Disney: To be a Young Woman

863 Words2 Pages

To be a Young Woman (according to Disney)
Since Disney first introduced Snow White from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves back in 1937, the definition of what it means to be a young woman has been hugely influenced by Walt Disney Studios princesses. From the hair and the dresses to the demeanor and poise, Disney princesses have been showing girls of all ages how a woman should look and act, if she wants to have a happy life and find the perfect husband. Being constantly fed the seemingly ‘ideal’ image of beauty since their youth; most girls feel a need to strive to that level of beauty in order for them to feel accepted in society, and confident in themselves. According to researcher Dawn England, “The princesses in the first three Disney Princess movies were frequently affectionate, helpful, troublesome, fearful, tentative, and described as pretty” (England).Focusing in on the three original Disney princesses, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, according to those three princesses what it means to be a young woman is to have unrealistic physical beauty, be dependent on a man, and be submissive and obedient.
The Disney princesses’ unrealistic level of beauty can be seen in the artist portrayal of each princess. In the article, "The Mixed Blessings Of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales" Asma Ayob talks about how the princesses’ are created, “Snow White and Cinderella are presented as beautiful archetypal princesses who are ideally perfect. With the advent of the film, and the animators’ ability to create flawless bodies, this type of female attractiveness, which can be compared to “air-brushing” models on the covers of popular magazines, is a hard act to follow” (Ayob). The ‘hard act to follow’, has been t...

... middle of paper ...

...llier-Meek. "Gender Role Portrayal And The Disney Princesses." Sex Roles 64.7/8 (2011): 555-567. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
"Marry The Prince Or Stay With Family—That Is The Question: A Perspective Of Young Korean Immigrant Girls On Disney Marriages In The United States." Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood 34.2 (2009): 39-46. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C. Do. "The Princess And The Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function Of The Disney Princess." Women's Studies In Communication 27.1 (2004): 34-59. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Whelan, Bridget1. "Power To The Princess: Disney And The Creation Of The 20Th Century Princess Narrative." Interdisciplinary Humanities 29.1 (2012): 21-34. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Jack Heckel 'Are All Princesses Really Waiting For Princes To Come'

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Book Review: Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture Adriana Cerezo

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Orenstein explores the rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and the differences that are in today’s society. The rise and fast spreading message that girls receive from the Disney Princesses is one of her biggest issues. Not only does she disagree, but other mothers from Daisy’s preschool do as well. In the second chapter Orenstein invites all the mothers with daughters that are obsessed with Princesses to discuss the subject, one mother states that she sees no problem with encouraging being feminine and then states, “On the other hand, I a...

    Read More

  • An Analysis of “Disney’s Politically Correct Pocahontas”

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Disney Princess Culture

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    From a young age, princess culture has impacted the lives of numerous people. Some individuals may have spent their childhood parading around in the attire of their favorite Disney princess while they put on their best rendition of the character they admired most. Ohers may have only seen a few Disney princess movies here and there and went seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon. With Disney’s debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, princess movies would provide the defining factor of the Disney entertainment empire for years to come. From this, fairy tales embarked into a territory that would touch the lives of many individuals

    Read More

  • Disney and Traditional Stereotypes

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Gender, Race and Disney Princesses

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Disney

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Construction Of The Female Self Summary

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings Of the Disney Heroine, Jill Birmie Henke, Diane Zimmerman Umble, and Nancy J. Smith are looking at the female self and how it was developed based on two theories: Standpoint by Parker Follet and the psychological development of girls by Gilligam. That by examines gender identity especially girls and how media exposure affects them through analyzing five of Disney movies: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Pocahontas. They segmented the article into three titles: The Oxymoron of Power and the Perfect Girl where they introduced the two theories in which they built their critic on, Construction of the Female Self where they talk about the evolution in the female character from Cinderella to Pocahontas, and Construction of Self in Relation to Others where they talk about the evolution of the self in relation to others from power-over to power-with until power-to. Finally they concluded that even if the female character in Disney’s movies was changing to become more

    Read More

  • Brothers Grimm

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    Smith, Caroline. “The Not So Wonderful Word of Disney.” University of Alabama Arts & Sciences Department. Retrieved 13 Dec. 2013 from < http://www.english.uga.ed u/fyc/barnett/smith2006-07.pdf>.

    Read More

  • Disney Princesses' Influence on Young Children

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Disney Princesse

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since 1937, when Snow White was created, Disney princesses have been falsely portraying women. While their personalities have changed to keep up with society’s standards, their unrealistic body

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes in Fairy Tales

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women in these fairy tales are young and beautiful. In all reality not every girl in this world is truly considered beautiful by our society’s terms. In today’s society the term beautiful is often used to describe a women who is a size 0, tall, flawless skin, and dressed nicely. Haven’t you ever seen princesses that are in all these fairy tales, our society’s description of beautiful describes every single one of these princesses?

    Read More

  • Nostalgia In The Princess Bride Succeeds By Classic Genres

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    One recent study focused the mixing of types of historical nostalgia in the “timeless” Disney princess films. Rebecca Do Rozario argues that Disney bases their films on the nostalgia of “neatly order patriarchal realms”(Do Rozario 35), but Disney’s continuing success has stemmed from its ability to play on the nostalgia of other time periods. In the film, Snow White(1937), the princess is portrayed as a “1920/’30s starlet with a flappers haircut” who is helping the “working class dwarfs”(38). Similarly, In the film Sleeping Beauty(1959), Do Rozario describes Aurora as a “prototype Baby Boomer” who is “uninterested in the affairs of the king”(39). Her exploration of the role of nostalgia expands on the traditional studies of the princess and offers new insight into the mixing of nostalgia from different time

    Read More

  • Feminism In Disney Movies

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Cinderella Character Analysis

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Disney: To be a Young Woman

Open Document