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Present status of women empowerment in society
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“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible” - Disney Princess Castle. In the world of Disney there are specific characters most little girls want to follow in the footsteps of : princesses. Mom’s have been putting together princess parties and getting princess clothes for years just wanting to make their little girls happy. Little girls look up to princesses because they are supposed to be great role models, but are they? Have they been teaching kids the right things about how women should act? In most fairy tales you see the prince always saves the princess. Why hasn't there ever been a story about the princess fighting her own battles in all of Disney Princess movies? Or has there? In comparing and contrasting Disney Princess the way society looks at woman has changed drastically over time.
What does it mean to be a classic princess? The Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Belle all have a few of the same things in common. People have referred to these princesses as “Sugar Cookie Style” Princesses “They are a lot like sugar cookies: sparkly, white, and too sweet for their own good.(#5) The normal “Sugar cookie eyes” are unrealistically big about the size of golf balls. Whatever room or lighting the princesses may be the size of their pupils never change unlike normal humans. Disneys reason for huge eyes is so the princesses look more child-like in the movies instead of having more natural eyes. The size of the classic princesses head is bigger than the rest of her tiny waisted body. Bodies of the classics are slim with medium perky boobs and a defined waist. No muscles or hips appear on these petite princesses unlike an actual woman. The size of their feet and hands are considered to be the size of toddl...
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... women the chance to become stronger than they thought they were back in the early 1900’s. If you compare Snowwhite to the new movie Frozen, you would see that the characters have changed from being helpless to becoming fighters.
Works Cited
(1) http://movies.about.com/od/animatedmovies/a/disney-princesses.htm
(2) http://movies.about.com/od/animatedmovies/tp/disney-princess-biographies.htm
(3) http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/disney-princess-makeover-sparks-outrage--merida-petition-goes-viral-175251230.html
(4) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/29/disney-s-sublimely-subversive-frozen-isn-t-your-stereotypical-princess-movie.html
(5) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2335545/The-unbelievable-anatomy-Disney-princess-revealed.html
(6) http://theweek.com/article/index/244284/girls-on-film-the-real-problem-with-the-disney-princess-brand
Every fairytale seems to have the usual prince saving the poor girl from harm or servitude or whatever horrid situation she may be in, and then companies like Disney add their movie magic and make it into a franchise. Others may add a twist or two, such as the film Ever After, directed by Andy Tennant. Yet no matter how the story goes, there is the same feminine ideas imposed upon the female lead. She has to compete with others for the attention of her “prince,” gender roles are a must, and morals are taught in some way or another through some kind of stereotype. These tend to cause some feminist outrage and even maybe a small outrage among parents who must deal with the children that watch these movies and read the stories because of the behavioral
Today, “60 percent of children who use the Internet regularly come into contact with pornography” (Hanes 1). In Stephanie Hanes’ article, “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”, she provides undeniable evidence to suggest that the culture of today’s world causes sexualization of children, specifically of females, at an alarmingly young age. This sexualization has become increasingly invasive in the past decade, so much so that parents, educators, and even more recently politicians have decided to try to counteract some these negative effects. In this article, Stephanie Hanes uses strong research with logical arguments that support this
In “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” Stephanie Hanes covers the sexualization of young girls and women in every aspect of the media that influences children and teens. She explains that girls see media figures, movies, and sports being sexualized, and how this is causing children to associate looking and acting a certain way to being ‘the perfect women’. Hanes believes the hypersexualized media is causing girls to obtain a negative body image and it’s killing their self-esteem. The author proposes what she believes society should do about overcoming this obstacle, and how people can crush the stereotypes about women; to her everyone is responsible and should aid in fixing these problems. She explains that the media
In the article “Are All Princesses Really Waiting for Princes to Come?” Jack Heckel discusses some of the most common Disney princesses and the stereotypes that come along with them, as well as some of the stereotypes that are seen in the Disney princes. He supports his article by providing a variety of sources not only from Disney movies, but also from various authors and blogs. The analysis of Disney princess stereotypes has been a very common topic for years, and this overall analysis has revealed that a lot of Disney princesses are not good role models. Heckel uses many techniques including using credible, non-Disney sources, discussing other fairytales besides Disney, displaying a timeline of Disney
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.
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?
Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future. According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. The women in Disney movies are always beautiful, which helps them to find a man.
A princess image is very specific and made clear through the descriptions of each princess. Every princess had long hair and all ware extravagant dresses. The princesses wore make-up, jewelry, and some type of head piece. They made sure the princess image was always clean and fashionable. The majority of the time for the princesses was spent interacting with animals, singing, or dancing and cooking, cleaning, serving, and grooming. I never saw a princess working or fighting. These unreal 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 they have it all. Jasmine, Ariel, and Snow White were already princesses at the start of the movies. They really didn 't have anywhere to go, but they were able to achieve even more happiness by marrying the man of their dreams. Aurora and Rapunzel were also princesses from the start of the movie, but they didn 't know it. So, they lived modest lives and received their true inheritance at the end of the stories. Belle and Tiana were also able to find happiness by marrying the man of their dreams. In snow white she sings my prince will come written Barbra Streisandby and highlights gender roles. It begins “Someday my prince will come. Someday I 'll find my love and how thrilling that moment will be when the prince of my dreams comes to me”, this shows she is waiting for a man instead of facing her own problems. These princesses end up winning their man at the end due to the fact that they are so sweet, simple, and
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.
Disney Princess movies target children and are none other than a transfigured fairytale story in which innocence and moral virtue are questioned. In pursuit of romance and having the mindset of doing whatever it takes for love, Disney creates this magical world and targets the youth, especially young girls. Walt Disney was a creative and “radical filmmaker who changed [one’s] ...
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
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
"Disney Princesses: Classic Fairy Tales Or Gender Stereotypes?" Hartford Courant, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
In society today, there is pressure from all sides to conform to a certain ideal of beauty. People are overwhelmed with the different types of images and media forms that are telling people how to act and what to look like. Media is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. It has the power to educate, affect social change, and much more, but if taken incorrectly people will take drastic lengths to change something about themselves. There have been many attempts to empower women through different types of media, but many have failed miserably. Over the last couple of years, Disney has struggled greatly with the representation of women throughout Princess movies because young girls are hounded with images of princesses,
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