What princess culture does is put our little girls in a box and give then a “narrow view of womanhood” (Dionne). They are all expected to dream of princes, wear frilly pink night gowns, and have multiple plastic tiaras, which do not symbolize power for these girls like a crown does—it’s delicate and pretty. Girls are told that they should be pretty and polite. When girls don’t fit in this box the they are suddenly “quirky” or “outspoken”. These labels aren’t exactly positive, so girls often stay in the box as long as possible to avoid being different.
Our girls are expected to conform to a beauty and behavior standard at a very young age. This is something that stays with these girls into adulthood. They will continue to conform to beauty standards and they will conform to what our male-dominated society wants. If/when women break these standards they are labeled as something else: free-thinker, weird, and even “lesbian”. This brings up another issue; Disney princesses are all heterosexual. So from the start, if girls want to be like a princess, then they better be straight. In this way, Disney movies are hetero-normative, and influence girls to believe that if they want to find their “one true love,” then they need to find a handsome man, not possibly a fellow princess. Evette Dionne writes that Disney princesses gave her warped expectations of love and romance in "Were You Ruined by Princess Culture?”.
Cinderella is arguably the best known and most influencial princess. Her character is the subject of many folk-tales, fairy tales, movies, and songs. The best known film about her is the 1950’s Disney version of her story. This is a movie that most children, especially girls, watched over and over again. The film is a great exa...
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“Cinderella." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
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Dionne, Evette. "Were You Ruined by Princess Culture?" Clutch Magazine RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
01 May 2014. culture/>. Into the Woods. By Stephen Sondheim. 30 Apr. 2014. Performance.
Premiered 1988
A modern edition of the original French text by Perrault is found in Charles Perrault,
Contes, ed. Marc Soriano (Paris: Flammarion, 1989), pp. 274–79.
Moskowitz, Clara. "The Destructive Culture of Pretty Pink Princesses
LiveScience."LiveScience.com. livescience, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2014
“Parenting Princess Culture." Lifestyle. MSN, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
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In the article, “Little Girls or Little Women: The Disney Princess Affect”, Stephanie Hanes shows the influential impact that young girls, and youth in general, are experiencing in today’s society. This article goes in depth on the issues that impressionable minds experience and how they are reacting as a result. “Depth of gender guidelines” has been introduced to youth all around the world making it apparent that to be a girl, you have to fit the requirements. Is making guidelines of how you should act and look as a gender going too far?
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
The topic of gender equality, culture and environmental effects on girls and young women has brought up the discussion of princess culture - dressing up, waiting for prince charming, the importance of beauty. Both “The Princess Paradox” and “Cinderella and Princess Culture” discuss how companies such as Disney are responsible for girls falling into princess culture and influencing them. However, there is a parallel drawn between Orenstein and Poniewozik on how they feel about the effects of cinematic influence. On one hand, Orenstein believes that Disney animations push princess culture that negative impacts on mental health and development of girls. On the other Poniewozik believes that princess culture has changed to be a positive reinforcement.
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
Orenstein expresses that the princess culture can cause a lot of struggles within a young girl’s life. Orenstein provides evidence that states females often feel the pressure to be perfect, have good grades, be president of all the clubs, participate in sports, have enthusiastic personality traits, the idea of being thin and dressing well (329). These negative thoughts flood the female’s mind into thinking that there is no point in trying to succeed in these fields if they do not have the
The article titled “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princesses Effect” was written by Stephanie Hanes and was published September 24, 2011 by the Christian Science Monitor. Hanes wrote this article in response to the Disney Princesses becoming popular. The author argues that the princesses were having a negative effect on little girls. Hanes isolated this article into five segments. In the introduction the author introduces a mother that believed that the Disney princesses were having a negative effect on her daughter. In the next section the author provides the reader with studies and information about mental and physical effects the princesses have on little girls. At that point Hanes presents an association of how grown-ups can
The 1950’s Cinderella created by world-renown Disney director, Clyde Geronimi, has been established as the most renown and generic story out of all. In comparison to Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella”, the standard storyline, both have the same concepts. Similarities such as the abuse, the magic, and the happily ever after is present in both exactly. Although, there are also horrifying aspects to discuss about Cinderella and their other versions. Certain acts such as the abuse and mutilation are considered to be unjust and not right, no matter the situation; but perhaps Cinderella was not as virtuous and kind as portrayed in the 1950’s film.
