Gender Stereotypes In Beauty And The Beast

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What is the correct parenting technique? Is it to teach values that express equality to your children through “family friendly” media? Disney films may surprisingly contain these negative values you wish to protect your children from. In this argument, three Disney films will be evaluated; Aladdin, which portrays views against certain cultural aspects, Beauty and the Beast, which portrays views on women and appearance, and Mulan,which portrays real world ploys and not those of purely the silver screen, all can influence a child to think how Disney wishes for him to see the people and the world around him. Large corporations, such as Disney, that control large amounts of the media should have limitations on what ideals they portray in their …show more content…

This idea should promote women, yet Disney managed to mess that up. Now, most would argue that it is a tale of a man that found inner beauty with the help of an independent woman, which would be a factor that empowers the female image. However, the method it was acheived is a different matter entirely. A woman with beauty seemed to be the only one who could do it, yet ideals of intelligence had been looked down upon. Towbin and company wrote on page 30 of “Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length AnimatedFilms”, “A woman’s appearance is valued more than her intellect. In 15 movies (Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Alice, Peter, Lady, Sleeping, Dalmatians, Jungle, Aristocats, Robin, Oliver, Hunchback, Hercules, and Emperor), a woman’s value was determined by her appearance rather than her abilities or intellect… Beauty is a case in point: Belle loves to read and is portrayed as independent. Her beauty is celebrated (“It’s no wonder her name means beauty–her looks have no parallel.”) but her intellect ridiculed.” As mentioned in the writing, Belle was praised for her beauty. Heck, her name means beauty. But, she was ridiculed for her intellect. What message does that portray to young women? The film implies that if you are not beautiful, the chance of the world applauding or praising you is little to none. This idea of beauty being worth more than anything in the life of a female is one that objectifies women and harms self esteem. When large media companies, namely Disney, have this type of influence on the world’s views, it plays a role with how women are treated, whether purposefully or

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