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Gender stereotype in Disney
Disney princess appearances show young girls a sense of beauty
Gender stereotype in Disney
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Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairytale produced by Disney. The movie centers on two main characters, the Beast, a young prince who is cursed and transformed into an ugly creature because he is arrogant, and Belle a strong-willed young woman who he imprisons in his castle. In order for the Beast to be returned to his normal self, he must have someone look past his ugliness and fall in love with him. Another male character, Gaston, who is extremely self-centered, wants to marry Belle and tries to kill the Beast when he realizes there are signs of growing love between the Beast and Belle. At the conclusion of the story, the Beast/Prince is restored to his handsome form because Belle has in fact fallen in love with him. The last scene of the movie shows Belle and the Beast/Prince dancing happily ever after.
Beauty and the Beast reveals various gender stereotypes consistently throughout the film. Disney has a rather old-fashioned view of how men and women should behave and be
This example is followed in Beauty and Beast, as Belle is a fair-skinned young female with long brown hair and wide eyes. She has a very tiny waist, as do most of the main female Disney characters. Her hips appear prominently wider because of the way Disney dresses their female characters. Belle differs from the usual Disney female lead characters in that she is very particular in the life choices she makes and is peculiar to others because she does not behave as other girls in town do in wanting to be married and passive to men. She appears to be oblivious to things going on around her because she always has her nose buried in a book and is completely unaware of the second male character,
Standing out and being different can be very difficult because of the people and the world around us. Belle--from Beauty and the Beast--does not follow the ordinary lifestyle of the villagers. She wants more than just the same old boring routine in the village that her whole life has been about. The movie Beauty and the Beast is transcendental because it encourages that at heart the individual is a good person, self reliance, and trusting your intuition.
In fact, Belle is not actively seeking love, but rather stumbles onto it, as a consequence of her own bravery and sacrifice. The relationship that grows between the beauty and the Beast is often the target of criticism as it can be perceived as Stockholm’s syndrome on Belle’s part and is seen to advocate that women should remain with their loved ones even if they are abusive. This is aspect of the film is condemned as it suggest that, somehow and through love, the abusive husband or lover can better himself. And although one can read the film as such, another could see that Beauty and the Beast is the tale of a woman who enters a man’s life and initiates and reciprocally healing and growing bond: Belle learns to see beyond someone’s appearance, and the Beast learns to let other people in. This is literally reflected by his complete forbiddance to have any visitors in his castle as the castle symbolizes his soul. This relationship of equals demonstrates that, contrarily to Disney films such as Cinderella or even The Little Mermaid where all a man or a woman need to fall in love is to set eyes on one another, without having to know anything about each other, or even share a discussion. The Disney princess here is not a princess but a villager, and Prince Charming is not charming but rather temperamental. The unusual end of the animated feature also mirrors this unusual
In Disney classics, if characters like the Beast can be misconstrued by Belle, everyday people could commit a similar crime. Beauty and the Beast was more than a story about love, it was a story about misjudgement. In a way, I have my own version, except mine did not end in a happily ever after.
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and many other Disney movies all have one thing in common, they feature a female lead who needs a male figure to save them. However, things started to change after the release of Mulan in 1988. Movies that were only representing female leads as weak and always needed to rely on someone, started to feature females who showed off their more masculine side. Mulan was one of the first animated films that had started to dive into that, not to mention it was based on a true story, making it even more powerful. In the article “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Pixar/Disney”, authors Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden explore Pixar movies show male characters who were not afraid to show their emotions
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.
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.
Throughout the movie The Beauty and The Beast Disney presents a classic fairytale, but when seen in a different perspective it demonstrated that not everything is as it seems. Belle is affected by multiple disorders starting with Introversion, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia as well as Stockholm Syndrome. However, with psychoactive drugs and extensive therapy Belle can be treated to allow her to progress prevent a relapse in her daily
Through the three revisions of Beauty and The Beast, the fairy tales retold share many similarities as well as many differences according to their time period. In all three versions femininity and masculinity are presented in many ways. Femininity is shown through all three main female characters, Belle from the famous Disney film “The Beauty and The Beast”, the narrator in “Tiger’s Bride”, and Psyche in “Cupid and Psyche”. In all three versions, the female characters breaks society’s expectations of a typical woman. In CP Psyche stands up to Cupid’s mother Venus and accomplishes these activities usually performed by males. She shows society that women can overcome male activities and have strength to complete the same tasks. She breaks tradition of the male character fighting for her because in this version she takes on the hero role and fights for Cupid. This was not something ordinarily done by woman characters during this time. In TB the narrator breaks the tradition of the innocent stereotypical woman figure. The narrator exposes and does things most woman would never have the nerve to do. She shows society that women can fault their beauty in other ways. Even if society does not make it acceptable to have sex before marriage, she shows that women can expose their body and beauty in many ways. In DB version Belle is a great example that women should not be looked at as dolls and let males have control over them. She shows society that woman can be independent and educated. She does not get married to the most handsome male in town however she goes after someone who deeply cares about her. She displays a great example of how woman have their own mind and can think for themselves. Woman are allowed to make decisions and have ...
Because of his past negative choices, he was forced to turn into a horrible beast and took his problems out on other people, particularly Belle and Maurice who were lost. After he captured Belle, he showed how violent he was and did all he could to make her feel as miserable as possible. For example, when she first refused to attend dinner with him, he became increasingly angrier and treated the young woman with much disrespect, most likely since he was not used to being rejected after living alone for so long. In addition, he showed his dominance and abusing power over others by constantly bossing the talking objects around and telling them that they weren’t allowed to do certain things. The Beast’s actions show that prior to developing feelings for Belle, he was very controlling, acted on instinct, and had many difficulties getting along with others. However, as the story went on, he was able to control his temper more easily and form relationships with those he came in contact
Throughout the movie,Shrek takes us deep into the concept of inner vs outer beauty. Whilst Shrek, the protagonist represents a non-stereotypical prince, there is also Princess Fiona. The traditional fairy tales portray princesses as dependent, ladylike and weak. Although in the beginning of the film, Fiona embodies the typical feminism and ladylike qualities, a thin, beautiful princess. As the movie goes on Fiona acts more comfortably and breaks these princess qualities. There is a scene where Fiona interrupts Shrek and Donkey with her rather unfeminine
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
Beauty and the Beast centers on Belle who is desired by handsome but egocentric Gaston. Belle’s father, disappears on a journey to a local fair and becomes captive of the Beast. Belle bravely offers herself as an alternative hostage and Beast accepts. As his prisoner, Belle befriends Beast’s household of Enchanted Objects, all talking, walking furniture and kitchen utensils. Belle learns about how the Beast and his staff are all the victims of a witch’s curse that has transformed them. They fall in love during her hostage. In the end, Bella’s love reverses the spell on the Beast.
the Beast has really lost his beastliness and regular wishes; maybe the energy has been
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
The one thing that separates Beauty and the Beast from all the other fairy tales is that Beauty gets to know the Beast before marrying him. She lives with him for several months and gets to know him for what he is inside. He is not a prince that rescues her but she is a woman that rescues him. It is only when she professes her love for him that he is transformed. If it wasn’t for her love of the Beast from the inside he would have never been transformed and they would not have been wed. Yes, he helps her mature and become a beautiful, young women but it is her that causes the transformation.