Children are already socialized to believe social norms of gender roles by the preschool years
Disney's Influence on Children
by Eric Izaguirre
Most popular Disney films are littered with examples of gender stereotyping. Women are quite often beautiful, passive creatures that desperately need men in order to fulfill their lives full potential. Never do we see a strong, independent and average-looking (maybe even on the heavier side) female character who stands up to those around her by finding pride in her womanhood. Mulan would seem to be a good example of a powerful female figure who does not need men to succeed, however throughout the movie she has to pretend to be a man in order for people to take her seriously. She cannot be a powerful woman fighting for her family and country. She has to become a man in order to earn that right.
Let's not forget about the catchy theme songs of the wonderful Disney films. "Poor Unfortunate Souls," sung by Ursula the sea-witch in The Little Mermaid, is all about how men do not like women who speak; men only like to gawk at their sexy bodies ("It's she who holds her tongue who gets her man"). In Mulan's "A Girl Worth Fighting For" the male soldiers list off characteristics they believe a woman worth fighting for would have, among them are beauty, cooking skills, admiration for her man etc. However, when Mulan says "How 'bout a girl that's got a brain and always speaks her mind" the men give her a big "No!" as if it were a joke.
These messages are prevalent in the majority of Disney films watched by children over and over again (because we all know there was at least one favorite that we would watch an endless amount of times). It is very possible that these films play a part in the socialization of young boys and girls who enjoy them so much.
The Evolution of Gender Stereotyping in Disney Animated Films
By Crystal Mencher
In 1937, Disney mesmerized audiences with the introduction of the full-length animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Timid and demur, she was content to scrub the house all day and “whistle while [she] work[s].” This began the journey of “Family” animated movies, where societal roles and stereotypes were played out on the screen for adults and children alike to assimilate. Throughout the years Disney has created movies that reflected the values and norms of the current time. This paper reflects upon the journey Disney has taken through the years in these family classics, and the evolution of gender stereotypes that are portrayed in their animated films. I have grouped the movies into three categories, early films (1930s to 1950s), second wave (1980s through 1999) and current films (2000 to present) to compare gender stereotypes in each of these eras. A lot has changed since the early films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with newer movies showing less polarization of gender roles, but there is still a lot of growth toward equality in gender roles to be strived for.
It is very clear from the early Disney movies that the societal norm was for a woman to have her place in the home, to use her beauty to attract a “prince” so they could live “happily ever after.” Snow White is portrayed as a helpless woman who needs a man (or 7 dwarfs) to save her. There is a scene in the movie, where Snow White is running through the forest after the huntsman decides to spare her life, but warns her that the Queen wants her dead. Branches come to life to grab at her, logs snap at her feet as though they are alligators, the forest is dark and eyes stare at her from all angles threatening harm. She finally falls to the ground and we see things from a different angle, not the image in her mind, but the one she is really experiencing, The darkness disappears and we see the open field she is in and the friendly, concerned animals surrounding her. She is shown in this moment as being hysterical, unable to care for her own wellbeing, completely delusional from fear. The animals take her to where the dwarfs live, and she is beyond thrilled to scrub their home even before she’s met the residents. Soon she meets the dwarfs and in exchange for a place to stay, she cooks, cleans and takes care of them, again, the only value she seems to have. The dwarfs are concerned about leaving her alone, and rightfully so, as she opens the door for a stranger and eats the infamous poisonous apple. She falls, seemingly dead, but is rescued and reanimated by her handsome prince’s kiss. At no time does Snow White do anything to care for herself during this movie. Her value is in being “the fairest of them all” and her ability to clean up after the messes men make. The one thing I did find in this movie that changed in future movies is that Snow White has a relatively average-sized waist. It is also one of the few movies where the female lead has short hair. It was interesting to see the evolution of gender expectations in Disney animated movies that began with Snow White as a woman with dark eyes and short, dark hair, an average waist, and flat chest. This would change a lot by the time I was a child watching Disney movies in what I refer to as the Second Wave, but there were many more movies during the early years to firm up the “helpless/needs rescuing” stereotype in Disney movies.
