Research Paper On Disney Princesses

“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,

The effects of the portrayal of the princesses can be positive or negative. Young girls have become more imaginative by watching Disney films. According to Stephanie Hanes (n.p.), “’For 75 years, millions of little girls and their parents around the world have adored and embraced the diverse characters and rich stories featuring our Disney princesses.... [L]ittle girls experience the fantasy and imagination provided by these stories as a normal part of their childhood development’.” Also, children are encouraged to believe and hope. In most Disney movies, the characters convey the message that we can believe in true love (10 DISNEY MOMENTS THAT PROVE LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

From a young age, princess culture has impacted the lives of numerous people. Some individuals may have spent their childhood in the attire of their favorite Disney princess while they put on their best rendition of the character they admired most. Other children went seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon, as their peers remained spellbound by the magical world of princesses. With Disney’s debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, princess movies provided the defining factor of the Disney entertainment empire for years to come. From this, fairy tales embarked into a territory that would touch the lives of many in a new way. However, since princess culture has considerably grown, opponents, such as Monika Bartyzel, question if princess

In the past, there have been countless princess movies or so-called “Cinderella” films. However, the general message that each one of these movies have given has changed as time has progressed. With this change, expectations placed on the princesses have been modified as well. This change in expectations has been thoroughly discussed by two authors, James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein. Poniewozik, a media and television critic for Time magazine, wrote an article entitled “The Princess Paradox” where he discusses this evolution of expectations. As well as him, Orenstein, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, wrote an article with the title of “Cinderella and Princess Culture” where she also discusses the development of the expectations on girls. Even though Poniewozik and Orenstein discuss the evolution of expectations portrayed on girls, Orenstein is able to illuminate the more complex ideas that Poniewozik is attempting to express based on the expectations of girls.

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.

Society has its own idealized versions of every human sentiment. It relays on physical features as the best description of beauty itself, and follows an enchanted realism that leads to the disappointment of adults’ soul. Looking for happiness, one grows up searching for the perfect sweetheart that would honor Disney’s standard of true love. Shortly, reality hits the mind and one realized that not everyone lives in a castle. And now, all the eyes can see are peoples’ imperfections and every piece that is wrong with them. What most fail to realize is that there are more imperfect things in the world that princesses and princes in Disney, and that Cinderella is a handmade character; humans are actually given birth to. Influenced by the enchanted

Little girls love everything about princesses: the beautiful doll replicas, the romantic love storybooks and movies, and the glittering play clothes that come with authentic-looking accessories and adornments. But some believe that letting little girls fantasize and indulge in their princess obsessions may bring more than pink sparkles into their lives. When Peggy Orenstein’s three-year-old daughter entered the “princess phase”, Orenstein became increasingly frustrated and concerned. As a feminist, she worried about the negative and damaging effects the princess obsession would have on her daughter’s self-esteem. In her article, “Cinderella and Princess Culture”, Orenstein openly makes the case that loving princesses may not be so harmless.

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

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

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.

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.

Disney Princesses are known to be depending on their Prince Charming for happiness. As years pass by, Princesses today are more independent and don’t need a Prince Charming in their lives. This idea affects children who feel inspired by these Fairy Tales. In the article, Cinderella, by Bruno Bettelheim, he states, “It gives the child confidence that the same will be true to him.” This makes children think that they will have a similar life as them. Disney Princesses have changed overtime since the 1930s. In this essay, I will give examples of Disney Princesses and how they have changed from dependent to independent in the movie industry.

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.

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.