Snow White And Cinderella Gender Analysis

The media today is overflowing with idealistic representations of modern life; society’s hunger for excellence is reproduced in every detail of the media we consume. Reality, in contrast, is a poor substitute for the fairytale world of film, where good beats evil and stories end with a happily ever after. Arguably, women are often the “victims” of motion picture’s perfect perceptions, and feminism’s persistent test is to challenge these impractical representations. The female princess characters show an example of inaccurate feminine fulfillment.
In 1937 Walt Disney Studios premiered their first animated movie called “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Davis). Its cherished characters and remarkable villain made it an instantaneous brilliant

film and remains an admirable classic today but also seemed to be the “ultimate stereotype of the ideal woman” (Davis). Although Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a great stride onward in the animation world, unfortunately this princess is seemingly indifferent and not very feminist. Agonized and abused by an envious stepmother Snow White dreams of a handsome prince taking her away, a person who would actually have love and respect for her, but she acts very little to attain this fantasy. In fact, she acts very little at all and her story is directed ultimately by the other characters’ actions and Snow White’s reactions to them; she reacts to her mishandling by dreaming of a loyal prince, she reacts to meeting the prince by falling in love, she reacts to the huntsman’s orders to leave by abandoning her home, she reacts to finding the dwarves’ cottage by making herself at home; she reacts to the queen’s poison apple trick by falling for it; she reacts to the prince’s kiss by waking up. Over and over again, Snow White easily lets things take effect on her rather than actually standing up for her and doing something about it. It was outright luck then, that her dream literally came true at the end. If the prince never found and kissed her, Snow White would have died and all of her dreams would be shattered.
Cinderella is another clear illustration of the female standards given in the classic early Disney princess movies. Released in 1950, Cinderella instantly faces disaster when her father dies, leaving her in the lack of care with her stepmother who is also jealous of Cinderella’s grace and beauty and her three stepsisters. Cinderella herself is very identical to Snow White; with just a tad bit more character. Though it was basically due to the measurements of an overbearing parental figure, Cinderella spends most her life in enslavement. She is restricted to the house and does degrading chores. Now what is the quick fix the movie brings for her to escape from these chains? A fairy godmother comes to the rescue and grants her the wish to go to the ball, wear a lavish dress and meet her prince charming. In this story, how does she captivate a potential husband? Much like Snow White, by just naturally being pretty. Fortunately, Cinderella is pretty enough to attract the prince's interest, but she has to run off so he won't see that she is in fact poor. After numerous lucky events, Cinderella ends up with the prince, but not because of anything she did. She was inclined to continue her poor, cheap lifestyle and never tried to flee of her position. She waited for a prince to take her away, and if that never happened, she would have been under the ruling of her stepmother and stepsisters for the rest of her depressing life. This creates the lesson that a young woman should aim to look pretty enough to appeal to a man.
Unlike Snow White and Cinderella, Rapunzel is determined to escape and find her way to freedom.

However, Tangled offers strong evidence that Disney’s representation of its female princesses has changed very little over the years (Ellorin). Rapunzel’s big eyes and gorgeous long lashes are now a trademark belonging to almost every Disney Princess, as is the tiny waist and elegantly curved body image “Western standards of beauty” (Cohen). Rapunzel’s tremendously long, blonde hair is symbolic of her prime and purity; also has been used as a weapon as a rope and whip on occasion and the object of her mother’s, and men’s, desire. Her hair is a metaphor for her virginal youth and beauty. Flynn fights other men for this, and it is essentially significant to him because of the riches, authority and “bragging rights” it could get him. Her hair is the reason her jealous mother Gothel follows her, because of it’s magic healing powers it possesses, which helps her mother stay young and beautiful. Patriarchal portrayals of optimal femininity have led to the sexualization of Disney’s princesses, creating the Disney Princess stereotype. In comparison then, Snow White and Tangled are “prototypical Disney” (Manduke). They represent the classic male of female youth and beauty, as well as conformity to the significant order. Just as Snow White is a victim until her prince rescues her, Rapunzel is not confident enough to violate her mother’s orders until handsome Flynn Ryder enters her tower.

At the end of the movie, Flynn Ryder is the one who cuts Rapunzel’s hair, removing evil Gothel’s object of infatuation, which sets Rapunzel free. The ruthless cutting of Rapunzel’s hair represents the removal of her virginal purity, by the man she loves. It frees her of her mother’s hold and allows her to instead give herself to Flynn. Decades earlier, Snow White was saved first by the Huntsman, then by the Dwarfs, and finally by the prince. Both female heroines then, are captive of their gender until rescued by the male hero, their prince charming symbolic of patriarchy.
Most modern of all the Disney princess movies, however, is Frozen.

Frozen goes against every classic Disney princess movie direction, even making fun of the past movies through indirect jokes (Davis). For example, when being introduced to Hans, Anna’s first love interest, Elsa exclaims, “you can’t marry a man you just met.” Elsa is just preaching out realistic values to Anna, but also hinting a subtle joke about the other princess movies because they in fact marry one another right away. One main difference among Frozen and previous Disney Princess films is the fact that there are two female lead characters present, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. Although there are male characters, the story of Frozen move around personal experiences of Elsa and Anna. The men only partake in little roles, not having anything to do with the future of Elsa and Anna. The most relevant and significant concept defined in Frozen, is that the bond shared between two sisters is, in fact, true love. Frozen was very astounding to the audience because a Disney princess and Disney Queen received their “happily ever after” without the help of a man (Davis). For the first time, a man was not necessary for an act of true love to

occur.
Accordingly, it is true to say that kids are informed of the patriarchal ideology through Disney. Girls will crave to be beautiful and await the appearance of a boy to rescue them, and boys will grow up believing that they are superior over women. These expectations, argue feminists, are impractical and harmful to a child’s viewpoint on society. In response to this exposition, Disney has desired to make its heroines more liberated and fiery, however this has been stigmatized as consumer feminism. The term refers to token accomplishments of female characters in the media; its goal to satisfy women’s need for stronger and tougher heroines, while underneath the patriarchal ideology is the same. Even 73 years after it’s first animated feature film, Disney’s female characters have remained essentially the same, all trapped by their gender and inspired by love.
Disney’s impact upon present day female identity is unquestionable, when each film, steeped in what seemed like a society led by men, in consumed at such a young age. Their representation of modern femininity continues to lack the strength and independence that feminist’s desire, but equally, there have been undeniable improvements since the 1930’s. Though these films are created merely for entertainment purposes, they can make it seem like we live in a sexist society creating problems all over the world for little girls who watch these movies and want to be just like these Disney princesses (Abigail). This new consumerist feminism could be men’s way of satisfying the female population, but it does not disguise the ideology behind the history of what Disney was.