Fictitious Story of Independent Women: Analysis of Main Characters’ Roles in New Disney Princess Movies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender roles in Disney Princess Films
Abstract: Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today‟s society. Gender represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female. Media is the most important resource through which people develop their identities and thereby come to understand the role that gender plays in the actual world. This article is designed to study the gender identity and gender roles in Disney movies and to see how identity is transformed through long term virtues and ideals that are set forth by the Disney movies. It is generally regarded that the Disney movies is unhealthy for children, especially the young girls to watch for the physical, social and behavioral attributes they suggest, conform to the values supporting male dominance. Disney movies are often criticized for their negative, stereotypical portrayal of female characters that are often unrealistically painted. In the context of Disney movies, the word „woman‟ has become synonymous with „victim‟ in a patriarchal society. The Disney Corporation films such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty et al are in the list of favorite Disney heroines for young girls for the last fifty years. These movies have certain themes in common—the female protagonist in each of these films is shown as a “Disney Princess” but the traits of these princesses, featured through these films are submissiveness and servitude. Though they possess divine beauty, these princesses only seem to be capable of suffering in silence, and it is because of this, they are finally given the ultimate reward: salvation through the handsome Prince Charming. This negative portrayals of women and girls in Disney movies gain force through the way in which similar messages are consistently circulated and reproduced in varying degrees in many of the Disney movies even till today. Though both the male and the female roles have changed over time in the Disney princess line, yet the female characters actually exhibits less change in their gender role portrayals and there is no doubt that Disney Corporation is reaching their target audience and their message is continuously being made available to the young children (especially the young girls) around the world. Keywords: consumerism, feminism, femme fatal, patriarchy, stereotype,
Damsels in Distress An analysis of Gender roles in Disney princess films
2021
Abstract: In today’s society movies have become an integral resource which influence a person’s identity. This paper is designed to study the gender roles and the construction of identity in Disney movies. Earlier researches have suggested that Disney movies are not beneficial for children as they propagate certain male dominant ideas by portraying females in a dependent role .This research analyses two texts notably “Cinderella” and “Aladdin” from two different eras and comes to the conclusion that though the societal framework and the roles have changed over time, yet the female character depiction remains the same. The paper also looks at the impact of this sexism on its target audience and reinstates the responsibilities of movies to project females in an elevated role. This helps them to break free of the structure that already discriminates and marginalizes them. Keywords: feminism, patriarchy, stereotype.
2013
The focus is to analyze Brave and Tangled movie using a feminist approach. The study will evaluate the shifted characterization of a princess from Disney Princesses’ damsel in distress to the current woman-warrior characters of Tangled and Brave. The findings show that there are some shifted values implied in both texts which is delivered through the brave, leading and responsible characterization of Merida and Rapunzel. Secondly, women with their compassionate nature can perform a different and contributive quality in taking over men’s role of leadership and protection. The transformation proves that the patriarchal stereotype of women as weaker vessels have been broken down with their performance. Moral development plays a significant role in the princesses’ characterization. Secondly, despite the different development background of the two princesses experienced, the discussion indicates that there is a ‘womanwarriorcharacter in every woman which lies in their efforts of self-dev...
The cultural construction of the feminine through Disney�s films
EduLite: Journal of English Education, Literature and Culture
The question of gender roles in Disney�s films has been one of the relevant issues in their industry. Disney has for a long time been at battle with the public for being accused of depicting their characters, specifically females, in stereotypical ways. Gender roles can affect viewers in the manner they see themselves with the others around them. The roles of men and women pictured in Disney�s films have mirrored the cultural perspective and beliefs of social norms and expectations on gender roles and identity. This study tries to figure out the roles of the princesses and the female villains in Disney's films with regard to the cultural construction of the feminine. This study applied qualitative� descriptive� method with several steps taken during the data analysis. Finally,� the� analysis� was� informally presented� through� a descriptive representation in words. The findings demonstrate that despite displaying the characteristics of strength and power, female villains are fr...