Snow White was one of the few Disney characters to have an "average" waist, short hair, and flat chest
In 1950 Disney introduced Cinderella, who was also forced to clean the home by her evil step-mother and whose only friends were animals. As with Snow White, the mother was dead, causing instant sympathy for the main character. By this movie the gender stereotypes already had a very noticeable change. Cinderella has an unattainably small waist, her hair is blonde, eyes are blue, and she has tiny feet, which becomes an important symbol of femininity when compared to her “ugly stepsisters” who have big feet that they try to shove in to her glass slipper. At least in the Disney classic the stepsisters didn’t cut off parts of their feet to fit in the slipper, as in the Grimm’s Fairytale version. Cinderella’s hair is longer, but only to shoulder length, and she has a slight curve of the breast, but very modest, which is a sign of social norms of the time. She did disobey orders a little in order to go to the ball, but mostly Cinderella conformed to what was expected of her. It is clear once again that a woman worth marrying knows how to keep a house clean, to transform instantly for a ball (night out) and her goal in life is to find a prince to marry and obey. She can sing and clean, but shows no other skill in this movie. Her beauty is what makes her desirable.
Cinderella's tiny feet are a symbol of her feminity
The wavy locks were in full swing for Sleeping Beauty in 1959. The long, golden tresses were a symbol of femininity that would dominate in many future movies. Her waist was even more exaggerated than Cinderella’s, her hair otherworldly, her voice a blessing from a fairy. There is little about this character that a girl could hope to embody in herself. She also has no skill other than her voice and is also put to sleep by an evil witch, in need of rescue by the handsome prince. Once again, the message in the earlier Disney movies is that a woman’s place is in caring for the home, she needs a man to take care of her, and without him she will certainly perish. Each of these three young women were helpless of themselves, and had nothing expected of them other than beauty and good cleaning skills. Early Disney films left little to strive for other than a homemaker, a valuable position, but one that left a gaping hole in the potential of young women during that time. The movies during this time also sent the message that what is valued is the palest skin, thin frames, and timid, demur behaviorisms, and the highest goal is to marry a handsome man.
Sleeping Beauty needed a prince to rescue her as well
In the second wave of Disney animated movies, there is a considerable difference in the embodiment of a young woman. The Little Mermaid became an instant classic in 1989, with her long, thick hair flowing through the water like Sleeping Beauty’s once did in the wind. Features were once again more exaggerated than in the past. There is something about this time period where reality in form goes out the window and eyes get bigger, hair grows ever longer, bodies get thinner than ever before. This is also when cartoon characters became more sexualized, with Ariel wearing only sea shells in the ocean (making her breasts very noticeable) and meeting the prince wearing an old sail wrapped around her (a sign she was just naked on the beach.) Now the heroine is a siren, the mythical mermaid meant to lure men to their doom. She’ll do anything to get her man, even give up her voice, and along with it every opinion she has, all proof of her intelligence, and is left with only her overly sexed body to woo the prince. It wasn’t until seeing the movie on the video in class we had about Disney movies that I realized the undertones of the movie I had always missed before – do anything to get the man. Give up family, home, your true self, whatever it takes – even if it could mean giving up your life. It’s all worth it for love, and without love nothing else matters. This movie also introduces the evil woman (once again it is the woman who is evil) who has a deep voice, an overly sexualized, voluptuous, obese body, and a face plastered with make-up. This is the fourth movie in a row that has stressed the importance of a beautiful singing voice as a key factor to be valuable as a woman. I remember as a young child that this idea had a detrimental effect on me. My voice couldn’t even come close to those notes, no matter how hard I tried, and I felt flawed. If every Disney movie has a beautiful girl with a voice like an angel, and my voice screeches and cracks and sings off-key, then I must not be like them. At least for me my skin was a similar color, for until this time the only color of skin that Disney recognized was the pale white tone of a Caucasian. The depth of importance in seeing a movie with a heroine that resembles you was brought to the forefront when I read “White Privilege” (McIntosh 11-17). McIntosh, herself a white woman, took on the role of truly reflecting on the privileges she has received since birth simply due to the light hue of her skin. Looking back at the earlier Disney movies I recognize that I benefit from the privilege of knowing that at any time I can go see a movie that has a lead character whose skin looks like mine. That was not the case for many young women watching the earlier Disney films. That would soon change though as the tides shifted and the female lead expanded to include the beauty of many new races.
