Gender Stereotypes In The Little Mermaid

Once upon a time, there was a 16 year old mermaid princess named Ariel who gave up her voice, an important part of her identity, in order to be with a man who she became infatuated with at just one glance. Ariel has a very traditional gender-stereotypical role in the film, as the helpless, clueless, naive, physically weak, submissive, and attractive female protagonist that Disney films, especially the classics, portray so often (England). There is a lot of controversy surrounding this film in regards to its patriarchal ideals. The Little Mermaid, like most media, is build for the ‘male gaze’, a term coined by Laura Mulvey that suggests that visual entertainment, such as movies, are structured to be viewed by a masculine consumer. I will argue that the male gaze perpetuates harmful gender-stereotypes in The Little Mermaid.

Mulvey’s theories on the male gaze suggest that film is structured around

patriarchal ideals and a male point of view. Storey says that the male gaze has two sides when referring to the image of women. the first is that “she is the object of male desire”. The second is that “she is the signifier of the threat of castration” (Storey, 109). Mulvey argues that in popular media, there are two opposing forms of “visual pleasure” that are promoted. Scopophilia (The pleasure of looking), and Narcissism (interest in oneself and one's physical appearance). Ariel is portrayed as a 16 year old girl in The Little Mermaid. However, she is quite sexualized in the film. For most of it she is seen in nothing but a seashell bra, and is attractive in accordance to todays typical beauty standards. This type of image (a slim, beautiful girl wearing revealing clothing) is designed for that male gaze. When a young female consumer views these types of images it can perpetuate the idea that woman should be seen as sexual figures, because (i) it references that pleasure of looking perpetuated by the male gaze, and (ii) it creates a space where consumers relate to the character and see themselves in this sexualized position. This type of position promotes the gender-stereotypes that The Little Mermaid seems to encourage.
In Dawn Elizabeth England, Lara Descartes, and Melissa A. Collier-Meek’s article “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses”, they talk a lot about the gender-stereotypes that are prominent in The Little Mermaid. Although Ariel does show some non-stereotypical gender characteristics that were not shown in earlier Disney movies such as independence, assertiveness, and the willingness to explore, she also feeds into the stereotypical female role. In the film Ariel has “high levels of feminine behaviours, including fearfulness, affection, and tending to physical appearance frequently” (England, Descartes, Collier-Meek). When watching this movie the male gaze can affect the expectations of women, and further engrain these gender-stereotypes into our society. It does this by promoting the forms of “visual pleasure” that I discussed earlier on. Ariel’s constant attentiveness to her appearance promotes both the scopophilia and the narcissism. It does this by perpetuating gender normative behaviour. From a scopophilic point of view the male gaze can see these “feminine behaviours” as the norm, and therefore making her attentiveness to appearance seem like it’s a feminine requirement. On the narcissistic side of things, women may want to be like Ariel in this aspect to conform to those gender-stereotypes in order to seem appealing to men and the male gaze.
All of the important characters in Ariel’s life are men. She is raised by her father, and is infatuated with prince Eric. In Lacroix’s feminist article she mentions that Ariel’s “goals in the film seem limited to ‘becoming part of (his) world,’ ” (Lacroix). She sacrifices her voice to be with a man without question. The idea of a relationship with this man is enough to make her want to give up a part of herself in order to be with him. In this sense Ariel “embraces the patriarchy” and also follows in the footsteps of the “Disney myth” that perpetuates representations of traditional gender roles (O’Brien). This further embeds the idea of the male gaze into our society because if “the spectator recognizes and misrecognizes itself on the screen” (Storey, 110). then viewers may view themselves in a male dominated society where they are meant to give up a part of themselves in order to be with a man.
The only other main, female character in the film is Ursula who is the antagonist. She is a grotesque, fat, older woman in the film. Disney often creates antagonists that are visually unappealing so that the viewers can immediately recognize who the villain in the film is. Some examples of this are Maleficent with her horns and green skin, and Cruella De Vil, with her pointed cheek bones and two-tone hair. As if her name wasn’t a clue in itself. In regards to the male gaze, this stereotypical villain could be harmful to consumers. If a viewer cannot connect to Ariel’s slender appearance, and instead sees their self as / connects more with Ursula’s appearance, it could be harmful. This type of imagery is meant to be seen as gross and villainous by the male gaze, and if a viewer relates to this image, it may be harmful to their body image.
Disney gives viewers a candy coated view of the world that could be harmful to viewers.

According to A. Waller Hastings Ariel didn’t have to face her consequences. The movie ends with Ariel’s father trading his life to the sea witch in order to save her. “Once again Disney’s heroine survives to find happiness thanks solely to the heroism and sacrifice of male characters” (O’Brien). Because of this, Ariel doesn’t grow or mature. Instead, everyone lives happily ever after thanks to the men in Ariel’s life (Hastings). Now, there’s nothing wrong with living happily ever after. However, this perpetuates an unrealistic expectation of life for impressionable viewers that abide by Mulvey’s theories on narcissism and how viewers may relate themselves to the object on the screen (Storey, 110). The image of a helpless damsel in distress being saved by men with no further consequences to her life is harmful because it may give viewers a distorted view of reality. The damsel in distress stereotype erases all of Ariel’s prior independence due to the fact that she has to be

saved.
Although The Little Mermaid may be considered to be fairly problematic, it does have some good feminist values. For example Ariel wants to be independent and wants to live her life without the guidance of her overprotective father. This is a different gender role than most disney films before it. For the time, this movie was actually fairly progressive in terms of feminist ideals. Ariel rejects the patriarchy when she goes against her father’s wishes, and has the desire to explore (England et al.). these are good qualities that could encourage viewers to follow their dreams, be independent, explore the unknown and be curious. If consumers put themselves into Ariel’s position in regards to Mulvey’s narcissist theory, it could actually be beneficial. So although Ariel does follow a lot of gender-stereotypes that may be negative, her positive characteristics and non-conforming to her underwater society could have a positive impact on consumers.
Even though The Little Mermaid is a movie typically meant for children, it is still effected by and structured around the male gaze. it has both scopophilic, and narcissistic tendencies. For example, it is scopophilic in the fact that Ariel is an obviously attractive character in a sexualized outfit, and narcissistic because consumers want to see themselves in this character. (Storey, 110).The male gaze also promotes the normalization of gender-stereotypes that Ariel possesses, such as her attentiveness to her appearance, her helplessness, and her willingness to give up a part of herself in order to be with a man (England et al). These Gender-stereotypes, when paired with Mulvey’s theories surrounding the male gaze, can be harmful and perpetuate an unrealistic view of how the world works. Even though at the time, the movie may have been seen as progressive, it is no longer up to the feminist standard that Disney is at today with movies such as Brave where the Scottish princess Merida rejects her mother’s wishes of becoming “ladylike” and finding a husband. In the end she is her own hero and rejects traditional gender roles. I wouldn’t expect The Little Mermaid to live up to that modern day standard. However, it is important to note The Little Mermaid’s problematic gender-stereotypes and male-centric story line that is perpetuated by the male gaze.