...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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...Disney Princesses: Friends or Foes? When a woman gets pregnant, the first thing she wonders is what the sex of the baby will be. If the child is a boy, the mother’s life will be filled with race cars and dirt, but if the child is a girl, life will be filled with pink, ponies and princesses. The traits of young children are not a new trend; they have been exemplified for the past twenty years on television and in all homes across the world. Being the mother of a small girl, Peggy Orenstein’s life is constantly bombarded with talk of being a princess. Orenstein wrote an article in the Contemporary Reader complaining that Disney Princesses are taking over culture and sending young girls the wrong messages about her femininity. Orenstein writes, “Its 2006, not 1950. This is Berkley, California. Does every little girl really have to be a princess?”(Orenstein, Peggy 101). I feel that Orenstein is wrong and selfish for not letting her daughter enjoy the princesses like every other little girl. Disney princesses are innocent and will do no harm in the long run. Through out this essay, I’ll show a positive side to the negatively perceived Disney princess. In an interview with Pamela Paul from Parents.com, Orenstein said this about her child, “My daughter went to preschool, and suddenly life was 24/7 princess. Before that, play had been about blocks and trains and other things, but that came to a screeching halt.” (Paul). I do not understand why this parent is so against her...
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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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...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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...For most little girls, growing up wishing to become a princess and finding their Prince Charming is nothing out of the ordinary. From the 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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...choose as my idol in this assignment until I thought of a person who had a big influence on me during my childhood. I’ve learned a lot from his works and the wisdom I was given, still has an impact on me today. This person is Walt Elias Disney. I find his work very educational for children all around the world and even to some adults. Walt Disney was born in 1901 and unfortunately passed away in 1966 due to lung cancer. His company, Walt Disney Company, produced cartoon movies, comic strips and other productions of entertainment. Disney started out with the cartoon mouse called Mickey who was the main character in his first shorter movies, which also contained some other famous fictional characters such as Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and the list continues almost endlessly. The first traditional animated movie that he made was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937. Even though Walt Disney has passed away, the company still produces movies in his name and the latest movie released was “Big Hero 6” in 2014. As a child I was a huge fan of Walt Disney’s movies and in my room I had a heavy collection of his work. From time to time I still find myself preferring to watch on of Disney’s animated pictures rather than a movie more fitting for my age. I believe that Disney’s movies have had a positive influence on a lot of children as well as adults. It seems to me that every single movie made by Disney has a message which affects...
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...Negative to Positive: African American Portrayal in Media As the day progresses into the late evening hour most of America sits in front of their televisions impatiently waiting to watch their favorite shows. From prime time television to viral videos on YouTube, media has become one of the most influential areas of life. The clothes we wear, slogans we say, and actions we portray are all influenced by media. For example, in 2012 “Ain’t nobody got time for that” became a popular slogan which transcended from a news interview that went viral. Although the slogan was catchy, it became famous more so for the way it was presented. The interviewee was an African American female who was a victim of a house fire. With the female being very passionate and animated while speaking in an urban accent, it provided for great entertainment. Sadly, that news interview lacked the appropriate representation of African Americans. The way media portrays a certain message “can have an inordinate influence on the public’s perception of blacks” (Holt 6). Audiences have been a witness to negative portrayal of African Americans since the days of “blackface”, where Caucasian American actors painted their faces black to depict African Americans. According to blog author Michelle Whalen, “now, more than ever, images of African Americans are transcending racial stereotypes and forging ahead into the fight for equality” (1). In the past two decades, media has been successful in providing positive progression...
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...Marriage”, she gives insight on how marriage has evolved throughout centuries and the norms within them. In the article “Paradise Lost”, author Terry Hekker writes of her own personal testimony concerning her marriage and how societies view on marriage has shifted over the years. She explains what she expected marriage to be when she was married in the fifties and how it panned out with examples from outside testimonies as well. In the online article “The Problem with Modern Marriage”, Dr. Erica Slotter discusses common issues with today's marriages in the United States with examples. In Catherine Orenstein's article “Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality”, she illustrates the connection between fairy tales or princess culture and how it affects modern views on marriage through media. Princess media, to an extent, sets unrealistic expectations and tainted views of romantic relationships and...
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...Media is one of the greatest influences on an individual of all time, using ideological messages that are interwoven into society. Many refer to ideology as the study of ideas, it is defined as a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy or a particular way of thinking and seeing the world that makes the existing organization of social relation appear natural and inevitable (Grossberg, 193). In more simple words, it is commonly referred to as “false consciousness,” originally from politics, ideology refers to the way people think about the world and their ideal concept of how to live in the world. A very board term that has different branches and can relate to many different parts of media; it is a system of values, attitudes and beliefs that are important to an individual, group or society. All forms of media can have a great ideological influence on their audience and most media portrays a dominant message that can define the values and beliefs of an individual or society whether in a positive or a negative way. Dominant ideologies are ideologies that are used very commonly by the media that are sometimes mistaken for reality. They are always reflected in the media, and reflect dominate social relations and support dominant social groups. If those in charge of our society – politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television – can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They...
