characters that are widely recognized and identified with Disney, are the Disney princesses. There have been numerous Disney Princess films released over the past decades featuring the beautiful princesses, three out of the many that will be analyzed are "The Little Mermaid", "Snow White" and "The Princess and the Frog". These three films are some of the more popular ones that have been seen my many children all over. Now, Disney films are usually overlooked by people when presented for their children to watch because of Disney's flawless reputation amongst youngsters, however there are good and bad sides to everything including these films. Here they will be looked into more in depth and critically analyzed through the more feminist lens, concerning gender roles portrayed in the films about women and men in society.
The first film up to analyze is "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs". This film is about a young princess named Snow White who is living in poverty due to her wicked stepmother and is chased away from her isolated castle into the home of seven dwarfs, by a huntsman who was sent by her stepmother (a.k.a. the Queen) to murder her because she is the "fairest in the land" in the words of a magic mirror. So, because her stepmother wants that title she tries to murder her herself and ends up falling off a cliff to her death, and Snow White is in a deep sleeping trance for a little while until her Prince comes to break the spell and kiss her to wake her up to take her to his castle. This film has many negative aspects to it and it is definitely and overlooked films by parents and kids alike. There are too many to cover so this will cover just some main points that were pretty major in the movie. First, Snow White's image is a very "cookie cutter" portrayal of what all women should be like. For example, in the first few scenes of the film she is wearing makeup and cleaning happily, while singing about being taken away by a prince, and she has a very gullible personality on top of her being a very dainty, kind hearted and soft spoken woman. By having Snow White in alot of makeup and singing merrily while cleaning shows that women should be beautiful and work "in the kitchen" so to speak and enjoy it, as well as have no aspirations or to make anything of herself, and just rely on a man to make her life better. Even in the dwarfs house, she basically says she'll be earning her keep by cooking and cleaning the house, showing that, that's all that women are really good for; looking pretty and taking care of the house. Realistically, cleaning isn't always that fun, personally I walk around in sweats when I clean and usually when women clean they aren't wearing a face full of makeup, also we know now in our more modern way of thinking that women can be very independent people. More and more women in this day and age, are working for themselves and have dreams and aspirations other than being married off by some man. So, that is one false portrayal of women in the movie. Second, a negative aspect to the film is that beauty is placed to highly on this films list of priorities, rather than something like the importance of education or having a career. The whole film is based around this idea of beauty; it's the reason Snow White was isolated in poverty by the Queen, it's the Queen's motive for wanting to kill Snow White, it's one of the reasons why she is allowed to live in the home of the dwarf's no matter how much danger it's putting them in and it's the reason why the Prince wants to marry her and take her off to his castle. This shows beauty as a type of major push-pull factor in one's life and how important it is that one is beautiful, so important that it could even be dealt with in death if neccesary. Lastly, it shows young children this faulty image of what love is because Snow White claims to be in love with this Prince whom she's barely spoken to, spent no time with, or taken the time to have gotten to know and she relies on him to save her from the spell as well as make her dream come true by marrying her, so it's all based on physical attributes and this idea that as long as it's a prince, its okay. So, all in all those aren't the best messages for a young girl to internalize.
The first film up to analyze is "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs". This film is about a young princess named Snow White who is living in poverty due to her wicked stepmother and is chased away from her isolated castle into the home of seven dwarfs, by a huntsman who was sent by her stepmother (a.k.a. the Queen) to murder her because she is the "fairest in the land" in the words of a magic mirror. So, because her stepmother wants that title she tries to murder her herself and ends up falling off a cliff to her death, and Snow White is in a deep sleeping trance for a little while until her Prince comes to break the spell and kiss her to wake her up to take her to his castle. This film has many negative aspects to it and it is definitely and overlooked films by parents and kids alike. There are too many to cover so this will cover just some main points that were pretty major in the movie. First, Snow White's image is a very "cookie cutter" portrayal of what all women should be like. For example, in the first few scenes of the film she is wearing makeup and cleaning happily, while singing about being taken away by a prince, and she has a very gullible personality on top of her being a very dainty, kind hearted and soft spoken woman. By having Snow White in alot of makeup and singing merrily while cleaning shows that women should be beautiful and work "in the kitchen" so to speak and enjoy it, as well as have no aspirations or to make anything of herself, and just rely on a man to make her life better. Even in the dwarfs house, she basically says she'll be earning her keep by cooking and cleaning the house, showing that, that's all that women are really good for; looking pretty and taking care of the house. Realistically, cleaning isn't always that fun, personally I walk around in sweats when I clean and usually when women clean they aren't wearing a face full of makeup, also we know now in our more modern way of thinking that women can be very independent people. More and more women in this day and age, are working for themselves and have dreams and aspirations other than being married off by some man. So, that is one false portrayal of women in the movie. Second, a negative aspect to the film is that beauty is placed to highly on this films list of priorities, rather than something like the importance of education or having a career. The whole film is based around this idea of beauty; it's the reason Snow White was isolated in poverty by the Queen, it's the Queen's motive for wanting to kill Snow White, it's one of the reasons why she is allowed to live in the home of the dwarf's no matter how much danger it's putting them in and it's the reason why the Prince wants to marry her and take her off to his castle. This shows beauty as a type of major push-pull factor in one's life and how important it is that one is beautiful, so important that it could even be dealt with in death if neccesary. Lastly, it shows young children this faulty image of what love is because Snow White claims to be in love with this Prince whom she's barely spoken to, spent no time with, or taken the time to have gotten to know and she relies on him to save her from the spell as well as make her dream come true by marrying her, so it's all based on physical attributes and this idea that as long as it's a prince, its okay. So, all in all those aren't the best messages for a young girl to internalize.