The Little Mermaid's small waist, long flowing hair, and large eyes are now common in Disney films
Pocahontas entered the scene in 1995, her long dark locks flowing in the wind, keeping in step with prior films of long-haired feminine beauty. Pocahontas is a more independent character, she has ideas and opinions, a sharp contrast to the earliest films. Disney is showing the change in society, where women have a greater role, and they used the story of Pocahontas, a powerful American Indian woman, to alter the image of what a woman is capable of. It is Pocahontas who saves everyone, but in the end she does it all for a man. There is still the importance of “happily ever after” with an opposite sex partner. One major change that Disney is making here is that the two people in love are of different races. This is a huge step from the all-white cast of earlier films. Light skin still dominates many Disney movies, but they have made an effort to become more ethnically diverse, even if in doing so they are following stereotypes that truly don’t exist within other cultures.
Pocahontas is a stronger female figure, but still her ultimate goal is to get a man
In Mulan, a 1998 film, the beginning of the movie is all about the ritual of her painting her face, smelling perfect, pouring tea, and being silent unless given permission to speak. She does this in order to impress the matchmaker so that she can get a husband and bring honor to her family. Again her long, thick hair is a centerpiece in the movie, meant to bring surprise when she takes a sword and chops it to a length more appropriate for men at the time. The link between femininity and long flowing hair is discussed in “Hair Still Matters” (Banks 142-149). Banks sheds light on the Euro American “ideal” of long, flowing locks on women, something that is impossible for some women to embody, such as African American women whose hair has tight curls, or those who have thin hair that will never have the volume seen in these films (without extensions anyway.) Many go to extremes and great expense to try and have these long, straight tresses, to have their hair fit the beauty they see on the screen. The flowing locks on the screen are unattainable by anyone but a cartoon, however. The idealization makes some women see the ideal feminine in another woman’s hair. Disney takes a stab at gender norms in Mulan. The rebellious theme of the second wave continues, with Mulan disobeying her family and joining the army in her father’s place, disguised as a man. This movie takes on the emerging understanding that women are far more capable than they’ve been given credit for in the past. Still, at the end, after risking her life and saving the whole country, all her grandma can think about is how it would be better if she’d come home with a man. The next scene a man is provided, so that she can have her happily ever after, which still seems to require a heterosexual couple getting together in the end of the movie.
Mulan chops off her long hair, which is such a symbol of femininity that she can now pass for a man
Beauty and the Beast was once one of my favorite movies. That all changed during that video in class about the underlying messages of this movie. In all, this movie now disturbs me the most. It was just over 20 years ago, in 1991, when this movie came to theatres. I loved it, the magical nature of it all, the music, the beast being tamed in the end. What I didn’t see then was how twisted the nature of the relationship between Belle and the beast was. He imprisoned her, wanted to starve her, roared at her any time he didn’t like what she was doing. This horrible man ripped her from her family and kept her as a possession, and she had to find ways to keep him from being angry with her. What hurts the most is that he becomes the tamed beast, this wonderfully sensitive, caring soul who loves her and somehow, even as his prisoner, she begins to love him too, a sign any psychologist would describe as Stockholm Syndrome, where a prisoner falls captor and only sees the good in him. It is the most unrealistic of all the movies, encouraging women to just be sweeter, to find ways to calm the abusive men in their lives, and if they’re good enough then maybe they too can have a happy ending, because the beast just needs to be loved and understood. Except in real life, someone as abusive as the beast was doesn’t change, and sticking around waiting for a happy ending could cost a woman her life. Disney once again showed independence in the female character, but she was vulnerable, needed saving as in many past movies, and was merely a possession to the men (or beast) in her life. Even her intelligence made her “strange” to others. Timid and demur won out once again. Disney can be seen during this time to be making an effort to show women in a more independent role, but until Mulan in 1998, none of these women had power or importance outside of their looks, voices, and ability to do domestic work.
