Variety of Gender Roles in Disney Films, Research Paper Example

As children, our parents often show us classic Disney films including The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty to educate us and keep us entertained. Since many people grow up appreciating these films and enjoy the storylines and catchy songs, we fail to notice the sexist undertones contained within them. In a majority of Disney classics, the protagonist of the movie is female and usually must work through some sort of challenge to accomplish her happy ending. Despite the fact that this seems like a triumphant tale of overcoming adversity, the main characters are typically portrayed as weak with a major character flaw that requires the assistance of a man or their companionship to feel that the women havetruly succeeded in their quest. Some of these character flaws include the need to be appreciated by men, the inability to save oneself, and the belief that girls should remain within the confines of their gender roles. It is essential to demonstrate to parents that these misogynistic elements are present in the films they enjoy and regularly show to their children. Through this effort, we may able to persuade the general public that women should not be stereotypically misconstrued as weak and flawed and convince young girls that they should not accept being treated as lesser beings as a consequence of their gender.

Sociological studies have been conducted that indicate how deeply cartoon movies and television shows are ingrained into our behavior. A 2006 study entitled “Demonizing in Children’s Television Cartoons and Disney Animated Films” indicated that children who watch Disney films and other cartoons that use “evil” words are more likely to use these words in daily conversation (Fouts 15). This statistical analysis demonstrates that Disney films have a clear influence on young children, and this influence isn’t likely limited to this specific behavior. Children who grow up watching these films will therefore have a greater chance in believing that women are weak and flawed since female Disney characters exhibit these traits. To completely understand the cultural influence that Disney movies can have on the population, it is essential to study specific examples of this occurrence.

Disney’s portrayal of The Little Mermaidis about a girl that is flawed and unable to save herself. Ariel is a young red-headed girl named Ariel who is dissatisfied with her life as a mermaid because she dreams to be a human and walk on land. While these are the most substantial of Ariel’s character flaws, she is also seen to be disobedient without just cause and selfish. This is mainly because she has everything she wants due to her position as a mermaid princess. Yet, although Ariel has everything she needs, she fails to recognize this because she falls in love with a young prince, for whom she is willing to trade everything she has to be with. Although everyone has flaws, the Disney Company provided Ariel with more character faults than necessary to construct an entertaining plot line.As a result of these flaws, she is foolish enough to trust a sea witch named Ursula who promises to make her human in exchange for her voice in addition to being so wrapped up in her delusions that her wishes will come true that she fails to notice that she is falling into a trap. These defects combined with the fact that only her prince can make her happy make her appear frail. Ultimately however, Ariel is forced to live a life of either silence or submissiveness. A 1995 article entitled “The Little Mermaid: An icon of woman’s condition in patriarchy, and the human condition of castration” agrees with this sentiment and believes that Ariel’s loss of voice is symbolic of the belief that women should be seen and not heard (Tseelon 1017). When The Little Mermaid was released in theaters in 1989, women’s roles had changed greatly. This marked the period of time in which many women began quitting their roles as stay at home mothers in favor of careers. Despite this advance in feminism however, many sexist beliefs about women still existed. It is therefore interesting that Disney’s film for young children would include social commentary about how women should behave. However, we must consider that the film The Little Mermaid is based off of a story by Hans Christen Anderson of the same title. In this short story, the little mermaid has her tongue cut off by the sea witch in exchange for becoming human, which is a cruder version of what occurs in the Disney classic. While Hans Christen Anderson depicts the silencing of women differently than the film, his point is relevant to his time period. Since the story was written in 1836, the belief that women should primarily function as stay at home mothers and perform domestic duties was stronger than ever. The fact that Disney allowed this component of the story to remain in the film, even though it was altered into a version with less gore, demonstrates that they believe it is better for women to keep silent, indicating that women are ultimately inferior.

In Sleeping Beauty, the main character Aurora must wait for her prince to awaken her from her slumber. She had fallen into a deep sleep as a result of pricking her finger on a spindle of an enchanted spinning wheel. Even though the three good fairies had powerful magic, they were unable to break the evil curse. As a consequence, this tale represents the weakness of women in several ways. Firstly, Aurora is helpless in her situation and is forced to rely on a man for help. While in this specific case there is little she could do about the scenario, it represents the fact that in the 1950’s when the film was made, woman were generally considered helpless and unable to solve their own problems. The fact that she hurt herself on a spinning wheel is even more reminiscent of the fact that women during this time periodwere expected to be homemakers; spinning was a common vocation for both stay at home mothers and factory workers. Furthermore, three women that are potentially more powerful than the prince are unable to help the situation demonstrating that only a man is able to overcome certain obstacles. Research presented in the 2004 article “Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length AnimatedFilms” agrees that Disney films present the gender role of the princesses in a manner that is inconsistent with modern beliefs (Towbin 19). In the film, it is clear that Aurora is easily persuadable by the prince. Although she is not supposed to interact with strangers in order to increase her protection from Maleficent, she goes against this so that she can talk to Prince Phillip. After Aurora tries to leave, the prince says, “But when will I see you again?”, to which she responds, “Oh never, never!”. After the prince questions this, Aurora response, “Well, maybe someday” and the prince tries to arrange a meeting for the next day. Aurora then decides that they should meet later that evening instead. This scene makes Aurora look extremely weak because the prince is able to persuade her so easily. It is shown that since men are dominant, women should listen to them, and Aurora is behaving as any proper woman should by accepting the prince’s request for a meeting.