Princess movies have negative effects on the minds of little girls. Parent’s try their hardest to raise their girls to be strong independent women. The princess movies portray a woman that fulfills his man's needs and puts away education. The movies portray that everything is about beauty and being
But now to my main question. How are Disney princess movies affecting people on how they think or feel about themselves today. Well, throughout the last few years, there has been some discussions on how Disney Princesses have a negative impact on young girls and their future. This so called “Princess Affect” has, and is still changing, young girls into mature and emotionally developed women. A small study done by professor Sarah M. Coyne, showed that out of 198 preschoolers, 96% of girls and 87% of boys have viewed princess media. It also showed that 61% of girls, and 4% of boys, play with princess toys at least once a week. This influence could be good for boys, encouraging better boy esteem and being more helpful. However, it could damage girls by making them more susceptible to having bad body esteem and less confidence.
...ndency on the fairy godmother and the prince encourages a meek and inactive behaviour to achieve a rewarding future (Robbins, 104). Overall, Cinderella’s behaviour is “...weak, silent and passive...” (Trousdale & McMillan, 12) which is unacceptable for a modern western woman.
Since Disney’s Snow White appeared in 1937, Disney princesses have been a present in pop culture. With the release of new movies frequent and re-release of decades old movies inevitable, a continuous stream keeps Disney princesses in the foreground of adolescent society. It is with the value of entertainment they have been created and as entertainment they should be viewed.
Each Disney princess has different positive attributes that make her unique, the most recent Disney princesses are especially fitting in today’s society. In Jena Stephens’ analysis of the three most recent princesses, excluding Anna and Elsa, she describes Rapunzel by saying, “Her forward thinking, desire to prove she is just as capable as a man, and realistic dreaming make her a great role model for young girls”. Whether it is to become a princess and marry her true love like Cinderella or open a restaurant like Princess Tiana, all of the Disney princesses have aspirations. Jena Stephens says, “The words that Tiana sings about the necessary hard work it will take for her to reach her dream stand out as a message to young viewersone that does not covey that love is the only thing that will make girls happy”. Not only do Disney princesses have dreams but they make their dreams come true with hard work. As Liz Gumbinner described her trip to Disney World with her daughters, “The princess luncheon led to a great discussion later in our hotel room, in which we told our girls that it is okay to be strong, smart, hardworking and still dream of marrying a prince”. Disney princesses carry themselves in a humble and confident manner. The princesses are beautiful but they are not conceited. Lastly, they are never stuck up but rather loving and independent which makes their character so
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
Throughout history, fairy tales have grown to captivate the hearts and minds of many. A Cinderella Story is set firmly in reality and in the present day; in fact, it's every bit a fantasy as the original story. This film refrains from any allusions to magic, but instead lets serendipitous occurrences provide the engine on which this fairy tale creates its plot. The impression A Cinderella Story is in place of a well-thought out story and characters that anyone could relate to or believe. Although the target audience of the film are teens, females, and romantics, A Cinderella Story can be praised and savored by all audiences because of its ingenious screenplay, acting, and melodic soundtrack.
Disney and old fairytales threaten gender politics and ideal women roles by giving certain stereotypes for domestic and personality traits. Fairytales that have turned into Disney productions have sculpted domestic roles for women that consist of cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. Disney has also created these princesses with personalities that are shy, passive, and vulnerable. The cause of these stereotypes are making individuals obliterate their own identities and becoming clones from the mold that was prepared for