Stereotypes In Disney Movies

Disney strongly portrays gendered stereotypes using their eleven official princesses. Young children, specifically young girls in this case, are extremely susceptible to being influenced by the portrayal of these gendered stereotypes. Golden and Jacoby performed research regarding how preschool girls interpret the gendered stereotypes shown through Disney Princess media, through both the young girls’ pretend play behaviors and the discussion of the princesses. Golden and Jacoby performed this research project in order to examine the perception of young girls in relation to princesses and awareness of gender-role stereotypes, a different research study found that girls who lived and accepted gendered stereotypes, in believing that women

Kids are growing up with racial prejudices created from Disney movies. For example, Disney princess are commonly thought of as white because of several films that came out early in young kids lives. Causing them to grow up with the idea that all princesses and upper class citizens are white. However, when these princesses are not white, they are hypersexualized. For instance, the Arabian princess, Jasmine, from the film Aladdin uses a seductive motion to gain her way. So not only are these movies teaching racism, they are teaching young girls to take advantage of their body to acquire what they want. The opposition may claim that few movies display this racism. However that is too abundant already. The children who watch those films will have racist fundamentals implemented into their brains. The Society For Research In Children Development wrote an article explaining how racism affects children. After researching and interviewing kids, they came to the conclusion that,”When children become aware of these types of bias about their own racial or ethnic group, it can affect how they respond to everyday situations, ranging from interacting with others to taking tests.”(Society For Research In Children Development 1). This explains how racism can affect kids when they are growing and developing through life. Disney should create films that do not produce racist fundamentals to

Ariel never knew how it felt to be normal because Ariel has always had to work for someone. Before Prosperous it was Sycorax, Ariel has never been independent, Ariel has always depended his decisions on others. For example, Ariel states, “ Let me remember thee what thou hast promised, which is not yet performed, my liberty” (522,line242). This quote states how Ariel has been promised freedom but has not received.

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

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

Parents believe these movies are giving positive messages to their children, but this is not the case. For example, in the movie Beauty and the Beast the moral of the story is that beauty comes from the inside. While this is the message that parents believe their children are receiving, there is a more deep-rooted message that young children cannot quite yet understand, but still effects their mindset as they age. Since many of the Disney princess movies were developed in the later half of the twentieth century, they often convey the stereotypical gender role messages of that time period (Bishop 2). According to author Amy Blackstone from the University of Maine, “Gender roles are the roles that men and women are expected to occupy based on their sex” (336). Therefore, during this time the gender roles were that men were dominant individuals, leading the home. On the other hand, women were depicted as fragile that were only capable of domestic work in the

The Little Mermaid is a perfect depiction of the typical teenage heroine who is striving to find happiness in her own life, but is restricted by the wicked femme fatale who attempts to destroy all that is good, and sabotage the heroine’s happy ending. Our teenage heroine in this case would be Ariel, the 16-year-old daughter of Triton, the king of the ocean. While Ariel comes from royalty and is praised for her beauty, youth, and innocence, her bright and independent self undergoes a physical transformation that leads her to become a mute doll who is focused on seizing a kiss from the prince, and winning his heart. On the other hand we have Ursula, who was exiled by Triton to live a lonely and miserable life. Ursula undergoes her own transformation where her evil ways allow her to steal Ariel’s voice for herself, and use it to seduce the prince to marry her in order to demonstrate power and control. Although Ariel and Ursula both desire their own form of happiness and success, Ariel’s desire and the lengths she’ll go to acquire love represents a stereotypical society of powerless women who depend on men for their survival. As opposed to Ursula, who seeks revenge and the crown of Triton but ultimately fails; her failure demonstrates the power of men that will always dominate over women in the end, but her attempt represents the ambitious women out there that want more than just love.

It’s about a mermaid, Ariel, who longs to live on land as a human, even though her father, King Triton, strongly dislikes humans. Ariel falls in love with a human prince, Eric, and looks to the evil sea-monster, Ursula, to turn her into a human. Ursula makes Ariel a human in exchange for her beautiful singing voice. In the end, Eric kills Ursula and Ariel and Eric get married. When Ariel gives her voice up to become human, she becomes concerned with how she will communicate with Eric. Ursula tells her, “You’ll have your looks, your pretty face, and don’t underestimate the importance of body language” and “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word.” This suggests that all women need to do is maintain their looks and use their body seductively to get a man.