The Revolution of Female Characters in Disney Films
Proceedings of the 3rd Asia Pacific International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, September 13-15, 2022, 2022
Disney characters always lead to gender development. Like a Disney princess who always depends on her prince to save her life. But now, the pattern is experiencing changes that occur in female characters. Women are no longer in a passive position, but they begin to develop to be strong, challenging, and independent. Through this paper, researchers will discuss several phases of the transition of female characters in Disney film production. By focusing on research questions, namely, how the nature of Disney women experiences a shift as a form of gender equality? To answer this question, researchers will use qualitative research methods that emphasize the depth of research and the results of the Disney film analysis. ISSN: 2169-8767 (U.S. Library of Congress) ISBN: 978-1-7923-9162-0 September 2022, Vol. 12 No. 6
Transforming the Contemporary Disney Princess: An Analysis Using Brave and Frozen
This thesis will address how Disney and Pixar have abandoned the traditional princess formula that has garnered Disney the majority of their success to make way for the "third-wave princess" and a storyline that consists of new ideas about gender expectations and to show viewers (especially young girls) that they are not expected to buy into the extreme femininity that Disney traditionally portrayed in their films. The two films included in my thesis will be Brave (2012) and Frozen , which feature the most recent inductees to the Princess franchise: Merida, Anna, and Elsa. I will argue that Brave and Frozen have created a positive, post-feminist construction of gender by abandoning female-centric stories in which the female heroine's happy ending includes a male soul mate. Instead, these two films focus on the struggles and triumphs of unconditional, female familial love without the need of a male presence.
The Gender Role Portrayal Of Disney Princesses And Its Impact On The Audience
With the voices from past literature and research, this paper explores areas of Disney princess movies over the decades in terms of the transitional female lead characters and the perceived impact of the said change on the audience in terms of their behavior and decision making. Disney as a global corporation has imposed on the psychological development of children in regards to identity management, gender performance, and racial stereotypes, forming an overall structure society has been reduced to confine in. The primary objective of this study therefore, is to find out how the characterization of gender perception of Disney princesses over the decades has left an impact on the audience and how the transition of Disney princesses and the portrayal of gender roles affect the audience. The research for this study has taken a qualitative approach by conducting interviews of exploratory nature consisting of open-ended question among audiences with the core focus on adolescents. This st...
From Snow White to Tangled: Gender and Genre Fiction in Disney's "Princess" Animations
2013
It is hard to ignore the popularity of the Disney Princess franchise these days. Beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarf in 1937, it now includes Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana and Rapunzel. This essay attempts to show how gender identity in the Disney princess animations still conforms to outmoded patriarchal values. To critique the franchise and its ideology, this essay employs Hélène Cixous’s concept of ‘patriarchal binary’ to reveal how often Disney animations simplify and/or disempower the above-mentioned heroines. It examines how the Brothers Grimm and then Disney adapted the fairy tales so to conform better into the patriarchal society of their times and in what ways the Snow White model has persisted in spite of seventy years of rethinking gender roles and models. The essay then delves deeper into the gender identity of the princesses, witches, and heroes in these tales and shows how they are stereotyped in all Disney pr...
Between Gender and History: The Feminine and the Masculine in Disney Princess Animated Films
Between Gender and History: The Feminine and the Masculine in Disney Princess Animated Films, 2020
Is the distinction between man and woman natural or is it a social construction? Bordieu (2002), when discussing the differentiation between the sexes, points out that the anatomical opposition between the male and female bodies would have been used to justify and naturalize the different social roles attributed to men and women. When we think about history, an inevitable element over time is always present: transformations. The relationships established between the male and the female are no different. These relations were many until the twentieth century and it is at that moment that changes are perceived concerning the roles assigned to both genders. The aim of this work was to analyze the transformations of the feminine and the masculine in the Disney princess films during the 20 th and early 21 st centuries. The methodology used was bibliographic research, with Bourdieu (2002), Chartier (2002) and Castells (2006) being the main references. Two moments of the representation of the female and the male were observed in the analyzed animations: until the 1960s, an image constructed by the patriarchy predominated; after 1980, one for feminism, enabling a new representation of women and men.
Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses
The popular Disney Princess line includes nine films (e.g., Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) and over 25,000 marketable products. Gender role depictions of the prince and princess characters were examined with a focus on their behavioral characteristics and climactic outcomes in the films. Results suggest that the prince and princess characters differ in their portrayal of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, these gender role portrayals are complex, and trends towards egalitarian gender roles are not linear over time. Content coding analyses demonstrate that all of the movies portray some stereotypical representations of gender, including the most recent film, The Princess and the Frog. Although both the male and female roles have changed over time in the Disney Princess line, the male characters exhibit more androgyny throughout and less change in their gender role portrayals.