The angry Beast must be calmed by sweet Belle
Since the turn of the century Disney has made a shift in giving women a more powerful role in movies. In 2007, Meet the Robinson’s came out and the lead female role was a feisty, young girl with her science experiment trying to teach her frogs to sing. You see her later as an adult, with a full orchestra of frogs playing instruments and singing songs. The whole family is a bit crazy, but they work as a team, men and women alike, to keep harmony in the home. Each of them is successful, unique, and has individual attributes that make them valuable in their own way. The movie hits a down note with the flip to woman on man spousal abuse (from a female hand puppet to the man who is holding it) and the movie is strongly centered around a male character, but it is a male character who appreciates his female counterpart and treats her like the powerful woman she is. It is definitely a step in the right direction in this current Disney film.
The quirky Robinson family
The Princess and the Frog was the first Disney movie to have a black female lead. True, she spent most of the movie as a frog, but the image of a self-made, determined black woman was forefront in the plot. She had a dream, she worked hard for it, and was on her way to making it a reality, then she kissed the frog and became a frog herself. In the end, she didn’t rescue herself, she had help, but it was her entrepreneurial spirit that advanced this movie. Her hair, even as a black woman in set in the 1920s, was smoothed to perfection, another sign of assimilating the character to Caucasian standards of beauty. Also in this movie was another interracial marriage, but still, it is a heterosexual marriage and it seems to say that you can be beautiful, smart, a great business woman… but still you need a man to complete you.
In order to get her "Happily Ever After" she needs a heterosexual union
This summer we might get a different image of a powerful woman, one more step towards an image of a fully independent, self-reliant woman. Disney is putting out the animated movie entitled Brave, with a female lead with crazy red curls who has no interest in being someone’s prize to be won, no interest in being someone’s quiet and demur wife. It will be interesting to see how far Disney takes this image, and if the next generation of children will grow up with movies that teach them that a woman is just as capable as a man to create her future, and truly beautiful no matter what shade of skin or style of hair. I truly hope that the tide is shifting even more, that Disney pushes the envelope once again, pulls back from the over-sexualized female figure waiting for her prince, and focuses on the ability within the feminine to transform the world into whatever she is capable of dreaming of, even with short hair.
A feisty young woman who shoots an arrow to win her own hand, and her freedom from marrying
Works Cited
Banks, Ingrid. “Hair Still Matters.” Feminist Frontiers. 9th ed. Eds. Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 142-149.
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Feminist Frontiers. 9th ed. Eds. Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 11-17.
Children are already socialized to believe social norms
of gender roles by the preschool years
Disney's Influence on Children
by Eric IzaguirreMost popular Disney films are littered with examples of gender stereotyping. Women are quite often beautiful, passive creatures that desperately need men in order to fulfill their lives full potential. Never do we see a strong, independent and average-looking (maybe even on the heavier side) female character who stands up to those around her by finding pride in her womanhood. Mulan would seem to be a good example of a powerful female figure who does not need men to succeed, however throughout the movie she has to pretend to be a man in order for people to take her seriously. She cannot be a powerful woman fighting for her family and country. She has to become a man in order to earn that right.
Let's not forget about the catchy theme songs of the wonderful Disney films. "Poor Unfortunate Souls," sung by Ursula the sea-witch in The Little Mermaid, is all about how men do not like women who speak; men only like to gawk at their sexy bodies ("It's she who holds her tongue who gets her man"). In Mulan's "A Girl Worth Fighting For" the male soldiers list off characteristics they believe a woman worth fighting for would have, among them are beauty, cooking skills, admiration for her man etc. However, when Mulan says "How 'bout a girl that's got a brain and always speaks her mind" the men give her a big "No!" as if it were a joke.
These messages are prevalent in the majority of Disney films watched by children over and over again (because we all know there was at least one favorite that we would watch an endless amount of times). It is very possible that these films play a part in the socialization of young boys and girls who enjoy them so much.
