1Gender and Feminism in Disney Films Bailes

Gender and Feminism in Disney Films

Capstone Presentation Research

Jacob D. BailesShepherd University

May 2018

2Gender and Feminism in Disney Films Bailes

Recent studies show that when younger children and young adults watch Disney movies

they become a part of the stereotypical individual by following along with societal norms about

certain perspectives. Gender and feminism stereotypes are true within Disney Films because of

the models used by princesses and princes all the way to the actions of these characters to fit

their societal positions.

Such being, princesses are for girls and princes are for boys and neither should cross

their boundaries (Sieczkowski, Cavan 2016.) Now, seeing these outlooks we can dig further

beyond these basic stereotypes to find more feministic and gender “norms” that silently teach our

younger generations these heteronormative ways. When we dig into these films, what are we

looking for exactly? Should we just look for the dialogue, the physical actions, or the judgments

made by the parental figures throughout the films? As we as researchers go through and see these

films, we see the connections made between reality and imaginative especially when it comes to

the princess and prince opinions.

From the beginning of Disney, Walt created a world that that was meant to bring

everyone together in peace and harmony. He created a family friendly environment to that let

them step out of reality for a little over an hour to just relax and enjoy their time together.

Although we see these movies as a step out of reality, we also need to look with a more in depth

at the underlying messages that these movies are teaching not only the families, but the

children/young adults.

Some of the films that viewers can look into to see these silent messages that are, “Snow

White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty

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and the Beast,” etc. These are only a few of the movies from the endless list. A few of the

movies

“Snow White,” (1937) is a movie known by many, which also means that those individuals also

know about all of the stereotypical attributes that comes with it. This movie was created to

specifically target young girls. As it says in the, “Disney Gender Analysis,” “Snow White gives

the message to young girls that your duties are cleaning and enjoying it, taking care of others,

and waiting for a prince to save you.” This statement is as true as it is ugly, especially within this

specific film. Looking at the main character, Snow White, she is a damsel who is all alone which

characterizes her right away that she is incapable of taking care of herself without a man. She

stumbles upon a group of 7 dwarfs who agree to take her in as family. She then cooks, cleans and

even serenades the wild life like a woman is ‘supposed’ to. She is created to be unintelligent with

anything that is not domestic work, actually to the point that she couldn’t tell the difference

between a regular apple and a poisoned apple. After taking one bit of the poisoned apple she was

sent into a deep sleep awaiting her prince to come and give her true loves kiss to wake her up.

This is another point that the article makes a blunt statement on is that Snow White is a model

for young girls to show them that they will always need a prince to sweep them off of their feet.

Looking into an opposite direction, we can turn our attention to the men of the film, the

dwarfs. Something that I have always looked at with this particular movie is that these 7 men

have the characteristics to make up a “perfect” man. We have Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Dopey,

Bashful, Happy, and Sleepy. These men work in the mines, like a man should, and take care of

the female, like a man should. This film truly shows the difference between male and female

stereotypes and how they are portrayed. When looking at this well-known movie and putting it

beside what had currently been going during the time the film was being created we find the

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Great Depression. During this time a lot of the men in the country lost their jobs, but the women

were not hit as bad because their work was more domestic, clerical and things such as those.

When looking into the movie we see that the men in the movie are working, but they are in the

mining industry which in reality was hit severely with layoffs. This affected society because the

families couldn’t be supported. With this film the men of the film worked and worked and sang

songs which gave hope to the viewers that everything would get better. This showed society that

they could work and prosper through anything. Snow, on the other hand, she was still given the

domestic relationship within the household and was still shown to be the mother/caregiver. This

sent a message to society that regardless of how bad times were that women were still to be set in

the homes. Looking at the article within the ‘Encyclopedia of the Great Depression’ we find that

during the Great Depression men were usually found jobless while the women generally could

keep their positions in work. This created cracks within the gender stereotypes because the men

of the time felt less masculine because they were not the primary money makers of the

household. When this film was released it was a hit of the century and was loved by many even

out of the country. Society looked at it as a film that patched these cracks in the stereotypes

because of the role that Snow played in means of work. While the dwarfs (men) were out

working in the mines Snow was at home cleaning and doing the domestic type work. She is also

portrayed as small and fragile because she is put into a, “death sleep” as the article says and the

only thing that could bring her out of it was a man. This gave men of that century the knowledge

that the stereotypes are still in place like they had always been.

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One of the first things that pop into the heads of Disney fans is the statement, “Happily ever

after.” My question is who is this happily ever after for, the man, or the woman? Generally, this

phrase is aimed towards the female characters in the films, for example Cinderella (1950) is one

of the largest known and most influential (towards younger females) Disney movies. This article

exclaims that, “She falls in love with her prince charming, who ultimately saves her from her

terrible servant life. Cinderella teaches young girls that if you are beautiful enough, a wealthy

prince will save you.” These statements are exactly what this movie was made to do, lie to little

girls to give them false hope in actuality. Cinderella, a once shy housemaid to her step sisters

and step mother grows into a beautiful princess with the help of sewing, talking mice along with

her fairy godmother. How is something that fictional so overwhelmingly influential to the

younger females. A lot of the reason is due to the imagination that the younger generation has,

and it also can be affected by the social status of these girls. Looking into the lower social

classes, we can see that this movie will give these young girls the thought that one day mice

(someone coming to help them) are going to help make a beautiful dress, and a fairy godmother

