Princess Culture And Gender Stereotypes In Princess Movies

“Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” is an article by Stephanie Hanes which touches on the princess phenomenon many young girls are obsessed with. Stephanie Hanes concludes that the Disney Princess craze is linked to self-objectification and the growing sexualization of young girls. Although she provided numerous facts the argument was unsuccessful because it was weak and confusing. Her own personal opinion on why she blamed the Disney Empire for sexualization amongst young girls was rarely voiced. Lastly the main idea of the article gets masked by controversial expert claims that are not linked to the topic.

Disney makes over $3 billion on their Disney Princess products every year and now have over 25,000 items in their princess collection (Orenstein 2). Disney has played a big role in shaping not only societal viewpoints on what young girls should like, but also what little girls believe they should enjoy as well. Gender stereotypes have been around for a long time, but now with technology advancements, such as media in western society is able to play a bigger than ever role in influencing people’s perspectives. Not only do we see gender roles and stereotypes in television shows, but also in advertisements and in children’s toys. Although many readers of Peggy Orenstein’s “What’s wrong with Cinderella” have argued that the princess culture is corrupting today’s young girls and making them more dependent on men, a closer examination shows that many girls grow out of the princess phase with no negative repercussions and choose whatever passions they want.

Authors James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein are both concerned with the increase of princess culture among young girls. Poniewozik’s article “The Princess Paradox” and Orenstein's article “Cinderella and Princess Culture” discuss similar aspects of princess culture that could be potentially harmful to it’s audience. Both Poniewozik and Orenstein take on a feminist perspective in their articles. Specifically, both authors discuss feminist themes in princess culture but Orenstein focuses on toddler to pre-teen aged girls while Poniewozik is more concerned with specifically teenagers.

Fairy Tales have been around for hundreds of years, but up until recently have never been profited on as they are in today’s modern world. It is impossible to hide from anything Mr. Walt Disney has created, and that is exactly the company’s intentions. One huge area Disney has been excelling is in “Princess Culture” most specifically the focus on pretty pink dresses. For example, in Peggy Orenstein’s article “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” the author addresses the many different consequences of Disney’s lucrative marketing strategy. The heavy influence of everything princess down to the choice of clothing can have a negative or positive impact on young girl’s minds, while stimulating innocence and purity can also encourage body image issues

They see Disney Princess products in the grocery store where there are princess balloons and princess plates and napkins. Princesses are in the local Wal-Mart plastered on pajamas and lunchboxes. The Disney Princess line is all around them and so they easily subscribe to the culture and try to emulate these female characters through costumes and play.

When the word princess is said I think everyone can come up with the same image in their head. A crown, beautiful gown and beautiful smile. In Rebecca Hain’s article “Brave Princess breaks Disney stereotypes. Or does she?” Hain’s addresses 2 critics of the movie Brave a new Disney princess film. First the unoriginality of the film and then the depiction of the main character Merida being a brat.

Her theory is that Disney has to keep up the reputation of the ideal princess “which is a representation of gender that young females should idolize” (Warner). She discovers a recurring theme within all the Disney princesses. First, Warner notices the new heroines appear more independent; however, they still represent elements that disempower women and still showcase the female image stereotypes. She argues that Disney’s main focus is on producing films that portray perfect women in a perfect world because women are the main viewers of Disney princess films. In addition, this causes women to live unhealthy lifestyles because of “body issues” and “low self-esteem” (Warner). Her article shows the reality behind society’s influences and how princesses, whether strong or weak, still have a large impact on how women should

Disney princess movies over time have followed roughly the same plot outline: the princess and her strife in finding her prince charming. However, in Disney’s latest princess movie “Moana”, the audience is exposed to a great example of leadership. Moana does not demonstrate her leadership role through defiance as seen in previous Disney movies such as the staring character Elsa in “Frozen” or Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”. Moana is driven by the desire to protect and serve her people. The movie illustrates Moana’s journey attempting to restore the ring island that her and her people inhabit. Taking matters into her one hands, Moana sets out to sea to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, who reigns over the islands, and hopes to save her

In this short essay I will make a brief comparison of female characters in Walt Disney feature length animations before and after the 1990’s. This comparison will examine whether the stereotype of the female Disney Characters mainly the princesses changes around this time or not. Female Characters in Disney animations have become famous over the years more so than the male ones, however in saying this many of them don't become princesses until towards the end of the films. Some of the most famous Disney women are the traditional ones that almost all little girls know about: Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(1937 Dir: William Cottrell), Belle from Beauty and the Beast(1991 Dir: Gary Trousdale, Krik Wise), Cinderella from Cinderella(1950 Dir: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske), Ariel from The Little Mermaid(1989 Dir: Ron Clements, John Musker), Jasmine from Aladdin(1992 Dir: Ron Clements, John Musker) and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty(1959 Dir: Clyde Geronimi).