The second film to that will be analyzed is "The Little Mermaid". This film is about a teenage mermaid named Ariel rebelling against her father King Triton who is the King of the sea, about going to the surface and collecting the treasures discarded by humans because he believes they are bad. Ariel ends up falling in love with a human named Prince Eric and in order to be with him up on land, she trades in her voice for a pair of legs, to a mean sea witch named Ursula. Ursula tries to trick Ariel by trying to marry Prince Eric first, however her plan is figured out and it takes Ariel, her sea friends and King Triton to defeat the evil sea witch. Then Ariel and Prince Eric get married and live happily ever after. This film may seem like it portrays an overall good message regarding gender roles because instead of Ariel staying under the sea and listening to her father, she rebels and goes after what she wants. So that could have sent a good message about teenage girls and them rebelling, and going after what they believe in. Yet, there are some underlying negative messages being portrayed in this film, for example the all of the men in the film are shown as strong, powerful, overruling figures like King Triton who practically has control over the whole sea especially Ariel, since it's her father. Also, Prince Eric, who has the power to change Ariel's fate by marrying her and power over many people since he is royalty, he's the prince. That sends a message that men are overruling in society and women are beneath their power. Also, the fact that Ariel gives up her voice for a love that was based on just seeing Prince Eric, sends a negative message to young girls that love is based on physical attributes and not personality or a persons character, because Ariel couldn't talk to Prince Eric so he never got to know what kind of person she was, he just fell in love with her based on her beauty. That shows girls that even without a voice, which is a main source of communication and a key role in a healthy relationship, they can get a man to love them as long as they're attractive looking. Now, since Ariel is young, and fair skinned, with and hourglass/ thin figure and long hair, it shows girls that they have to be that certain way in order to be considered beautiful versus Ursula who is fat old, ugly, and gets defeated in the end, sort of taints their ideas of body image. This goes both ways because for boys, it could be that they have to be well toned and muscular, like King Triton and Prince Eric, in order to be well respected and liked by people, rather than too skinny like Prince Eric's assistant or too short and fat like the pirates on the ship. This Disney Princess is a step up from Snow White definitely in the changing of the gender roles portrayed for young girls, but not by that much.
