Negative Stereotypes Of Walt Disney Princess Movies

Negative Stereotypes

“If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney,” Jack Zipes, a publisher and lecturer on the topic of fairy tales, claims. From the beginning of his rollercoaster career, the name of Walt Disney became one to remember. His spell over the world of fairy tales has made him a household name. The classic Disney princess film motif displays stereotypes of women by portraying them negatively. The three prominent stereotypes of women depicted in Disney princess movies include portraying women as domesticated, creating an unattainable body image, and teaching girls that they need saving from a man are amongst these. In a recently conducted survey, I learned that 79% of people watched Disney princess movies often or frequently as a child. This amount of exposure can have great consequences. Although most respondents claimed that Disney movies convey appropriate messages to children, many of them also agreed that they can see the recurring theme of stereotyping women negatively. This

rationalization has destructive consequences to young generations.
Illustrations of all three of these themes may have originated in Disney’s first animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

While Snow White, “the fairest of them all,” frantically runs away from the clutches of the evil queen, she stumbles upon the house of the dwarves where she uncharacteristically leaps at the opportunity to clean the dwarves’ house. Snow’s stunningly attractive physique leads her into the arms of the charming prince upon whom she is completely reliant to save her. This is the formula for a classic Disney film. We can see this in more recent movies such as Aladdin, a princess film created by Disney 55 years after Snow White. It is very easy to draw connections between the two princesses. In the case of Aladdin, Jasmine is the young and radiant princess in need of a handsome savior to rescue her when she leaves the safety of her own

home.
In order to back up the assumption that Disney is harming children with wrongful depictions, I surveyed 215 women, the majority of them being parents. In doing so, I discovered many similarities about the impacts of these children’s movies (Bauman). Of the women surveyed, 79% of them answered that they watched Disney princess movies often or frequently when they were growing up. When respondents were asked what traits they thought a “perfect” female had, 69% of the responses had to do with appearances with many of the responses including “skinny”, “small waistline”, and “long hair”. About 66% of respondents believe Disney princesses encourage young girls to focus on the aspects of beauty. While Disney movies may look beautiful on the screen, the statistics conclude that these films paint an ugly picture for children.
To expand the understanding of the results acquired from the survey, I conducted an interview with Shena Hunt, a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary school and mother of one. Like the majority of the other survey participants, Hunt grew up watching Disney princess films frequently and often allows her daughter to watch them as well. Hunt has recently experienced an aftereffect of princess films. Her three year old daughter, who is hardly ever exposed to the act of kissing, began to vigorously kiss them when they put her to bed. After asking her where she learned this behavior, she told them that was how Anna and Kristof kissed in Frozen, a recent Disney release. Appalled, Hunt exclaimed, “Never did I imagine that's something she would pick up from a movie!” This is just one example of the effects of Disney movies. Although not necessarily detrimental to Hunt’s daughter or Hunt herself, it shows that Disney is not teaching kids the appropriate messages that many parents think they are.
While some children may not be taking away all of the negative stereotypes, others are susceptible to damaging self-esteem issues brought on by the unrealistic images of the Disney princesses. After continually watching these films, children will start to create an idea of women that is based on the skewed vision of Disney. These children grow into adults who constantly compare their physical characteristics to those that are visible on the screens. Concentrating on physical flaws that are out of a person’s control can cause doubt throughout a person’s life. In addition, when everyone is striving for impossible goals, nothing can get accomplished. While there is nothing wrong with setting high goals, those who are striving for an impossible goal are setting themselves up for failure. Today’s society encourages people to “shoot for the stars,” when talking about goal setting, but this phrase does not include setting up failure. While it is logical to hold strict expectations, these requirements have to be more realistic.
According to Disney, the best recipe for a princess movie must include an unrealistically beautiful princess, who loves to do housework and chores for her charming prince that rescued her from probable death. As the popularity of Disney princess films grows with each “instant classic”, these recurring themes become more evident. However, the responsibility of this expectation of perfection is not to rest completely in the hands of Disney. The best defense against the self-degradation that is highly likely with the constant viewing of princess films is to limit the intake of media, the responsibility of the parents. By balancing the consumption of media through supervision, children can learn that they are beautiful in every way possible.