons for young girls because they glamorize unrealistic concepts of beauty and promote naïve life choices. Disney released its first Disney princess film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, in 1937. Since its release, Disney has created twenty-three other animated Disney films that could be considered princesses. These princesses bring in billions of dollars of revenue through Disneyworld merchandise, attractions, characters, and movies (Disney...
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...Once upon a time… but exactly when is that time? The time is past present and future. Oh how times have changed since the time of Snow White and Cinderella now we have Rapunzel and Moana. If you have ever seen these movies then hopefully you see the differences I see not only in the quality of the movies made, but the way they portray the characters in each movie. Gender roles have changed throughout time which is clearly seen in everyday life. Women are finally able to do many to most of the things that men do. We also see a huge difference on the way Disney portrays love in their older movies compared to now where a male love interest in not even included in the story. Disney is even beginning to give credibility to the LGBTQ community through...
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...Women, Girls and the Media 18 August 2014 The Disney Princess Effect on Young Girls and Their Gender Role Perception The Disney Corporation has been around since 1937 when it released the first Disney Princess movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since then, millions of young girls have fallen in love with these characters and often see them as role models. From the dresses to the tiaras, the beauty to the fairy tale, Disney Princesses have a direct effect on young girls and their behavior. The media has been a powerful resource through which many young girls develop their identity and come to understand gender roles in society. Research indicates that watching televised gender portrayals has an effect on individuals’ gender based attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (Mastro & Morawitz 131). These are the attitudes and beliefs that young girls who watch Disney princess films would inherit. Girls enjoy watching these films and see the beautiful characters overcome difficult trials, as well as fall in love with a handsome prince in the end. The overall message is not a realistic one, leaving many girls feeling self conscious and unhappy. The idea that beauty equals good and ugly equals evil can negatively impact the way a girl looks at herself or others. Girls will ultimately learn that what is beautiful is good. Snow White and Cinderella were attractive and charismatic while the witch and two stepsisters were unattractive and vile. And in the end, the princesses...
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...People have been captivated by the “Disney magic” since 1937 when the first franchise movie, Snow White, was released. Over time Disney has continued to grow its audience as well as influence the lives of all ages. Often people ignore the negative effects that these movies can have on the self esteem of those who grew up watching them, especially females. The movies can mold the perceptions females have toward how they should look, act, and the people with whom they are interact. My group researched: To what extent do female high school social norms portrayed by Disney Channel movies from 2006-2010 impact their self esteem? Throughout our research, high school social norms were defined as the average daily experiences that high school students are believed...
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