The Evolution of Gender Stereotyping in Disney Animated Films
By Crystal MencherIn 1937, Disney mesmerized audiences with the introduction of the full-length animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Timid and demur, she was content to scrub the house all day and “whistle while [she] work[s].” This began the journey of “Family” animated movies, where societal roles and stereotypes were played out on the screen for adults and children alike to assimilate. Throughout the years Disney has created movies that reflected the values and norms of the current time. This paper reflects upon the journey Disney has taken through the years in these family classics, and the evolution of gender stereotypes that are portrayed in their animated films. I have grouped the movies into three categories, early films (1930s to 1950s), second wave (1980s through 1999) and current films (2000 to present) to compare gender stereotypes in each of these eras. A lot has changed since the early films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with newer movies showing less polarization of gender roles, but there is still a lot of growth toward equality in gender roles to be strived for.
It is very clear from the early Disney movies that the societal norm was for a woman to have her place in the home, to use her beauty to attract a “prince” so they could live “happily ever after.” Snow White is portrayed as a helpless woman who needs a man (or 7 dwarfs) to save her. There is a scene in the movie, where Snow White is running through the forest after the huntsman decides to spare her life, but warns her that the Queen wants her dead. Branches come to life to grab at her, logs snap at her feet as though they are alligators, the forest is dark and eyes stare at her from all angles threatening harm. She finally falls to the ground and we see things from a different angle, not the image in her mind, but the one she is really experiencing, The darkness disappears and we see the open field she is in and the friendly, concerned animals surrounding her. She is shown in this moment as being hysterical, unable to care for her own wellbeing, completely delusional from fear. The animals take her to where the dwarfs live, and she is beyond thrilled to scrub their home even before she’s met the residents. Soon she meets the dwarfs and in exchange for a place to stay, she cooks, cleans and takes care of them, again, the only value she seems to have. The dwarfs are concerned about leaving her alone, and rightfully so, as she opens the door for a stranger and eats the infamous poisonous apple. She falls, seemingly dead, but is rescued and reanimated by her handsome prince’s kiss. At no time does Snow White do anything to care for herself during this movie. Her value is in being “the fairest of them all” and her ability to clean up after the messes men make. The one thing I did find in this movie that changed in future movies is that Snow White has a relatively average-sized waist. It is also one of the few movies where the female lead has short hair. It was interesting to see the evolution of gender expectations in Disney animated movies that began with Snow White as a woman with dark eyes and short, dark hair, an average waist, and flat chest. This would change a lot by the time I was a child watching Disney movies in what I refer to as the Second Wave, but there were many more movies during the early years to firm up the “helpless/needs rescuing” stereotype in Disney movies.
In 1950 Disney introduced Cinderella, who was also forced to clean the home by her evil step-mother and whose only friends were animals. As with Snow White, the mother was dead, causing instant sympathy for the main character. By this movie the gender stereotypes already had a very noticeable change. Cinderella has an unattainably small waist, her hair is blonde, eyes are blue, and she has tiny feet, which becomes an important symbol of femininity when compared to her “ugly stepsisters” who have big feet that they try to shove in to her glass slipper. At least in the Disney classic the stepsisters didn’t cut off parts of their feet to fit in the slipper, as in the Grimm’s Fairytale version. Cinderella’s hair is longer, but only to shoulder length, and she has a slight curve of the breast, but very modest, which is a sign of social norms of the time. She did disobey orders a little in order to go to the ball, but mostly Cinderella conformed to what was expected of her. It is clear once again that a woman worth marrying knows how to keep a house clean, to transform instantly for a ball (night out) and her goal in life is to find a prince to marry and obey. She can sing and clean, but shows no other skill in this movie. Her beauty is what makes her desirable.
The wavy locks were in full swing for Sleeping Beauty in 1959. The long, golden tresses were a symbol of femininity that would dominate in many future movies. Her waist was even more exaggerated than Cinderella’s, her hair otherworldly, her voice a blessing from a fairy. There is little about this character that a girl could hope to embody in herself. She also has no skill other than her voice and is also put to sleep by an evil witch, in need of rescue by the handsome prince. Once again, the message in the earlier Disney movies is that a woman’s place is in caring for the home, she needs a man to take care of her, and without him she will certainly perish. Each of these three young women were helpless of themselves, and had nothing expected of them other than beauty and good cleaning skills. Early Disney films left little to strive for other than a homemaker, a valuable position, but one that left a gaping hole in the potential of young women during that time. The movies during this time also sent the message that what is valued is the palest skin, thin frames, and timid, demur behaviorisms, and the highest goal is to marry a handsome man.
