The Little Mermaid : A Sociological Idea Essay

My uncle was an amazing singer, and a great uncle that had a lot going for him. You

There are a number of fairytales, either from Grimm’s Brothers or Hans Christian Anderson, that portray numerous social issues that we still face in modern days. Social issues could include racism, equality between men and women, and ethnocentrism. These are social problems we face daily, and we have yet found solutions to eliminate\ the plentiful social issues. As said, fairy tales and children’s book always show hidden messages on problems that humans face every day. A very famous short story, which is known also by its movie, has an abundance in social issues that people face to this day. This short story is called “The Little Mermaid”, by Hans Christian

In the story, “The Little Mermaid” there are demonstrations that describe what a heroine is. A female character that is noted for special achievements represents the heroine in a story. Therefore, the youngest mermaid “Little Mermaid” represents the heroine throughout the story. The Little Mermaid is a mystical creature that longs only to seek the handsome prince she laid eyes on. “Once she became human, the witch said she could never become a mermaid again” (Anderesens 185). This is an example of how the Little Mermaid chose to do something incredible and dangerous just to accomplish something she only dreamt of. Not only is the Little Mermaid the heroine of the story, but she also exemplifies other archetypal characteristics. An

The little mermaid, born into royalty as a princess, not only as the most beautiful voice on land and in the water, but posses a strong curiosity about life on land. Her infatuation with life on land is characterized by the rose garden she grew around a statue of a prince. Her “desire to leave the female dominated mer-world is already anticipated in her garden, which has as its center a male statue resembling the prince. The desire of the little mermaid to leave the mer-world, the work of the pre-Oepida mother, dominates the initial part of the story.” Despite the innocent and privileged life she lived as a mermaid in a matriarchal world, she longed to grow into adulthood, get married, and experience sexuality on land, where patriarchy was

From the moment the world introduced us to television, we have been bombarded with images of fantasy and “happily ever after’s.” Perhaps the most well known corrupter of reality lies within the Disney franchise. Disney’s, The Little Mermaid, follows a typical fairy tale format in which all goals and dreams are achieved. Its counterpart, however, moves to the beat of a different drum. Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Mermaid, portrays a more serious plot much different from Disney’s loveable adaptation. One may conclude that the most these two stories have in common is their titles, but a deeper theme runs throughout both of these fictional plots. Despite these two stories’ conflicting agendas and the

Fairy tales convey political, moral, and social lessons through characters, relationships and setting. They originate from an oral tradition passed down from generation to generation often in a varied form, drawing inspiration from diverse sources such as the Bible and mythology. As societies gained access to the printed word, fairy tales became less changeable and tended to focus on characters who were transitioning from childhood to adulthood (Abler). Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became renowned for their collection of fairy tales which have been disseminated worldwide and translated into a hundred and sixty different languages during the Romantic period of the nineteenth century (Abler). They often changed tales from their original versions to get rid of sexual undertones and horrific violence against innocent characters, injecting their interpretation of Christian morality into the subtext. Laced with various complex layers, the original tale of "The Little Mermaid" is imbued with poignant cultural meaning. Sirenetta, the young mermaid protagonist, dwells in a kingdom under the sea with her older sisters, but desires to become human after she falls in love with a prince whom she saves from drowning (Brothers Grimm 4). She implores the Witch of the Deep for help to get human legs but sacrifices her voice and accepts that every step she takes will be excruciatingly painful (5). Sirenetta and the prince fall in love, but ultimately the prince is ordered to marry another woman

Topic1: Certain narratives have inspired visual artists time and time again. Choose a tale and compare/contrast illustrations made in reference to one of them. Consider how artistic vision was affected by the ideals, stylistic affectations and technology of the images’ era. fig.3 fig.4

Gender roles, sex roles and the medias influence on gender have always seemed to play a key role in society. They define the outcomes for the men and woman that are growing up in today’s age. men are taught to be strong, willing and show no emotion. Meanwhile woman are taught to be beautiful, kind and delicate. These concepts show that the over-powering force of society and that the media have immense control of how boys and girls grow up with a heavy burden to bare.

The roles that women portray in public advertising, television, magazines, the internet, and any other form of media, have a huge impact on the way society views them. We all have our own interpretation of how a woman is supposed to act and look like. Our vision of the “ideal woman” and “ideal image” has greatly changed over time, especially nowadays with our new ways of thinking. At a very young age, we are unknowingly taught what society expects from us and what we must accomplish to be successful, regardless of being a male or female. One of the ways we learn those expectations is from the different networks of media.

The designation of a person’s gender seems to belong to society. Society has the ability to classify men and women as masculine or feminine as they “interact with others and media in their society” (Wood 20). It is not surprising then that society would want to portray its opinions of gender through media. This is done through the art of advertising. Advertising uses the internet, magazines, newspapers, music, and any other mediums that could possibly be utilized to transmit the ideas and sales pitches to its desired demographic. Such ideas are typically not offensive and are meant to strike a humorous tone with audiences. On the other hand these ideas can at times distort masculinity and femininity causing outrage in people. This paper will discuss portrayals and their influences on gender in advertising that are the sexual objectification of women, hyper masculinity of men, women’s dependence on men, men as aggressors, and lastly women’s incompetence and men’s authority.

American actress Marilyn Monroe once said, “I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it.” In Disney’s The little mermaid It is evident women are vapid and submissive because of the divisions of labour and separate spheres which is depicted through the feminist theory, the applications of Jack Campbell’s Monmouth, and Northrop Frye’s three levels of language.

The problems imposed by gender stereotyping and overly-sexualized messages in society have long been a discussion point amongst activists and critics. On one hand, advertisements in magazines, television, and the Internet have often employed a large number of questionable tactics, pushing subtle and not-so-subtle messages that promote indifference and even violence towards women. On another hand, sexism has been so pervasive in our society that it has even affected the minds of young children, who are not mature enough to question the gender norms imprinted on them from a young age.

In the end While melinda is in her living room crying and talking to Jim and asking why she cannot see him while she can still talk to most other ghosts, JIm stands by and answers her questions even though he knows she cannot hear them. Melinda is holding Jim's Paramedics jacket and crying, Jim walks over to her and sits next to Melinda and tries to hold her however failing. He feels horrible even though he tries everything to get to her and show that he does care for her and his love for her has continued to live on with him even after death.

In order to define gender in society, people must first look at the true meaning or in other words the definitions of masculinity and femininity. Masculinity is the possession of all the factors that make men a male. Whereas, femininity is the exact opposite which is the possession of all the factors that make a woman a female. Advertisement companies and social media feeds all use the factors of these two topics in order to draw attention from the viewers. They also use the factors of props and text within the advertisement to show the audience what message is intended. Within this advertisement, the factors of masculinity, femininity, and the texts within the ad are all used by the media to create a pull of attention from the audience on the qualities within masculinity and femininity themselves.

Media creates meaning about gender through its advertising industry by linking the consumer’s “emotions and most beloved ideals to products and services by persuading us that identity and self-worth can be fashioned out of the things we buy” (Featherstone, 1991; Zukin, 2004 qtd. In the author of the attachment pg. 219). They transform gender into a commodity and convince us to identify our gender with their product and that our sense of gender identification will be strengthened and reinforced if we buy the products or services they are peddling to us.