African-American Stereotypes

The Princess and the Frog was released in 2009 taking a huge step forward by creating their first black princess. Lisa Shwartzbaum comments on the success of the new found equality in this Disney film by saying it

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

In one of the more recent movies that was made by Disney The Princess and the Frog some of the scenes and information that used to make it upset a lot of people. Disney was supposed to make a movie that had a more diversity set of characters. However, the setting and plot put these characters into a more dominate white theme. This movie is based off of a well-known fairy tale that was written by Brother Grimm “The Frog King or Iron Heinrich”. However, as in any Disney movie things needed to be changed to make the story more entertaining, to the children audience. In Gregory’s article he

The original three princesses were from 1937- 1959. These princesses were, Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Cinderella (Cinderella) and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). These three princesses brought to the studio a huge success in their early years. The soft and fragile characters embodied these typical princesses stereotype. From the interviewer was a young girl, she remembers watching the animated classics and with each movie she ended with the same ending, she ending wearing a beautiful gown, speaking in a high voice and always believing that her prince would arrive and pick her up on his horse and protect her from the evils in the world (Survey, 2016). The story lines were appealing to young girls because they were colourful, always

Cassandra Stover explains in her Journal Damsels and Heroines: The Conundrum of the Post-Feminist Disney Princess, the dramatic shift with Disney princess at the peak of the late 1980s and early 1990s. She explains that the shift can derive from feminist movements and how the change can be directed to the third wave of feminism. She examines the original Disney princesses and decribes them to be more passively aggresive and unindependent, while the new princesses are more independent and brave. The author then explains if the shift from the old to new princesses are actually better, and not just different. Stover analysizes that Disney princesses evolve and are a part of the worlds change on feminism.

The Disney Franchise produced their first African- American princess back in 2009 depicting the classic fairytale story of “Princess and The Frog”. During the animation, Tiana is an independent, multifaceted woman who is goal oriented causing her to be faced with problems throughout. However, because the film contained the first African-American princess which shed light on many cultural details surely there are going to be problems associated with various subjects throughout the movie.

Typically women are stereotyped as a beautiful girl that spends her day cooking and cleaning for men to come home to. They are often childish and primarily interested in relationships and marriage. Since Disney’s first princess film in 1937 Snow White is the perfect example of Disney’s gender stereotypes. Snow White spends her entire day cooking and cleaning for the seven dwarves until she is poisoned and her fate left in the hands of a prince whom she marries. In the Little Mermaid, princess Ariel is forced to rely solely on her looks to win over prince when her voice is exchanged

However, as England states as time goes by, Disney princess characters have differed in their portrayal of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics. Although, gender roles have changed over time including recent films, but there are still some traits of stereotypical

The Walt Disney Corporation and their films have served as icons that have produced numerous animated films, whose characters have become heroines for adolescents for over a decade. The Disney Corporation along with its princess collection is recognized as a powerful influencer on children’s media; thus, teaching societal norms for target adolescent groups. Disney’s collection of princesses have spanned over 78 years, from the first generation Disney princess movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora) to the second generation Disney princess movies (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Aladdin’s Jasmine, Pocahontas) to the new era princesses (The Princess and the Frog’s Tiana and Tangled’s Rapunzel). A researcher noted that, Disney continuously controls cultural authority and traditional sites of learning which include: public schools, religious institutions, and the institution of family (Giroux, 1995). Numerous research has studied the underlying stereotypical constructs presented in Disney animated films including: gender, age and race. For example, England, Descartes and Collier-Meek recently conducted a study on gender roles and its portrayal in popular Disney films.

Carrying on Disney’s tradition of problematic representations of race, of the 15 Disney princess’s movie franchise ever produced, only four have been non-white

    Many critics have analyzed the gender roles that Disney shows all throughout their movies. Princesses that are in

These characters are shown as gentle, kind, and caring of critters. Coyne et al. (2016) studied that thin princesses affected young girls body esteem. Girls compare themselves to what the movie glorifies what beauty is, although reality is mixed up with realistic body appearance and fictional. This article will help support on how these characters are made and how much influence it comes about on young girls. Golden & Jacoby (2017) found that girls reenact their gender roles they see on the big screen. Girls ages between three-five would play the gender-stereotyped form of the princesses as given to them by Disney film productions.

Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella are some of society’s most recognizable princess films and they have the revenue statistics to prove it. The-numbers.com (https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/distributor/Walt-Disney) has compiled a list of all the films that the company has released dating back from 1937 to present day. The list provides two types of revenues for each film: total gross and inflation adjusted gross. A couple of the movies that were taken on the list to use for comparison is Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Princess and the Frog and Big Hero 6. Three of those movies are about a caucasian woman who is a princess, becomes a princess or is a damsel in distress which is similar to Tangled and Frozen. However, Big Hero 6 topped the number one spot in total gross revenue with $222,527,828, Snow White comes in second with $184,925,485, Princess and the Frog in third, Cinderella fourth and Sleeping Beauty last. The all white cast in the princess movies did not do so well compared to the other ethnic filled casts because by the time that Big Hero 6 was released it was a success because it had a variety of characters who are from different backgrounds and the main character himself is Asian American so they were more relatable to the children of many races. Unlike the princess movies where they are all Caucasian and their appearances are all similar which made them unrealistically relatable.

Disney Studios has been creating princess characters since the debut of it’s first princess movie in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.Since that time, these women have been role models for young girls across the nation but the messages they are teaching have changed throughout the decades. As women become more powerful in society so do the princesses, giving inspiration to young girls. A student of James Madison University explains that “there are three eras of Disney princesses: pre-transition, transition and progression”(Kirwin). The evolution of Disney princesses from "damsels to heroines" connects to the timeline of transition from the 20th century woman to the 21st century woman in the United States.

The next wave of Disney’s princess films were produced in the era when feminist ideals were starting to take notice. These princesses began showing positive characteristics. They were becoming more of the types of role models that girls needed. These princesses were more independent and started taking control of their lives. They were strong, smart, and focussed on their goal. The princess films that fit this description are Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan. Belle, the princess from Beauty and the Beast, is the first princess to show a change in characteristics. Belle lives with her father and are both viewed as strange and different because of their love for knowledge. When Belle’s father goes missing she goes after him and when she discovers he is being held captive by the beast in his castle, she takes his place. She changes the beast and ends up falling in love with him despite his outer appearance. Belle became one of the first princess role models, because she was smart, selfless, and brave. Despite how people viewed her and talked about her Belle showed that it was great to be different and that girls can be smart too. When her father was sick and in danger, she did not hesitate to take his place. She showed selflessness and bravery by staying with the Beast. Not long after Beauty and the Beast, Disney released the film Aladdin. Aladdin features the independent, determined, and strong princess named Jasmine. Jasmine is the princess of Agrabah who is being forced to find a husband. When Jasmine sneaks out of the palace she meets the “street rat” named Aladdin. Aladdin uses Genie to make himself appear as a prince to win the heart of Jasmine. After her kingdom is taken over by Jafar, Jasmine is saved by Aladdin and they get married. Jasmine is saved by a man, but she puts up a fight. Jasmine was determined to marry for love, not for status and she did just that. By marrying Aladdin she showed how determined she could be and with her strength could overcome the strifes she faced (Davis). Another strong, brave, and determined princess is Mulan. Mulan could not fit the outline of a perfect wife no matter how hard her family tried. When her country falls under attack Mulan’s father is called to war.