As children we are faced with numerous kinds of images and expectations of a culture that we are faced to adhere to on a day to day basis. We often faced with images that we grow up to and we are used to seeing on a regular basis. After a while these cultural norms and images that we see are something that we grow to understand as what we know and understand about the world. This is not an instant effect; it is something of a grooming affect that is much more subtle. Most movies or Disney movies in particular revolve around a heterosexual relationship about a hero and a heroine.

The fashion Industry has always been a controversial setting that has been judged and misplaced since its beginnings, result of being a way to express ideas and feelings. Inside this industry it is very common to see young, beautiful and very slim models that don’t fit regular sizes, but petites. Nowadays, it’s very common to find young girls and teens paying attention to the models’ appearance and trying to copy these models, since they can be found everywhere: fashion magazines, fashion shows and ads. This stereotype can be reinforced when the mass media uses borrowed images and texts that give the viewer a perception of normality, and convincing them to accept it. The famous departmental store Barney’s New York, along with Disney created

In the movie, Ariel seeks out Ursula asking her to help her meet Prince Eric. This is a relatively painless ordeal, she is magically turned into a human and the only problem is that she realizes she cannot breathe underwater. In Andersons story, she is making a much larger sacrifice. The witch tells the young mermaid that every time she walks it will feel like, "treading on sharp knives..." (pg. 8) and her tongue must be cut out, meaning her voice may never return. In the Disney universe, there is a happy ending. Ariel and Eric beat Ursula and all is well in their world, they even go on to have a child in the next movie. Sadly, that is not the ending of the story originally. The young princess does not end up marrying the prince, he ends up with another. The agreement with the witch was that if he marries another than she will die and turn into sea foam. When he marries the other, her sisters go to the witch and ask to spare her. They tell the princess the only way she will not die is by piercing the heart of the prince with a special knife from given to them by the witch. She could not bear to hurt the prince in that way, for her good deed she became a daughter of the air instead of the sea

In the Little Mermaid, feminist protagonist Ariel portrays your typical rebellious teenager as she disobeys her family and chases after her dreams. Throughout the film Ariel makes many choices that impact her life without thinking of the long-term affects. Although the film is looked at as a Disney classic, when analyzed through a feminist lens it encourages girls to make all the sacrifices in a relationship and stresses the importance of beauty.

But to gain legs, she must give up her most precious asset, her beautiful voice. There are some standard elements of teenage life here, including young love, and some degree of rebellion from ones parents, in this case King Triton, Ariel’s father. It was not Ariel's physical beauty that the Prince loved, but her voice. He is enraptured by the voice even in the presence of Ariel's physical beauty and great legs. The metaphor here should be obvious. What does a woman lose when she becomes subservient to a man, or male-dominated culture in general? She loses her voice. The point of the movie is that a young woman's beauty should come not from her physical attributes, but from her voice, her personality, her self. Metaphorically, without her voice in society, she is pretty helpless and powerless to change what's going on around her, explain herself, etc. As for the prince he isn't interested in Ariel just for her looks. It is also important to note that she gets her reward only after working together with her father, King Triton.

As a payment for Ursula’s magic potion, Ariel must sacrifice her beautiful voice (Disney). Ariel’s desire for life “where they walk, where they run, where they stay all day in the sun,” is more priceless than her family’s honor, her mermaid fins, and her voice (Disney). In order to keep her land legs, Ariel must win the prince’s love before sunset on the third day (Disney). After many events concerning Ursula’s evil intercessions, Ariel’s dreams become a reality when Eric defeats the sea witch, wins back Ariel’s voice, and marries her (Disney).

In the song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” that Ursula sings it is telling girls to be quite for men and do what they need, basically telling girls that they are objects. Girls are always shown in movies as someone with no power. They are either cleaning or cooking in the house or they are a damsel in distress needing to be saved by a man. Girls are displayed as objects and there is a certain way they are supposed to look so that they appeal to society’s needs. Ariel fits that description. She is very small and thin, she is pretty, she has nice eyes, and she has very vibrant colors on her. She has red hair, blueish brown eyes a purple top and a green tail. Ariel acts as though she “needs” a man to save her or “needs” a man to be happy.