Research Paper On Disney Princesses

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.

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.

Looking at her Point of View In Isabelle Gill’s content, “Representation of Disney Princesses in the Media,” she talks about the impact of audits of Disney princesses on society. Gill uses numerous cases from accredited sources and clarifies how many of the words utilized are seen as ladylike, or tame, and only makes conclusions on alluding to their appearance. She goes on to point out the difference in how princes and princesses are evaluated by critics, focusing on the importance placed on men's strength, both mentally and physically, compared to women who are often judged on their ability to be spouse fabric and seen as delicate or girlish. Gill reflects on how these evaluations affect young girls and women of all ages. Throughout her essay, Gill makes her angle transparent by clarifying and contrasting how audits of Disney princes and princesses contribute to the corruption of sex

Today everywhere you look girls of every age seem to be caught in the glitz and glam of being that fairytale princess from the stories of their childhood. In “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” Peggy Orenstein argues that it has come to a point where the craze for princesses has corrupted the minds of the young girls everywhere, and how it may be teaching them self-worth it has also led groups of girls to believe that they can lead the same lives as these fictional princess characters that sing to creatures and have magical powers. Also, to make matters worse companies like Disney keep feeding into this hidden epidemic of.

“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.

In “Cinderella and Princess Culture,” Peggy Orenstein compares girls lives to princesses. Society is stereotyping girls as princesses negatively impacting girls well being. As a result, Orenstein claims society should stop stereotyping girls as princesses and have parents limit the girl's exposure to them. Orenstein proves her claim by stating playing with princesses lowers girls self-esteem and can harm their mental and physical health. Orenstein also states the word princess is such a broad meaning, that it is very misunderstood. For example, when one hears the word princess they can think of a girl wearing a fancy dress, or all the princess products. A lot of girls are being stereotyped as being a princess,

Because of Disney’s stereotyping of gender, that little girl grew up wanting to become a perfect princess. Princesses in Disney’s movies and films gives young girls unrealistic ideas of the real word. However, some may believe that Disney princesses are a good influence on young girls and are able to show a them how to act eloquently. Gender roles, eloquence, and the beauty of the princesses are all topics that influence young girls. Even though some might believe that princesses are good role models for their child, princesses show young girls how they should interact around boys and other girls never mind the girls own opinions. An article about Children’s Responses to Gender Roles in Fairy-Tales written by Ella Westland writes, “The girls

In The Selection, the contestants are taught that all princesses have to look perfect all the time, and they strive to be this distorted image of perfection; this relates to our culture filling the minds of young children with what “perfect” looks like. In the rising action of this book, the contestants are made over to fit their society’s view of the ideal princess. Every morning, the maids apply makeup on their faces, but instead of accepting

In our modern society parents want to know who the best role models are for their children; especially parents of young girls. Most girls are introduced to Disney Princesses at a young age, but what most parents don’t know is that not all Disney Princesses are positive role models of modern society. The princesses were amazing role models for their time but since then many opinions have changed on what is expected of women and what is not some; people in society today can argue weather certain qualities that the princesses posses are acceptable for today’s youth. The most famous princesses are the “Original Disney Princesses” :(in chronological order) Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan.

The Disney Company, through its’ Princess empire, has attempted to portray the strengths and values of a moral and upright woman that every girl is able to look up to. Through each girl’s unique trials and journey, they demonstrate characteristics and values that attest to a kinder and stronger side towards adversity. There are some though, that feel that these princesses are more harmful than many realize. According to Monika Bartyzel, Disney princesses “represent one very narrow version of femininity that has a significant impact on its young consumers’ visions of themselves” (Bartyzel 470). Disney princesses tend to undergo “one sided” experiences, only consisting of happily ever after endings. Parents feel that this can lead their children to a sheltered and innocent state, very much unlike the real world. Crystal Liechty explains that “I want my daughter to understand that there are bad people out there in the world. If someone hurts her or treats her badly, I don’t want her to try understanding where they’re coming from” (Liechty 472). Girls can emulate their respected princesses and end up becoming hurt in the end. Where can we draw the line?

Cramped in a small Los Angeles office, Walt Disney drew a few larger than life cartoons. After Disney’s big hit Alice Comedies and cartoons of Mickey and the gang, he moved his office to Burbank, California. There, Walt and his brother, Roy, came up with their most famous movies such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland. Now with two American amusement parks, three international parks, multiple cruise lines, multiple resorts, over five hundred films, and over thirty academy award, it’s hard to not heard of Disney. Every boy or girl has at least seen or heard of Disney movies. It’s such a big part of society today that it becomes influential in a kid’s childhood. This project will look at the underlying effect of the Disney princess phenomenon and how it shapes a young girls’ perspective of herself and how she’s “supposed” to be.

Disney is one of the largest “multinational mass media corporation as well as the world's second largest broadcasting company in terms of revenue” (Faulkner, 2014). Children from different race, nationality and gender have grown watching Disney movies for decades, as they are world-renowned classics. Creators have been criticized numerous times because of their stereotypical “formulaic approach” to the making of such movies. Physical appearance is an attribute that is enhanced by not all but most of male and female characters in Disney movies. Bispo (2001) has noted that “The Disney princess’ appearance reflects the notion that women are expected to be alluring and beautiful” which serves as a means of attracting a husband.

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.

The men in “Cinderella” also value women for their beauty. The prince has a ball for all the maidens in the land to find his future wife, which “amounts to a beauty contest” (Lieberman 386) for a new trophy wife. While some argue that Cinderella’s rebellion of going against her stepmother’s instructions of staying home shows that the story has feminist qualities, the prince weakens her achievement when he chooses her only because of her beauty as “girls win the prize if they are the fairest of them all” (Lieberman 385). Her need for independence is transformed into the prince’s need for a pretty wife, making her again an object in her family. Once integrated into the prince’s family, Cinderella goes from the maid of her family to the smiling porcelain doll next to the prince as the “first job of a fairy tale princess is to be beautiful” (Röhrich 110). This gives the impression that the only way

As a little girl a big part of my life was the Disney princesses. I had watched all the movies by the time I was five years old. I quickly developed a list of my favorites. The original eight princess movies were practically my life. At the bottom of the list was and always will be Snow White. I never liked that movie, it just seemed so boring to me. At number seven, Pocahontas. Number six was Aladdin. This was only because the scene in the beginning where Aladdin was in the cave scared me. Number five on my list was The Little Mermaid and number four was Mulan. The last three were always dependant on my mood. Some days my favorite was Beauty and the Beast. Other times it was Sleeping Beauty, and on some occasions it was Cinderella. I even