Disney Gender Roles

Disney movies have been the leading outlets for child education and social learning. Due to such power of influence controversies have been raised which include the following, but not limited to, gender roles and stereotypes, issues of independence, and misrepresentation. Many people argue that despite the morals and messages that occur within such films there are still underlying messages that deal with beauty standards and norms. However, others may argue that Disney is evolutionary and evolved the imagery of male/female standards. The controversy then becomes: are Disney films doing more harm than they are good? Due to certain themes brought on by such movies, it has left younger audiences with both positive and

In the article, “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar,” written by Gillam and Wooden, they argue that Disney's line of animated movies depict a “new man.” Their argument is based around three movies: Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Cars. Gillam and Wooden then state that all three of the movies start with a traditional alpha male character who, throughout the movie, begins to accept his more “feminine” aspects. The idea that the two present is that the lead characters show traits of “acute loneliness and vulnerability.” From there, Pixar emasculates the character through some type of disempowerment that then leads to the overall maturing of the characters (Gillam and Wooden). Throughout the article they bring up many great arguments of which I agree to. However, Gillam and Wooden only cite the three movies mentioned above, when in fact Disney/Pixar has continued with the trend of having an “alpha male” character who throughout the film becomes more mellowed out and less dominant. The idea of emasculation can be carried into the Pixar movie “Up,” where the viewer can witness acute loneliness, slight depression, and eventually the admittance of defeat, where the character is forced to take on help and accept the “emasculation”.

Introduction: As long as there have been civilizations, there have been stories, myths that are told to children. These stories are usually the basis of the cartoons characters except some which are from creator’s imagination. This story telling is a means of not only comforting and amusing a child, but of teaching the child the societal norms of their nation. These are memorized by children and remembered forever. Children idolize their favourite character, the character they have most in common with and are best able to identify with, and try to emulate that character’s

The website is titled “Growing Up With Disney” and covers eight Disney movies produced in 1989 to 2016. Each movie gets its own webpage that focuses on the female lead character and each webpage includes a summary of the movie and a reflection of my thoughts on the character. The reflections focus on the formations of gender roles and how Disney has changed in the span of these eight movies. The audience targeted is those who share the same love for Disney movies and grew up watching them.

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

Disney is a world famous company that has been around for more than ninety years, every year, creating new stories so that everyone can enjoy. Walt Disney production premiered its first Disney princess in 1937 which was: Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. With the years going by, Disney has created countless of Disney princess stories from "Cinderella" (1950) to "Moana" (2016). In the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the evil queen sends the huntsman to kill Snow White; however, they decide not to kill Snow-White. After the queen discovers that Snow White was still alive, she created a poisoned red apple that will put Snow White into a deep sleep.

Zootopia is Disney’s New York City, the city of opportunities, where “anyone can be anything” (Zootopia). A female bunny can even be the first police officer in Zootopia history. Despite being constantly discouraged from persuading her dream, Judy Hopps proves her doubters wrong and becomes Zootopia’s first bunny police officer. Once at the male dominant Zootopian Police Department, the hopeful Judy is placed on parking duty and is outsmarted by the fox, Nick Wilde. On her second day, she is almost fired for insubordination, but Judy is given one last chance to prove herself by finding one of the missing predators. With the help of Nick Wilde, she begins her investigation, where she is constantly disrespected by the male characters. However, her feminine and masculine qualities allow her to eventually gain their respect. With Judy in the lead of the investigation, it is discovered that the once innocent Mayor Bellwether was behind the disappearances and she is arrested. Zootopia is once again peaceful and is under the protection of the respected Officer Judy Hopps. By comparing Judy Hopps to the other gender roles present in the film, Zootopia shows that moving between the masculine-feminine spectrum should be accepted and encouraged.

Gender Socialization found in Disney Films Gender Socialization is happening all around without people even realizing it. For example, if a person where to walk into a toy store, there would be two separate sections, one for boys and one for girls. The female section of the toy store would most likely be pink and the males blue. The toys for the females too, would be different than of the males. The females would most likely have dolls and houses and the males would be toy cars and action figures.