In the second wave of Disney animated movies, there is a considerable difference in the embodiment of a young woman. The Little Mermaid became an instant classic in 1989, with her long, thick hair flowing through the water like Sleeping Beauty’s once did in the wind. Features were once again more exaggerated than in the past. There is something about this time period where reality in form goes out the window and eyes get bigger, hair grows ever longer, bodies get thinner than ever before. This is also when cartoon characters became more sexualized, with Ariel wearing only sea shells in the ocean (making her breasts very noticeable) and meeting the prince wearing an old sail wrapped around her (a sign she was just naked on the beach.) Now the heroine is a siren, the mythical mermaid meant to lure men to their doom. She’ll do anything to get her man, even give up her voice, and along with it every opinion she has, all proof of her intelligence, and is left with only her overly sexed body to woo the prince. It wasn’t until seeing the movie on the video in class we had about Disney movies that I realized the undertones of the movie I had always missed before – do anything to get the man. Give up family, home, your true self, whatever it takes – even if it could mean giving up your life. It’s all worth it for love, and without love nothing else matters. This movie also introduces the evil woman (once again it is the woman who is evil) who has a deep voice, an overly sexualized, voluptuous, obese body, and a face plastered with make-up. This is the fourth movie in a row that has stressed the importance of a beautiful singing voice as a key factor to be valuable as a woman. I remember as a young child that this idea had a detrimental effect on me. My voice couldn’t even come close to those notes, no matter how hard I tried, and I felt flawed. If every Disney movie has a beautiful girl with a voice like an angel, and my voice screeches and cracks and sings off-key, then I must not be like them. At least for me my skin was a similar color, for until this time the only color of skin that Disney recognized was the pale white tone of a Caucasian. The depth of importance in seeing a movie with a heroine that resembles you was brought to the forefront when I read “White Privilege” (McIntosh 11-17). McIntosh, herself a white woman, took on the role of truly reflecting on the privileges she has received since birth simply due to the light hue of her skin. Looking back at the earlier Disney movies I recognize that I benefit from the privilege of knowing that at any time I can go see a movie that has a lead character whose skin looks like mine. That was not the case for many young women watching the earlier Disney films. That would soon change though as the tides shifted and the female lead expanded to include the beauty of many new races.
Pocahontas entered the scene in 1995, her long dark locks flowing in the wind, keeping in step with prior films of long-haired feminine beauty. Pocahontas is a more independent character, she has ideas and opinions, a sharp contrast to the earliest films. Disney is showing the change in society, where women have a greater role, and they used the story of Pocahontas, a powerful American Indian woman, to alter the image of what a woman is capable of. It is Pocahontas who saves everyone, but in the end she does it all for a man. There is still the importance of “happily ever after” with an opposite sex partner. One major change that Disney is making here is that the two people in love are of different races. This is a huge step from the all-white cast of earlier films. Light skin still dominates many Disney movies, but they have made an effort to become more ethnically diverse, even if in doing so they are following stereotypes that truly don’t exist within other cultures.
In Mulan, a 1998 film, the beginning of the movie is all about the ritual of her painting her face, smelling perfect, pouring tea, and being silent unless given permission to speak. She does this in order to impress the matchmaker so that she can get a husband and bring honor to her family. Again her long, thick hair is a centerpiece in the movie, meant to bring surprise when she takes a sword and chops it to a length more appropriate for men at the time. The link between femininity and long flowing hair is discussed in “Hair Still Matters” (Banks 142-149). Banks sheds light on the Euro American “ideal” of long, flowing locks on women, something that is impossible for some women to embody, such as African American women whose hair has tight curls, or those who have thin hair that will never have the volume seen in these films (without extensions anyway.) Many go to extremes and great expense to try and have these long, straight tresses, to have their hair fit the beauty they see on the screen. The flowing locks on the screen are unattainable by anyone but a cartoon, however. The idealization makes some women see the ideal feminine in another woman’s hair. Disney takes a stab at gender norms in Mulan. The rebellious theme of the second wave continues, with Mulan disobeying her family and joining the army in her father’s place, disguised as a man. This movie takes on the emerging understanding that women are far more capable than they’ve been given credit for in the past. Still, at the end, after risking her life and saving the whole country, all her grandma can think about is how it would be better if she’d come home with a man. The next scene a man is provided, so that she can have her happily ever after, which still seems to require a heterosexual couple getting together in the end of the movie.