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...“Behind the Fair Façade” Representations of Femininity in Three Walt Disney Animated Features Bachelor Thesis Bethany Schouten, 3278972 Media en Cultuurwetenschappen Genderstudies Supervisor: Domitilla Olivieri May 31st, 2011 “Behind the Fair Façade” Representations of Femininity in Three Walt Disney Animated Features Bachelor thesis by Bethany Schouten, 3278972 Index Introduction 3 Methodological and theoretical Framework 4 Corpus 9 The Research: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 11 The Research: THE LITTLE MERMAID 18 The Research: THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG 24 Findings and Interpretation 31 Identity Formation 35 Conclusion 38 Literature 41 Media 43 Introduction The Walt Disney Company’s cultural products have been a great influence on popular culture since the 1930s and an inspiration for generations all over the world ever since. For many, including myself, the Princes, Princesses and fantastical creatures of Disney’s animated fairy tales have become symbols of their youth. Seeing the films gives rise to a feeling of nostalgia, they become a memento of one’s childhood world. But what kind of world is this? What kind of realities do Disney’s fantastical representations construct? In my thesis, I will analyze a specific element of Disney films: gender roles constructed through the representation of femininity in their animated...
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...REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMININITY IN DISNEY CARTOON PRODUCTION: An Analysis of Selected Examples The purpose of this essay is to explore how media, especially Disney cartoons, affect gender, particularly young girls and how the representations of females within the media affect the viewers through stereotypes or ideals to live up too. THE INTRODUCTION (the explanation of media influences and basic notions of women representations in Disney Production) A good deal of feminist writing in the field of culture has been concerned with the representations of gender and of women in particular, and it is claimed that these representations of females reflected male attitudes and constituted misrepresentations of “real women”. Meehan (1983) analyzed the stereotypes into which women are commonly cast on television and the analysis showed that “good women” are, or are expected to be submissive, domesticated and home-centered while “bad women” are rebellious and independent. She concludes that “American viewers have spent more than three decades watching male heroes and their adventures, muddied visions of boyhood adolescence repete with illusions of women as witches, bitches, mothers and imps “. All researches about the media influence give the same conclusion that the mass media is a powerful resource through which viewers develop their identity and come to understand the role that gender plays in the real world. Disney is one of the largest...
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...Fairy tales, whether written or visual are used as a medium to teach children morals, life lessons and social etiquette. From interpretations, a fairy tale can be defined as a story that has fictitious and folklore characters which displays the message for every action there is a reaction whether it be positive or negative. These fictitious characters influence children and help them to understand the messages so that children can be socially accepted (Hohr). The origins of fairy tales can not be narrowed to a specific time line but they were once old wives tales which were passed on from generation to generation which writers have modified to become or claimed as their own. Although fairy tales are useful to teach children morals fairy tales are inappropriate for children because of the psychological effects, presentation of the content and morals. This has given reasons for the modifications of fairy tales although these modifications are believed to be better both traditional and modern fairy tales are in somewhat way unsuitable for children. The early versions of fairy tales are not filled with the sanctified, altruistic images seen today but are filled with gory and sadistic images. In an attempt to understand these reasons for modifications of fairy tales we must understand the journey which the traditional writers took. Thomas O'Neil senior writer at the National Geographic and Maria Tartar the chair for program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University both go...
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...Disney and the American Princess: The Americanization of European Fairy Tales [pic] Marina Alexandrova Student number 3021874 MA Thesis, American Studies Program Utrecht University Course code 200401064 23943 words 12 August 2009 Contents Title page………………………………………………………………1 Contents……………………………………………………………….2 Introduction……………………………………………………………3 Chapter 1: European Fairy Tales and Values about Gender and Class………………………………………10 Chapter 2: Disney Animation and American Culture…………………24 Chapter 3: Disney Animation and (Gender) Commodification…………………………………………..55 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...73 Bibliography…………………………………………………………78 Introduction Among the various aspects which define contemporary life, popular culture – and in particular, American popular culture – is undoubtedly one of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting. Throughout the twentieth century, people around the world have enjoyed film, music, animation, and written works by various authors and artists. One of the most famous and significant American entertainers of the lot has been Walt Disney, introducing millions of children and adults to his world of limitless (or so is widely believed) imagination and magic, from the earliest short cartoons produced in the 1920s, to full-length feature animations such as Snow White and the Seven...
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...novels, animated and real-life films. The stories have been twisted and shaped by an ever changing society to represent a wide range of the dominant society’s views. Among these they show perspectives on social class, women’s roles, cultural differences, religion, and human behaviour. As time goes on, the original tales are discarded and the altered stories become widely known and read. This can lead to the underlying perspectives of the altered stories become subconsciously engrained in the new generation. The effect of this can have a large impact on the views of individuals and groups. The question asked is do fairy tales actually have that much power to influence people’s viewpoints? Are they really biased towards the dominant culture? This essay will critique the popular tale of Aladdin, focusing on the Disney version. Three perspectives will be...
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...The Power of TV Commercials The power of pop culture has an enormous influence on the minds of the youth. TV commercials are powerful tools that are used to portray an image, change an idea or shape an attitude. These thirty seconds or more of flashy attractions draws viewers in on the attitudes and values of which people hold in society. It promotes particular beliefs and ways of thinking. Such beliefs that are promoted through TV commercials can be the encouragement of changing one’s appearance in order to look similar as a certain celebrity. On the good side, TV commercials display positive behaviors and role models that young girls and adolescent girls can aspire to be. In contrast, many of these TV commercials have a negative influence on the life of young girls and adolescent girls. TV commercials targets young girls and adolescent girls through the use of different outlets that glorify unrealistic expectations, distorted body image and sexualization in which leads them on a path of self-destruction. TV commercials can promote positive behavior. Dove is the first “beauty” company to promote to young girls and adolescent girls that they should be comfortable with their own body. Their marketing campaign helps to establish self-esteem and a good body image. It shows “real women” as role models who are happy with themselves even though their body may not be what is typically thought of as beautiful. According to the article, “The Dove® Campaign for Real Beauty”, Dove...
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