Sexism and Disney

Everyone knows that when the queen discovers that Snow White’s beauty is greater than hers, she asks the huntsman to kill her. Finally, we all know that the dwarves take care of her until her death, at which point the prince comes to the rescue and awakens her with a kiss. These are all elements of the story that we come to expect when we hear the name Snow White.

Many of us have seen a Disney movie when we were younger. Disney movies captured our attention with their mortals and successful conclusion. The animations and music transform us into a land of magic where anything is possible if we just believe. Disney movies wrapped us in the idea that good always triumphs evil, that happy ever after exists. We have become the generation of Beauty and the Beast, The 101 Dalmatians, Dumbo and Snow White as children now have not heard of these or have watched them. Some of these movies have been recreated and released in high definition and on DVDs in the past few years, but the structure and themes of the movies stays the same. However, we never stop and

However, as those who are familiar with the story know, this was not the end of Snow White. When the Queen finds out Snow White escapes death from the huntsman and ends up living with seven dwarfs, she still considered Snow White a

She cannot resist the temptation when she is offered the ‘lace’ and ‘comb’ from the evil queen which is the sole reason that she loses her life as the dwarfs are unable to save her. Each time it is an old woman knocking on the dwarf’s door offering her goods. Not only does she not figure out that it is the queen who is disguising herself as an old lady but she does not listen to any instructions given by the dwarfs. Her lack of control over her emotions and temptations lead to unavoidable consequences. Therefore, similarly, to Sleeping Beauty, she must wait for a prince to be saved. Children are therefore shown that love for superficial goods and vanity is punishable. Moreover, Snow White is never given any ambition or thoughts of judgement

For many years, Disney has made fairy tale films that are full of lovable characters that children cannot seem to get enough of. The traits of many of the characters remain great models for children to watch and learn from. 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 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, the portrayal of gender roles, of both the hero/heroine and the villain, has changed for the better.

The general public sees Disney as good examples for kids, or anybody who has interest in Disney. Although, it’s not till one pays very close attention to Disney movies and realize how they have created the characters to really be, how to act and what is the proper wear.

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).

One of the main factors that plays a crucial role in the process is gender roles. Disney movies assign a specific set of gender roles to each character in their movies. “In the popular Disney film, Beauty and the Beast (1991), characteristic gender qualities are clearly depicted. Gaston, an exceedingly arrogant and strong- willed character, states his dissatisfaction with Princess Belle’s deviation from ideal female characteristics. He says, “It’s not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas, and thinking—” (Beauty and the Beast).” (Ashley Bispo 4). This example shows how much Disney conforms to preferred gender roles and societal expectations of how a woman and man should interact. Even though Beauty and the Beast was created in the early 90s, the gender roles portrayed are true to its mid-1700s era. The 1700s were a time where men had the sole responsibility of taking care of the family and control every aspect of the family dynamic and women were to clean the house that was provided for them by the husbands and to be subordinate to men. Even though Beauty and the Beast is true to its time period, what kind of influence will that have on the children watching? “Across all film types, lead males occupied a variety of roles, whereas females were cast as leads in romantic films only and were more likely to be depicted as married or attached to a male figure by

From this view, I would like to choose one work of Walt Disney to analyze their view of looking at the society as the representatives of tremendous media. In other words, I would like to criticize discriminatory gender role in movie “Beauty and the Beast”, the latest work of the Walt Disney Company and interpret what gender representations currently look like.

Unlike the role she played in twilight, she has no other main characters to hold her up. She drains the personality from Snow White in addition to the lack of importance felt in her character.

The world of Disney has become omnipresent on Earth. Not many people alive in our day and age can honestly say that they have never seen a Disney film or read a Mickey Mouse book. In fact, since the 1940’s every child grew up watching Snow White, Cinderella, Pocahontas and the other princesses and princes, making them believe in a world where anything is possible and where magic is real.

Troubled by the weight of her sins, Snow White indicates desperation to escape, and what better way to escape than “to mount (What else?) [the prince’s] snow-white horse”(36). Nonetheless, this princess was different, “’No poison apple needed for this Princess” (29). The metamorphosis that this Princess experienced transformed her into an independent woman who “reversed and without slowing/ Beat it to St. Anne’s where she took the veil” (39-40). Such actions truly prove her transformation, as she is able to dig her way out of the deep hole we call sin.

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

The Walt Disney Corporation and their films have served as icons that have produced numerous animated films, whose characters have become heroines for adolescents for over a decade. The Disney Corporation along with its princess collection is recognized as a powerful influencer on children’s media; thus, teaching societal norms for target adolescent groups. Disney’s collection of princesses have spanned over 78 years, from the first generation Disney princess movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora) to the second generation Disney princess movies (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Aladdin’s Jasmine, Pocahontas) to the new era princesses (The Princess and the Frog’s Tiana and Tangled’s Rapunzel). A researcher noted that, Disney continuously controls cultural authority and traditional sites of learning which include: public schools, religious institutions, and the institution of family (Giroux, 1995). Numerous research has studied the underlying stereotypical constructs presented in Disney animated films including: gender, age and race. For example, England, Descartes and Collier-Meek recently conducted a study on gender roles and its portrayal in popular Disney films.

Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their