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Essays on how disney princesses impact younger girls
Psychology concepts in cinderella
Gender role portrayal and disney princesses
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What princess culture does is put our little girls in a box and give then a “narrow view of womanhood” (Dionne). They are all expected to dream of princes, wear frilly pink night gowns, and have multiple plastic tiaras, which do not symbolize power for these girls like a crown does—it’s delicate and pretty. Girls are told that they should be pretty and polite. When girls don’t fit in this box the they are suddenly “quirky” or “outspoken”. These labels aren’t exactly positive, so girls often stay in the box as long as possible to avoid being different.
Our girls are expected to conform to a beauty and behavior standard at a very young age. This is something that stays with these girls into adulthood. They will continue to conform to beauty standards and they will conform to what our male-dominated society wants. If/when women break these standards they are labeled as something else: free-thinker, weird, and even “lesbian”. This brings up another issue; Disney princesses are all heterosexual. So from the start, if girls want to be like a princess, then they better be straight. In this way, Disney movies are hetero-normative, and influence girls to believe that if they want to find their “one true love,” then they need to find a handsome man, not possibly a fellow princess. Evette Dionne writes that Disney princesses gave her warped expectations of love and romance in "Were You Ruined by Princess Culture?”.
Cinderella is arguably the best known and most influencial princess. Her character is the subject of many folk-tales, fairy tales, movies, and songs. The best known film about her is the 1950’s Disney version of her story. This is a movie that most children, especially girls, watched over and over again. The film is a great exa...
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“Cinderella." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
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Dionne, Evette. "Were You Ruined by Princess Culture?" Clutch Magazine RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
01 May 2014. culture/>. Into the Woods. By Stephen Sondheim. 30 Apr. 2014. Performance.
Premiered 1988
A modern edition of the original French text by Perrault is found in Charles Perrault,
Contes, ed. Marc Soriano (Paris: Flammarion, 1989), pp. 274–79.
Moskowitz, Clara. "The Destructive Culture of Pretty Pink Princesses
LiveScience."LiveScience.com. livescience, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2014
“Parenting Princess Culture." Lifestyle. MSN, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
documentid=27351740>.
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.
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?
...aves Princess Jasmine multiple times and falling in love at first sight. They also live happily ever-after together, just as every other Disney prince and princess in every other Disney movie. Parents should be aware of the subliminal messages that their children view in the Disney movies they are watching, and grow up to believe that is how life goes. The children that are growing up watching Disney movies with such strong gender stereotypes are learning things they may factor into their own futures, and think that acting the way of the Disney roles is the only way for them to live their life in a happy manner. The way Disney animated films assign gender roles to their characters effect young children’s views of right and wrong in society. It is wrong, and they should not be exposed to such material growing up because it is harmful to their future expectations.
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. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72)
Orenstein expresses that the princess culture can cause a lot of struggles within a young girl’s life. Orenstein provides evidence that states females often feel the pressure to be perfect, have good grades, be president of all the clubs, participate in sports, have enthusiastic personality traits, the idea of being thin and dressing well (329). These negative thoughts flood the female’s mind into thinking that there is no point in trying to succeed in these fields if they do not have the
It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.
Cinderella is a childhood fairytale created through Disney that highlights fairy godmother magic, animated nature with talking animals, and happily ever after ending. While the latent meaning we grow
...ndency on the fairy godmother and the prince encourages a meek and inactive behaviour to achieve a rewarding future (Robbins, 104). Overall, Cinderella’s behaviour is “...weak, silent and passive...” (Trousdale & McMillan, 12) which is unacceptable for a modern western woman.
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
The article titled “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princesses Effect” was written by Stephanie Hanes and was published September 24, 2011 by the Christian Science Monitor. Hanes wrote this article in response to the Disney Princesses becoming popular. The author argues that the princesses were having a negative effect on little girls. Hanes isolated this article into five segments. In the introduction the author introduces a mother that believed that the Disney princesses were having a negative effect on her daughter. In the next section the author provides the reader with studies and information about mental and physical effects the princesses have on little girls. At that point Hanes presents an association of how grown-ups can
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
In today 's society, it is normal for young children to believe in fairytales. These fairytales are normally seen throughout books and movies but also through parents reading them as bedtime stories. These tales in our society have unrecognized hidden guidelines for ethics and behaviors that we provide for children. One such children 's story is Disney’s Cinderella, this film seems to be a simple tale of a young woman whose wishes work out as to be expected. This tale reflects the expectations of women 's actions and beliefs of a proper women.
Throughout history, fairy tales have grown to captivate the hearts and minds of many. A Cinderella Story is set firmly in reality and in the present day; in fact, it's every bit a fantasy as the original story. This film refrains from any allusions to magic, but instead lets serendipitous occurrences provide the engine on which this fairy tale creates its plot. The impression A Cinderella Story is in place of a well-thought out story and characters that anyone could relate to or believe. Although the target audience of the film are teens, females, and romantics, A Cinderella Story can be praised and savored by all audiences because of its ingenious screenplay, acting, and melodic soundtrack.
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