Unlike most Disney animated films, which have been criticized for decades for their stereotypical female leads and traditional representations of gender, all the major features released by Disney's Pixar studios since 1990 have featured masculine protagonists. These male plots are remarkably alike, and together, we argue, they indicate a rather progressive postfeminist model of gender. Beginning with alpha-male traits in common, from emotional inaccessibility to keen competitiveness, the stars of these stories follow similar bildungsroman plots. In this article, we chart the pattern of masculine development in three of these films—Cars, Toy Story, and The Incredibles—noting that Pixar consistently promotes a new model of masculinity. From the

J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan tells the story of “the boy who never grew up.” Barrie paints Peter as an extraordinary character living in a mystical world called Neverland, flying through the air, and fighting villainous pirates. He is also the boy who takes a young girl named Wendy from England back to Neverland with him. The interaction and interdependence of Barrie’s two characters, Peter and Wendy, symbolize and spread cultural gender stereotypes by mirroring the stereotypes embodied by the adult characters in the story—Mr. and Mrs. Darling—and by reflecting the ideas of gender roles of the time and foreshadowing the children’s understanding of reality and expectations, as well as their eventual maturation.

For decades now, Disney Corporation has been providing us with countless films made to delight and amuse children and adults alike. But not all Disney films seem particularly appropriate for their target audience. Many of these films portray violence, gender inequality, and skewed views of leadership roles that seem altogether inappropriate for impressionable young children. Better and more contemporary heroines need to be added to Disney’s wall of princesses in order to counteract years of sexism.

Walt Disney Animation Studios is a large part in America’s entertainment industry. Reaching children and adults through their many platforms, Disney has been influencing people for over 90 years. These films have played a huge role in the society displays of gender roles. This is seen in the representation in their characters, more importantly females. Culture has been going through changes in the past couple of decades and Disney reflects the changes in society through its characters. Popular culture rises with each of Disney’s films and become well known with their recognizable roles. The Disney Princess line up has been a rising influence since 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and continues to present with the current release of Moana, the most revolutionary Disney Princess as of yet.

astonishing as Disney has immense potential to shape cultural notions of parenting, family and gender roles in young children. It is important as a parent, to reevaluate how family patterns are represented in today’s media and how it can often portray false notions about family normalisations to our children. The films evaluated were released anywhere between 1937; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and 2009 with the release of The Princess and the Frog. In addition, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Lilo were also analysed in this study. It was of noticeable concern that these movies attributed the same traits to similar characters.

What young girl does not dream of becoming a princess and living in a castle happily ever after? Virtually every young girl identifies with princesses and has watched at least one Disney Princess movie. From the first movies of Snow White and Cinderella, to the later movies of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, to the most current movie Moana, Disney Princess movies permeate not only the movie theaters, but also our culture. In fact, “becoming a princess is as easy as purchasing a tiara and hosting a princess-themed birthday party or buying a Halloween costume and playing pretend” (Garabedian, 2014, p. 23). Nonetheless, as declared by Princess Merida in the movie Brave, “there comes a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No rules, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day where I can change my fate” (Andrews & Chapman, 2012). In other words, does the life of a princess measure up to the expectations of little girls everywhere? The Disney Princess brand has grown incredibly popular, especially with young girls. In spite of this, the franchise has also become extremely controversial due to potential gender stereotypes in the films. “Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today’s society…[it] represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female…influencing the views and opinions of future generations” (Maity, 2014, p. 31). Yet, is the Disney Princess brand harmful to young children due to gender stereotypes? Two essays that contemplate the Disney Princess brand and gender stereotypes with opposite viewpoints on this controversial issue are “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by writer Monika Bartyzel and “In Defense of Princess Culture” by writer and mother Crystal Liechty. However, Liechty’s essay “In Defense of Princess Culture,” is the most effective article in convincing the audience of her point of view due to the claim, support, warrant, language, and vocabulary employed.

Disney is one of the most successful and largest companies in the world. They have their hand in nearly every form of entertainment as well as media, and broadcasting. Disney is best known for their animated films, unique cartoon characters, catchy musicals, and fairy tales that most of us were first introduced to as children. They are one of the few entertainment companies in the World whose primary demographic is children and teens. Nearly everybody is familiar with the Disney name and its brand, and its realistic to suggest that nearly everybody has experienced a Disney film and animated character at some point in their lives; which may have helped to influence them or their behaviors or even their