Beauty and the Beast was once one of my favorite movies. That all changed during that video in class about the underlying messages of this movie. In all, this movie now disturbs me the most. It was just over 20 years ago, in 1991, when this movie came to theatres. I loved it, the magical nature of it all, the music, the beast being tamed in the end. What I didn’t see then was how twisted the nature of the relationship between Belle and the beast was. He imprisoned her, wanted to starve her, roared at her any time he didn’t like what she was doing. This horrible man ripped her from her family and kept her as a possession, and she had to find ways to keep him from being angry with her. What hurts the most is that he becomes the tamed beast, this wonderfully sensitive, caring soul who loves her and somehow, even as his prisoner, she begins to love him too, a sign any psychologist would describe as Stockholm Syndrome, where a prisoner falls captor and only sees the good in him. It is the most unrealistic of all the movies, encouraging women to just be sweeter, to find ways to calm the abusive men in their lives, and if they’re good enough then maybe they too can have a happy ending, because the beast just needs to be loved and understood. Except in real life, someone as abusive as the beast was doesn’t change, and sticking around waiting for a happy ending could cost a woman her life. Disney once again showed independence in the female character, but she was vulnerable, needed saving as in many past movies, and was merely a possession to the men (or beast) in her life. Even her intelligence made her “strange” to others. Timid and demur won out once again. Disney can be seen during this time to be making an effort to show women in a more independent role, but until Mulan in 1998, none of these women had power or importance outside of their looks, voices, and ability to do domestic work.
Since the turn of the century Disney has made a shift in giving women a more powerful role in movies. In 2007, Meet the Robinson’s came out and the lead female role was a feisty, young girl with her science experiment trying to teach her frogs to sing. You see her later as an adult, with a full orchestra of frogs playing instruments and singing songs. The whole family is a bit crazy, but they work as a team, men and women alike, to keep harmony in the home. Each of them is successful, unique, and has individual attributes that make them valuable in their own way. The movie hits a down note with the flip to woman on man spousal abuse (from a female hand puppet to the man who is holding it) and the movie is strongly centered around a male character, but it is a male character who appreciates his female counterpart and treats her like the powerful woman she is. It is definitely a step in the right direction in this current Disney film.
The Princess and the Frog was the first Disney movie to have a black female lead. True, she spent most of the movie as a frog, but the image of a self-made, determined black woman was forefront in the plot. She had a dream, she worked hard for it, and was on her way to making it a reality, then she kissed the frog and became a frog herself. In the end, she didn’t rescue herself, she had help, but it was her entrepreneurial spirit that advanced this movie. Her hair, even as a black woman in set in the 1920s, was smoothed to perfection, another sign of assimilating the character to Caucasian standards of beauty. Also in this movie was another interracial marriage, but still, it is a heterosexual marriage and it seems to say that you can be beautiful, smart, a great business woman… but still you need a man to complete you.
This summer we might get a different image of a powerful woman, one more step towards an image of a fully independent, self-reliant woman. Disney is putting out the animated movie entitled Brave, with a female lead with crazy red curls who has no interest in being someone’s prize to be won, no interest in being someone’s quiet and demur wife. It will be interesting to see how far Disney takes this image, and if the next generation of children will grow up with movies that teach them that a woman is just as capable as a man to create her future, and truly beautiful no matter what shade of skin or style of hair. I truly hope that the tide is shifting even more, that Disney pushes the envelope once again, pulls back from the over-sexualized female figure waiting for her prince, and focuses on the ability within the feminine to transform the world into whatever she is capable of dreaming of, even with short hair.
Works Cited
Banks, Ingrid. “Hair Still Matters.” Feminist Frontiers. 9th ed. Eds. Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 142-149.
McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Feminist Frontiers. 9th ed. Eds. Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, and Leila J. Rupp. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 11-17.