Disney Princess Stereotypes

Research Paper

My childhood was just like every other kid growing up in the 20th century. It revolved around the Disney story’s that were filled with magic and dreams. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, my beloved children 's stories seem to stereotype women and be controlled by male characters. At a young age, this showed me that women are not as useful as men are. These stories set the foundation of what it means to be a boy or a girl. The ratio of men to women as main characters was so outstanding it led me to question how these stories affected how I view males and females.

My parents read the widely old-fashioned Disney classics, but I now believe they do not reflect women 's role in the world today. These pastime stereotypes prevent

A princess image is very specific and made clear through the descriptions of each princess. Every princess had long hair and all wear extravagant dresses. Princesses also wear make-up, jewelry, and some type of headpiece. The creators made sure the princess image were flawless and fashionable, creating impossible beauty standards. Princesses spend the majority of the time interacting with animals, singing, or dancing and cooking, cleaning, serving, and grooming. I never saw a princess working or taking action. These expectations to fulfill were unattainable. Growing up I thought that these princesses represent the social norm, but found out how unrealistic they were when I got older. Most princess stories follow the pattern of marrying her prince charming and then their life is complete. Jasmine, Ariel, and Snow White were already princesses at the beginning of the movies. They really did not have anywhere to go, but they were able to achieve even more happiness by marrying their prince. Aurora and Rapunzel were also princesses from the start of the movie but were not aware of it. Therefore, they lived regular lives and received their crown at the end of the stories. In Snow White, she sings, My Prince Will Come, written Barbra Streisandby and highlights the gender roles at that time. It begins “Someday my prince will come. Someday I 'll find my love and how thrilling that

Disney’s men often have the story revolve around them even when the story being told is not about them. Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty are all movies named after the female characters and yet it is the men who represent the role of heroes. The Beauty and the Beast story becomes a battle between two male characters while Belle does nothing but wait for a victor to come claim her. In The Little Mermaid, it is again about the male saving the day, not Ariel becoming her own hero. What I noticed is that girls will read books that have boy heroes, but boys will not read books that have girl heroes. Lori Baker –Sperry states in her viewpoint, “Cinderella was not, however about or for the boys. The boy’s actively move the story to a place more about them. In this way, they de-centered the central character and instead turned to other components of popular fairytales that are more interesting to them, such as chasing dragons and engaging in adventurous swordplay.” At a young age, it was enforced that males play a more important role in society than women did. Disney classifies the prince as more important and portrayed as more likely to have a better job, more independent, intelligent, athletic, confident, responsible, than female characters. The role model for any main character is a father figure whether the main character is male or female. Most of the cases when it is a male