Disney princess could be harmful to young girls who takes them as their role models. There are princesses better than others and some are awful role models. Some princesses instruct young girls that it’s fine to be unassertive, which is a bad thing to teach to young girls. Also, I find that some princesses modify themselves just to amuse a gentleman. Ariel the princess in “Little Mermaid” adjust each thing concerning herself for a man. She transferred up her intermediary to obtain limbs so that she could exist with a guy. As Bartzyel stated in line 468, “Taming her hair, and shrinking her breast. When a young a girl sees that they will think that’s it’s okay to give up certain things just to be with

Numerous parents would agree that Disney is the epitome of wholesome family entertainment and recall watching Disney movies growing up with fondness. However, parents have also begun to realize there is more to these movies they grew up on. With this realization has come an increase in the amount of criticism directed at Disney princess movies. Many of these critics worry how young girls are affected when their role models are helpless pushovers who are defined only by the fact that they are beautiful and helpless, left needing a man to come rescue them. Some critics like Best and Lowney (2009) believe, “Disney’s female characters are portrayed as relatively passive figures and… encourage girls to accept traditional gender roles.” This means that instead of teaching young girls to be powerful and independent we are teaching them to be docile housewives who have no voice (Ariel trading her voice for legs to be with a man just gained so much more meaning) and are showing them that their ideas and opinions don’t

As a child, I grew up with the Disney pop culture surrounding me. I constantly watched Disney movies, cartoons, and I even played with their toys like every other kid in America during the early 2000s. Not much has changed except the increase and growth of their industry. With the expanding $4 billion revenue (Hanes 510) flowing in each year, they have added more princesses along the way. While some girls are ecstatic over the new additions to the princess family, some adults are not. This is not a common opinion among many Disney fanatics to see, but the author of “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” Stephanie Hanes is one of the few that are not satisfied with the work of Walt, bringing an eccentric point of view to our attention. Parents, like Hanes, fear the psychological effect it can leave on their daughters and how it can potentially narrow their future goals. Hanes’s argument uses ethos, logos, and pathos to skillfully to argue the point of the Disney Princess effect on girls.

Written by a collaboration of research authors, Pretty as a Princess: Longitudinal Effects of Engagement with Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes, Body Esteem, and Prosocial Behavior in Children was published in 2016. Sarah M. Coyne (Brigham Young University), Jennifer Ruh Linder (Linfield College), Eric E. Rasmussen (Texas Tech University), and David A. Nelson and Victoria Birkbeck (Brigham Young University) discuss in writing the connotative and denotative effects of a gender stereotyped society. They research the effects of Disney Princess culture and emphasize the characteristics developed within the minority of preschool and kindergarten age children, especially females, that potentially are exposed to the Disney Princess chain. The audience for the author’s message is a wide range of groups and individuals, but, at its widest scope, the research project is intended for multinational media corporations, specifically those of whom are based in the United States, target the control group (preschoolers and kindergarteners), and have the opportunity to incorporate gender stereotypical characters into their products.

For many years, Disney has been known for fairy tale films that are full of lovable characters that children cannot seem to get enough of. The traits of many of the characters are great models for children to watch. The problem is that adults tend to see a bit more than just the good qualities they embody, which leads to the realization that these films are far from perfect. Upon closer inspection, Disney films have been found to embrace patriarchal and sexist ideologies when it comes to their characters—something that Disney has been nearly successful in eradicating in their most recent films. From the earliest films to the most recent, it is clear that the portrayal of gender roles, of both the hero/heroine and the villain, has changed for the better.

Moral and valuable examples for both girls and boys can be difficult to find in society today. Amidst pop culture and societal views becoming increasingly worse, children more than ever need a respectable and moral individual to idolize and follow. In the world of Disney, princesses have become a closely enjoyed and respected view for what every girl should aspire to be. Each princess represents a different background, culture, and set of talents that express a type of woman that stands out in the world. Although many girls enjoy the princess culture and lifestyle, many parents feel this campaign is wrong for both their children and other girls. They believe the princess way of life is harmful towards girls’ images and their views towards the realistic events that accurately represent reality. Disney princesses are an encouraging example of an ethical and strong woman and, if desired, should be accepted and encouraged to follow despite views and beliefs that girls are stereotyped into gender cliques.