The above scene illustrates how Disney makes women weak compared to the power of men. Although Aurora knows that she is prohibited from this encounter, the prince’s smooth words cause her to agree to the meeting anyway. A second example from the movie that demonstrate Aurora’s helplessness occurs after she pricks her finger on the spinning needle. Although her fairy godmothers cannot save her directly from the spell, the fairy Merryweather recites the following to help her, “Sweet princess, if through this wicked witch’s trick, a spindle should your finger prick… a ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give to thee. Not in death, but just in sleep, the fateful prophecy you’ll keep. And from this slumber you shall wake, when true love’s kiss, the spell shall break”. This emphasizes the fact that Aurora must wait in her spell-induced state until true love’s kiss arrives. It would have been convenient if Merryweather were able to bless her in a manner that allowed her to control her own recovery, but Disney requires the prince to be the hero in this situation. Unfortunately, Aurora waits helplessly for many years until the prince finally arrives.

In Alice in Wonderland, Alice enters Wonderland as an attempt to escape from the tight confines of society; it is expected that young women behave a proper way and Alice disagrees with these expectations. When the movie opens, Alice’s sister is reading to her from a history book about William I of England. Alice is uninterested and begins to daydream, although her sister scolds her. This movie is an excellent example of how women are expected to fit within the standards of society. Since Alice is a child, there is no need to demonstrate the position of women using a prince. Rather, this case demonstrates that female children should be neat, proper, behave as if they were young adults, and engage in activities that are proper for their gender. While the movie came out in 1951, it is clear that these were the expected ideals of young girls at the time. Meanwhile, young boys of this time period were allowed and expected to run around and get dirty, and parents were typically less strict on them when they were found to be breaking rules.Alice breaks the typical female child stereotype several time throughout the film because she always challenges and questions the events that are occurring around her, which society attempts to prevent. She tries to understand the queen’s anger, interpret the behaviors of the Mad Hatter and his companions, and converse with a talking caterpillar. Each of these characters are the opposite of how she should be behaving. When Alice finally returns home, she’s thankful to be back and finally acknowledges how little sense the behavior of the people in Wonderland really is. As such, she learns her lesson and is more willing to accept her role in society as a proper young lady. Although teaching manners is a perfectly acceptable lesson, Disney goes too far in this example and makes polite behavior seem to be a requirement for young girls and that going against this example could cause one to be shunned from society. In the end, Alice tries to tell her sister about her adventure, who doesn’t believe her. This causes Alice to finally stop talking about her story and grasp the idea that she should not deviate from society’s expectations. Ultimately, women who attempt to defy stereotypes will be subdued.

Ultimately, women and young girls are treated differently in Disney films, which reflects the expectations and opinions that society has of them. Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Alice in Wonderland are used by the Disney Company to define gender roles and provide insight on how women should fit into them. In The Little Mermaid, this is done by providing Ariel with a character flaw that can only be solved by love from her prince. In Sleeping Beauty, the prince is similarly required to save Aurora. In “Alice in Wonderland”, Alice is expected to behaves within the confines that society has placed on her; since she doesn’t she gets in trouble. Since young girls frequently watch these films, it is important to instruct them that while these are historical standards of women, modern women are not expected to behave like this and have a greater extent of political power and free will than women of the past. They should be taught that it’s okay to have flaws, but that they have the intelligence and ability to solve problems on their own should they arise. Fortunately, newer Disney films have evolved to accommodate the new social standards that society has for women. However, it is necessary to emphasize the difference between the sexist Disney films of the 50’s to 90’s and the empowering films of the 2000’s.

Works Cited

Bell E, Haas L, Sells L. “From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture”. Indiana University Press, IN: 1995. Print.

Fouts G, Callan C, Piasentin K, Lawson A. “Demonizing in Children’s Television Cartoons and Disney Animated Films”. Child Psychiatry and Human Development. 37 (2006): 15-23. Print.

Towbina MA, Haddocka SA,Zimmermana TS, Lunda LK, Tannera LR. “Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length AnimatedFilms”. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy. 15 (2004): 19-44. Print.

Tseëlon E. “The Little Mermaid: An icon of woman’s condition in patriarchy, and the human condition of castration.” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 76 (1995): 1017- 1030. Print.

Robinson T, Callister M, Magoffin D, Moore J. “The portrayal of older characters in Disney  animated films”. Journal of Aging Studies. 3 (2007): 203-213. Online.