The final film up to analyze is "The Princess and The Frog". This movie is about an African-American young girl named Tiana, who is on her way to her big dream by saving up money working hard at two jobs, to buy this old building she wants to use for a restaurant. Her childhood rich, spoiled friend Charlotte's daddy throws a party, at which a prince should be attending and Charlotte has hopes of marrying him. The prince is there to marry her because his parents have cut him off from their wealth and he needs Charlotte's dad's money. However, things don't go as planned when the prince and his assistant mess with some voodoo from the Shadow Man in which case, the prince is turned into a frog and his assistant impersonates him order to get Charlotte's wealth. However Tiana is turned into a frog by kissing the Prince because he thinks it will turn him human again, so they go on a long journey trying to find the answer to change them both back to human and along the way they end up loving each other and discovering new things within one another. When they're problem can't be solved the way they had originally planned it, the Shadow Man is still defeated and the Prince's assistant is arrested. They end up getting married as Frog's and turning human again because of the claims in which the spell can be broken were met and Tiana get's her restaurant. This film has probably the best portrayal of women in society out of the three. There are so many great messages for young girls to internalize that are not usually messages that Disney presents to us about women. For example there is a direct contrast between these two good friends, Charlotte and Tiana because while Charlotte is spoiled all her life, has things handed to her and from a young age just wants to get married to a prince, Tiana is the exact opposite. Tiana thinks that wishing on stars for what you want is nice and all but she still works hard for her dream and dosen't waste her time chasing after men to marry and settle down with. So with that type of personality Tiana has, and her being the main female character shows young girls everywhere that it's acceptable to have other ideas of what you want to do with your life rather than just marry a man and live happily ever after. Another good example of this films good portrayal of women, is that Tiana is independent yet she believes everyone should be because when she is a frog with the Prince making swamp gumbo, the Prince at first puts his feet up and was going to let her do all the work, but Tiana forces him to work with her by helping mince the ingredients for the gumbo, which is something most of the Disney princess's wouldn't have done. At the same time it sends a great message about men's values in women because the Prince has an epiphany about his life because of that and appreciates that about Tiana. Also, an example is when they were singing going through the pond and Tiana was saving them from bumping into things, though it was a small gesture it still shows that she wasn't dependent on a man to save her from things, she actually saved herself as well as the man in the movie. So, that sends a good message to young girls that they don't always have to wait around for a man to help them because they can be strong and help themselves. A final example, is that in the end when they thought they would be frog's forever, they still accepted each other because they truly loved each other and the Prince wanted her regardless if she was rich or poor. They actually went through a journey together and grew up in their own ways, and in that time they built up a relationship and fell in love, and finally once all of this was recognized Tiana became a Princess. This sends an especially great message to young female viewers that you should build up a relationship with that special person first, then decide whether you love them or not, and it's not just based on the physical things, which is a refreshing message considering the fact that in most of the Disney princess films, the princess claim to have fallen in love with a handsome man whom they've barely spoken to much less got to know.
The final film up to analyze is "The Princess and The Frog". This movie is about an African-American young girl named Tiana, who is on her way to her big dream by saving up money working hard at two jobs, to buy this old building she wants to use for a restaurant. Her childhood rich, spoiled friend Charlotte's daddy throws a party, at which a prince should be attending and Charlotte has hopes of marrying him. The prince is there to marry her because his parents have cut him off from their wealth and he needs Charlotte's dad's money. However, things don't go as planned when the prince and his assistant mess with some voodoo from the Shadow Man in which case, the prince is turned into a frog and his assistant impersonates him order to get Charlotte's wealth. However Tiana is turned into a frog by kissing the Prince because he thinks it will turn him human again, so they go on a long journey trying to find the answer to change them both back to human and along the way they end up loving each other and discovering new things within one another. When they're problem can't be solved the way they had originally planned it, the Shadow Man is still defeated and the Prince's assistant is arrested. They end up getting married as Frog's and turning human again because of the claims in which the spell can be broken were met and Tiana get's her restaurant. This film has probably the best portrayal of women in society out of the three. There are so many great messages for young girls to internalize that are not usually messages that Disney presents to us about women. For example there is a direct contrast between these two good friends, Charlotte and Tiana because while Charlotte is spoiled all her life, has things handed to her and from a young age just wants to get married to a prince, Tiana is the exact opposite. Tiana thinks that wishing on stars for what you want is nice and all but she still works hard for her dream and dosen't waste her time chasing after men to marry and settle down with. So with that type of personality Tiana has, and her being the main female character shows young girls everywhere that it's acceptable to have other ideas of what you want to do with your life rather than just marry a man and live happily ever after. Another good example of this films good portrayal of women, is that Tiana is independent yet she believes everyone should be because when she is a frog with the Prince making swamp gumbo, the Prince at first puts his feet up and was going to let her do all the work, but Tiana forces him to work with her by helping mince the ingredients for the gumbo, which is something most of the Disney princess's wouldn't have done. At the same time it sends a great message about men's values in women because the Prince has an epiphany about his life because of that and appreciates that about Tiana. Also, an example is when they were singing going through the pond and Tiana was saving them from bumping into things, though it was a small gesture it still shows that she wasn't dependent on a man to save her from things, she actually saved herself as well as the man in the movie. So, that sends a good message to young girls that they don't always have to wait around for a man to help them because they can be strong and help themselves. A final example, is that in the end when they thought they would be frog's forever, they still accepted each other because they truly loved each other and the Prince wanted her regardless if she was rich or poor. They actually went through a journey together and grew up in their own ways, and in that time they built up a relationship and fell in love, and finally once all of this was recognized Tiana became a Princess. This sends an especially great message to young female viewers that you should build up a relationship with that special person first, then decide whether you love them or not, and it's not just based on the physical things, which is a refreshing message considering the fact that in most of the Disney princess films, the princess claim to have fallen in love with a handsome man whom they've barely spoken to much less got to know.
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