Snow White Stereotypes

Beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Disney princesses have captured the attention of pre-adolescent children and are an integral part of American culture. Classic princesses such as Snow White and Cinderella are still earning profits for the Walt Disney Company to date, and gross profit of Disney princess films has increased. Disney Consumer Products and the Disney Princess franchise have created an array of products for all ages, and a number of classic films have been transitioned into live-action versions. With high success in films and merchandising, Disney princesses have found their way into American homes and inspired young girls to fantasize about their own futures. As a response to feminist statements against

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), Merida (Brave) Anna and Elsa (Frozen). The first thing to take note is that none of these characters’ story lines were the objectives to fall in love. Tiana worked very hard to become a successful business owner, Rapunzel wanted to see the outside world, Merida wanted to avoid being married off in the name of tradition (Koman, 2016). This era of Disney was about the relationships between women for the first time. In Brave, the main relationship evolves between Merida and her mother. Most Disney movies have explored romance but this movie had everyone’s attention experiencing new things by girls and changing the landscape of mother daughter dynamics. (Parker,

Disney princesses have always been seen in the public eye as dependent on their prince charming. When thinking about the very first princesses Disney put on the screen, such as Snow white, Cinderella, sleeping beauty and so on, they have never been thought of as very strong or independent women. In most of the early Disney princess movies, the underlying theme is that the princess is always in search of or waiting to be rescued by the male character. With, this is one of the most prominent reasons why Orenstein did not want her daughter listening to the snow-white tale. She did not want to expose her daughter to thinking that the traits or characteristics that the princesses display were how women should act or be represented.

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.

Women begin to have a voice and be a little more determined; however, they still end up with their perfect prince charming by their side at the end of the movie. In the last decade, Disney’s princesses have become even more modernized with princesses like Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana. In my research paper, I plan to find examples and look into each one of the Disney princess’s movies to show their unrealistic expectations for finding love. Since being exposed to Disney princess movies, we all are waiting to find that “love at first sight” kind of love wearing a fancy ball gown and some fabulous shoes just like Cinderella did.

“Through the cheerful music, funny characters, and happy ending, the character of Snow White starts the Disney trend of a domestic woman who becomes a damsel-in-distress relying on a prince to come and save her” (Barber, 2015). The original 1812 tale of Little Snow White by the Brothers Grimm portrays Snow White as a small, naive, self centered little girl who can’t seem to listen to anything she is told, and who has to rely a prince she doesn’t even know to wake her up from the dead. Two hundred years later, in the 2012 movie version Snow White and the Huntsman, the director Rupert Sanders revisits the original tale of Snow White, but decides to change it up a bit. In this version of the tale, Snow White is a strong, independent young woman who seems to be able to do anything she decides to do. In Sander’s version, Snow White not only conquers the cruel queen, but she conquers the labels society often places on women. Unlike the Grimms Brothers, Sanders develops his Snow White's character in a way that fits with women’s empowerment that the current generation now fights for everyday.

Once upon a time, in a land not so far from you, a man named Walt Disney created his first of many princesses. Her name was snow white. She was the fairest among all the lands and had seven men in her life, her dwarfs. For the next eighty years the fairy tale about an innocent princess poisoned by an apple would go on to fill the heads of little girls and boys across the world. When Walt Disney created his very classic princess he had no idea the controversy that would occur in these eighty years. Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937, there have been (officially) 10 other princess added to Disney’s list. Each possessing different traits, both physically and emotionally,

In most animated movies the Disney Princess is often portrayed as weak and helpless, they depend on their male counterparts, especially for the earlier films. In each Disney Princess film, there is a beautiful maiden who is suffering, and only the prince can save her. For the

What are you? All of us reading this would answer human, we are all human by having the same insides but society seems to forget that and defines us by the color on the outside. Most of the time it reflects in our daily life by possibly being bullied or not having enough respect but it subconsciously is also reflected in our media. The very first movie was produced in 1910 called In old California with all whites actors. 105 years later you think films and television would have evolved more than they have.

When a baby is born they are given a color. Not the color of their skin, but a color for their gender. Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Women are chosen with pink colors because the advertisers want to show women as being delicate and fragile. Men can have different colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and purple, but not pink. Pink is shown as being fragile and feminine and not strong and masculine. When you look into the different sections in a store you see that the girls have unicorns, candy, princesses, dolls, and tiaras and that the boys section have trucks, cars, tools, and mud. Gender stereotypes make a border for people not to express themselves to the fullest and their emotions. As a young child seeing this type of stereotyping can put a negative impact on them. For example, in children’s books the good people are always princesses and are beautiful gets rescued by the prince who often is handsome. The bad people are portrayed as witches, evil stepmothers and daughter and trolls and unattractive. This sets up an idea that if you’re not attractive than you must be a bad person. This is a wrong idea to project on young children’s minds. Another example is that in the 30’s, Disney released a movie called Snow White. The average women in the 30’s was a size 8, but in Snow White she was a double 00.(JagJammer21, YouTube) A lot of children and adolescents in America watch television so much in their lifetime, that can mimic in their minds that what they see

In most of the Disney princess movies, the women in the films are typically dependent on the men in order to succeed or even in some cases, survive. For instance, Snow White had to be kissed by a Prince Charming in order to wake up from her slumber

More recent disney shows more female protagonists who show strength, independence, ambition, and talent. However, even these "exception" princesses can be said to have "princess standard" qualities such as submissiveness and weakness/lapse of judgement. Gendered stereotypes and behaviours are still very prevalent in recent disney films, though their portrayal has become more complex over the years, reflecting changing gender roles and expectations in American society. Gender expectations were less complex when the first Disney Princess movies were produced and with the rise of feminism in the 1970s through current times they have become more complicated. Women used to take care of the house and the children, and these skills are showcased by the early princesses, such as the princesses in Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven

Another stereotype given to women in Disney movies is that every story ends with the princess falling in love with her perfect prince charming and living happily ever-after together. It is inevitable for any Disney woman not to fall in love in the end. The Disney women know exactly what the desire in a man, so that when they meet, or see them, for the first time, they know that they are in love. In the 1992 movie Aladdin, also directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, “Aladdin, a street urchin, accidentally meets Princess Jasmine, who is in the city undercover” (The Internet Movie Database). Aladdin, the

Growing up, all I ever did was watch Disney movies and the Disney channel. Now as I’m older, I can’t help but realize that all the movies are exactly the same. The princess is stuck in a dilemma and then a perfect prince comes along and saves her and then they marry in the end. Other than a similar plot, all the movies have very similar character traits. England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek in Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses explain the characters, “traditionally masculine (e.g., athletic, brave) and traditionally feminine (e.g., helpful, nurturing) characteristics exhibited by the prince and princess characters through