Gender Stereotypes In Disney

For most of society, the word Disney elicits warm feelings: memories of early Saturday mornings with family watching cartoons, family trips to Disney World, or a movie that was so encapsulating it was watched over and over again. Disney achieves a high level of regard from most of society unparalleled by other companies. Penn State education professor, Henry A. Giroux, accompanied by Grace Pollock, argues in his book The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence that society is blinded by Disney’s façade of “childhood innocence” and that Disney’s marketing tactics are far from innocent at all.

“To the youngsters of today, I say believe in the future; the world is getting better”- Walt Disney. Families all around the world view Disney as a fun for all the family corporation. Disney’s aim is to provide viewer’s with unlimited and endless family-friendly entertainment. However, I believe that Disney is not innocent when it comes to exploiting the minds of young innocent children, with their subliminal messages, racism, drug abuse and sexism, which is psychologically damaging vulnerable minds.

In Disney films, there is a lot of misogyny amongst female main characters. Many people in our society have noticed a significant difference in the speaking roles between male and female characters that Disney created, as men had way more lines than the women. Because these movies were mostly created in the mid-late 1900’s, this was the time that there was plenty of prejudice against females. Now, in the year 2017, females are getting a little more equality than before to the point where many females now have jobs that were only for males in the 1900’s. Most Disney movies for that matter involve some sort of misogyny, even the ones that recently came out such as ‘Brave’ and ‘Frozen’. Examples of various levels of misogyny can be noticed in Disney films such as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The movie is about a 16-year-old mermaid who wants to live on land with a human Prince named Eric but is only able to after making a dangerous wish with ‘Ursula the Sea Witch’ to be a human for three days. In this movie ‘Ariel The Mermaid’, prejudice can be seen in Ursula, by a female having too much authority, Ariel cannot speak, and Ariel uses her appearance to attract others.

One of the main controversies discussed in this video is the way that Disney portrays women

When someone is asked what their favorite childhood movie is, their mind most likely automatically thinks of one word- Disney. Once they think of that there is an array of movies to choose from. The Walt Disney Company has been making its place in this world for almost one hundred years. Over the decades Disney has become a household name whether it be through their blockbuster movies, television channel, books, products, resorts, cruise line or their world famous theme parks. The Walt Disney Company has spread its ideas and products of imagination throughout the globe. However, some may consider this to be negative when considering its past and recent controversies. Disney has hurt its reputation because of cases of poor environmental management, human rights violations, and its ethnic and racial stereotyping.

The representation of females in Disney films can be interpreted to be very sexist and miss-leading to young girls. In nearly all Disney films women are represented as house wives that are vulnerable and need saving. Although in our postmodern society where laws are now in place to protect females from being discriminated against (such as the equality act.) Disney has not kept up with these changes in the view of many people and still remains to include these sexist stereotypes.

My thoughts surrounding Disney films have definitely changed since week one. While I was aware of race and gender issues in the films, I never really thought about the impact of these issues on our society. I had no idea how hurt some people of color were that their representation in Disney films consisted of mostly animals like Chihuahuas, monkeys and hyenas. I still remember watching Mickey Mouse Monopoly and hearing the people speak about the hurt they felt by the portrayal of people like them in these films. I learned so many new things about the films each week, but what stands out to me the most is that in Mickey Mouse Monopoly, one person talked about Disney films as a fantasy and an escape from reality. I agree that the films are definitely part of the fantasy genre. However, if they are supposed to be an escape or fantasy for everyone, then why is there not a better representation of what our society really is in terms of racial and cultural diversity? Why can’t they portray all races in a positive light so that we all can have that chance to “escape” while watching the film? If Disney filmmakers cannot portray racial acceptance and diversity in a “fantasy” world, then what happens back in reality? I think that Disney sends a strong message through films, whether intentional or not, and many young children are swayed by these messages. Their impressionable young minds then see the world through a different lens, and one that may not be particularly accurate. I still love a lot of Disney films, but I have learned to not take them so seriously and learn to accept that they are just part of someone’s

The Disney Corporation is a well-known media company with a variety of movies, shows, characters, and themes, but due to this varied list of topics, Disney has made many mistakes. These mistakes include a wide range of stereotypes such as gender, racial, and cultural stereotypes. As long as Disney has been around the company has conformed to what the popular opinion of society. Disney movies are so popular because they sell to the popular opinion of the audience that want to see the movie and will pay to see it. Disney has such a stronghold on children and their growth and development; therefore, the company’s impact on children makes an impact on how they see the world.

In the newer Disney princess movies, the princesses are presented as more independent than the princesses in earlier. There is a greater focus on their skills instead of their appearance which had been the tendency earlier – Sleeping Beauty is an example of that. In a study on Disney’s princess movies, Carmen Fought and Karen Eisenhauer found that male characters speak more than the female characters, and this is both in older and newer Disney movies (Guo). So even though the newer Disney princess movies, like “Brave” and “Frozen” have more focus on the female characters, the percent of words spoken is higher for men than for women. In all the Disney princess movies that were made between 1989-1998, men have more words than women.

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

Walt Disney once said, “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.” Although Disney know this they still portray gender stereotyping in their princess movies. One example of this is Beauty and the Beast. The character name Gaston in the Beauty and the Beast it is shown that weight determines temperament. Disney would have you believe that being small and waif-ish making you, gentle and kind, and that being large makes you beastly, coarse, and/or prone to angry outbursts as demonstrated bas characters like Beast.

“The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” - W.H. Auden. This common saying may contain some truth, but in reality if you were to throw yourself in a fairy tale what would you really be getting yourself into? Disney/Mass Media communicates negative and false ideologies related to Gender, Race, and relationships.

In this New age, there are proposition how each gender should conduct oneself, dress, and accord themselves. Kids that are growing up in the area have a person that they think are superhuman. For young girls their role models are Disney princesses. Disney princesses make great role models for girls they teach girls to have hope and courage. All the princesses have different stories and that makes it better for girls to understand. Although it may seem great parents think otherwise. Parents think they promote damaging stereotypes of women.

“She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily” (Woolf, 1931).

A young girl with black hair and brown eyes sees a beautiful princess named Cinderella who has blond hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin. She believes she will never be as radiant and beautiful as the princess because they don’t look alike. Like this girl, there are many cases of Disney films having lasting negative effects on children. Disney influences children more than any other age group since most merchandise and movies are geared toward younger audiences around thirteen or younger. Walt Disney Productions have a negative effect on children through stereotypes, violent actions, and sexism presented through its characters’ physical characteristics and actions. Disney has been