The Disney Princesses

In the essay, “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”, author Stephanie Hanes focuses on the sexualization of women especially young girls. Hanes explains how modern movies, magazines, and the internet force women to look and act a certain way which forces young girls to grow up thinking they have to be perfect. Hanes starts her essay off with a short story that the reader can connect with. Mary Finucane, the mother of Caoimhe, noticed that her daughter was becoming less and less interested in running, jumping and playing, but more interested in wearing dresses and waiting for her “prince.”

As we all know princesses are a big part of the Disney film industry and they all have something in common, and that is that they are involved in a social problem of feminism. The conflict between the Disney Corporation and the feminist has been going on since the first Disney Princess film in 1937. The majority of the Disney film's audience are children. Disney films have expanded their arsenal to give young people a lesson about ourselves’ ever-changing morals, but they expose the wrong way of being a princess and also can be transmitted as the wrong idea to young people, which is not helping, because of the Disney Industrial’s size or the coverage of their media. For example, Disney has set forth a standard of how all of their princesses are supposed to look like. The portrait of women in Disney films is often the stereotypical version of them; the cultural beliefs of the 1940s are reflected in the roles of the women

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

Disney makes over $3 billion on their Disney Princess products every year and now have over 25,000 items in their princess collection (Orenstein 2). Disney has played a big role in shaping not only societal viewpoints on what young girls should like, but also what little girls believe they should enjoy as well. Gender stereotypes have been around for a long time, but now with technology advancements, such as media in western society is able to play a bigger than ever role in influencing people’s perspectives. Not only do we see gender roles and stereotypes in television shows, but also in advertisements and in children’s toys. Although many readers of Peggy Orenstein’s “What’s wrong with Cinderella” have argued that the princess culture is corrupting today’s young girls and making them more dependent on men, a closer examination shows that many girls grow out of the princess phase with no negative repercussions and choose whatever passions they want.

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

The “Disney Princess Effect” indicates the influence of Disney franchise’s fairy-tale heroines on little girls. In specific, the ideal image of a Disney princess significantly shapes young girls in a superficial way. Girls tend to dress more girly, become less imaginative, less active and unique. It is crucial to acknowledge this effect, since it imposes subjective images and certain roles on girls, which consequently takes away their freedom to grow and express themselves. For instance, the effect could eventually lead to signs of erosion of the progress in equality, lower cognitive performance, and greater body dissatisfaction. The effect is closely related to other cultural trends, such as self-objectification, cyberbullying, unhealthy body

The first Disney princess was Snow White from Snow White and the seven dwarves released in 1937. Snow White represents the image as young, innocent and pure. She fulfils the role of a stereotypical of a woman through looking after the 7 males as a housewife and a mother whilst they take on the role of the breadwinner and go out to work daily. Similarly to most fairy tales; Snow White did not know her prince for a period of time before getting married; suggesting that the relationship between the two was orientate around the attraction towards each other in comparison to reality where a marriage should be based on feelings, romance and love. The second Disney Princess to be created was Cinderella in 1950 followed by the third;

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.

In later Disney princess films we get a different modern day look into what women really need and portray, not some prince who makes everything magical. Disney films have portrayed many depictions of gender roles through the princesses who most girls look up to as a role model and who loves and dreams of living that fairy tale ending.  Women have been given the stereotype of being the weaker sex and this has been portrayed in Disney princess films. From the first Disney princes Snow White, to Cinderella and Aurora, women were portrayed as passive. They do not fight back in any way or stand up for what is right for them.

Her theory is that Disney has to keep up the reputation of the ideal princess “which is a representation of gender that young females should idolize” (Warner). She discovers a recurring theme within all the Disney princesses. First, Warner notices the new heroines appear more independent; however, they still represent elements that disempower women and still showcase the female image stereotypes. She argues that Disney’s main focus is on producing films that portray perfect women in a perfect world because women are the main viewers of Disney princess films. In addition, this causes women to live unhealthy lifestyles because of “body issues” and “low self-esteem” (Warner). Her article shows the reality behind society’s influences and how princesses, whether strong or weak, still have a large impact on how women should

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.

Growing up as a 90’s child, Disney films played an important role in my childhood. As a female viewer, Disney princesses played a bigger role in deciding which Disney films to watch. As the years went on, new Disney princesses were introduced with different styles compared to the traditional Disney princesses. A traditional Disney princess can be defined as one of the first princesses Walt Disney created, specifically during the 20th century, and the newer princesses can be defined as the princesses Disney created in the 21st century. Although Disney continues to create princesses, the roles and views of the newer princesses in Disney movies have changed, as they are seen as more independent, adventurous, and unfocused on finding their prince charming, compared to the older traditional Disney princess films. In this essay, I will be comparing a traditional princess, Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with one of the recent princesses Disney has introduced in recent years, Anna and Elsa from Frozen.

I dug into a study that shows the different effects that Disney princesses play in the lives of children. This study focuses on body image, gender roles, and the portrayal of love. The author focuses on three different eras of princesses: the first era covers Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959); the second era covers The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1998); and the most recent era covers The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Brave (2011), and Frozen (2013) (England et. al., 2011). The first era princesses display compliancy toward traditional female gender roles and stereotypical beauty, such as a petite body and pretty face. As time has gone on princesses are becoming more egalitarian, heroic, and athletic. Although Disney shows changes in their independence, princesses continue to acquire beauty and have become more sexualized. In the second era of princesses we see that they possess a provocative look and still find their happily ever after with a prince (England et al., 2011).

At least eleven different princesses happen to exist, and that means more than eleven different stories exist for somebody to relate to. The first princess known as Snow White came out in 1937 and she holds the traditional role of a woman. Snow White continues to be relatable to this day because many women still work as a house wife and have the traditional role of a woman. They clean, take care of children, and cook for their household. Women might not be cleaning and cooking for a household of seven dwarfs but they sure can relate to Snow White’s role in the movie in their own way. Unlike Snow White, most have their Prince Charming walking beside them and helping them along the way. Whether they have one or seven children, these moms who stay at home have the honor of teaching children, young or