(someone rich) is going to come and make them “beautiful” out of nowhere. These are only two

of so many reasons why these girls look up to such a fictional life. A movie like this implants

into these young girl’s minds that they cannot make it in life without a man, or someone else is

there to hold their hand. Switching our visuals to the men in this movie we can definitely see

some of the similar issues. The men in films like this one and also this one specifically is always

portrayed in a few different ways. For example, there are always two similarly attractive man,

one being the main male character to get the princess and then there is the villain who in a

certain way is also attractive. This takes the position of how the younger boys react and

understand how male beauty works. It could go two different ways, for example, you could

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either be attractive and get the significant other, or you could be attractive, and you could be

killed, or end up alone. This goes to follow once you see the other types of men, like the not so

attractive men who seem to be the right-hand men but get nothing in return. Looking at this film

side-by-side with the gender norms in the 1950’s you will see an extravagant resemblance

between both. For example, when looking at Justin Foult’s prezi we can see that on slide labeled

‘chores’ it hits the nail on the head about the chores that women were to do. In this movies case

although it was a bit different. Cinderella was the door mat to every chore and responsibility in

the home that she lived in. This is all the while her step sisters and mother went around being

snobby just because they had money and were letting Cinderella live with them. Looking the

stereotypes with the sisters and the mother of the story we see that they fit the bill perfectly when

it comes to always needing to be the most gorgeous as well as acting as innocent as possible in

front of the man, in this case the prince. Reading Kimberly’s article, “Cinderella: The Ultimate

(Postwar) Makeover Story,” We see that the 50s were the time of change and it started once the

war was over and the clothing industry came back. Christian Dior’s came out and everyone went

crazy for it because of the life that they had to live during the time of the war. During this time

when “Cinderella” came out everyone fell in love with the fashion that lies within the movie

itself. A whole line of wedding apparel came out that was very similar to the dress worn by

Cinderella in the film. In this article it also talks about the different characters who also show

significance to people in reality. For example, the article compares the fairy godmother and

Christian Dior by the way that the godmother magically makes Cinderella beautiful just by

putting her into a beautiful dress and fixing her from head to toe. So, when we look at Christian

and his role during this time, he brings out this new line of clothing after having to wear what

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they could scavenge during the ration times during the war. He in a sense changed and beautified

everything from head to toe after having such a hard time during this time period.

Hercules (1997), one of the most influential movies for men that Disney has produced.

This movie inspired a lot of younger males to have the confidence to fight for their dreams, but

did this come with a price? Hercules grew up as a timid, clumsy small individual who generally

only messed everything up. After finding out that he was adopted by this family and he was

actually the son of a God he decided to go on this long journey to go find his true father to figure

out who he really is. This shows of how much it means to young boys to have the acceptance

from their fathers and shows how far they will go to get that. Throughout the entirety of this

movie you can see how Hercules must change his entirety just to be the best that he wants to be,

so he can get himself back with his true family. This gives the audience the image that unless

you get extremely buff, be the savior and become famous you will just be one of the peasants

below it all. This movie has the true ability to be an exciting adventure and inspiration to young

men, but at the same time it is also can manipulate the minds of these boys, and in a sense

damage them. Going through the 1997 one of the largest things that were found was when

Madeleine Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State which meant that she was the first woman

to head the state department. This compared to the movie ‘Hercules’ is actually very relevant

because of the goddesses that are on Mount Olympus. The Goddesses were looked upon just as

much as the Gods at that time because of their specific traits and abilities. Comparing a Goddess

to Madeleine is because now that she has acquired this position it is a leap for many more

women to start realizing that with determination and strength they can do anything a man can.

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Going on now to the film, “Tangled” (2010) we can see both sides of gender being

portrayed, but in a much different way than the usual Disney film. In this film we have Flynn

Rider and Rapunzel two daring characters, but also very different than what we usually would

see in a Disney film. Flynn is introduced as a criminal by showing him interacting with a group

of men who go around stealing things from everyone they meet. It states in the Disney Gender

Analysis, “Instead of the successful and dominant role he plays the thief role, while physically

having the appearance and charm (the smolder) a prince would be expected to have. Crime is

generally associated with males because males tend to be more violent. However, in this film he

does fall in love with Rapunzel which may provide examples to children that being a thief is

acceptable and you can still have a happily ever after while doing it.” The end of that quote is

saying that even though Flynn is a thief and a crook he still ends up having a good life after it is

all said and done. This goes to show children that it is okay to be a thief and not to worry because

it will all work out in the end.

With Rapunzel’s story line, it is a bit different. She is even a lot different than the princesses that

were spoken about in the previous paragraphs. Her main dream is to get away from the tower

that she is trapped in, so she could go and see the lights. Disney switched it up on this film,

because the original film was intended for the stereotypical princess needs saving, the prince

comes and rescues her from the danger and they ride off into the sunset. Instead of doing that,

they made the princess a strong independent woman who fights for what she wants, and she goes

and gets it. During this time period was the time when Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were

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in the White House. Both were very inspirational, but when comparing the inspiration of

Rapunzel and Michelle we can see some very strong character leads. For example, Rapunzel

didn’t need a prince to save her because with her trusty chameleon and iron skillet she went for

her dreams. Michelle on the other hand does have the assistance of a reptile, or a pan, but she

herself accomplished so many things and became a worldwide inspiration to women by her

actions and her voice. For example, this is one of Michelle’s most recognized quote’s, ““One of

the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody

else says distract you from your goals. And so, when I hear about negative and false attacks, I

really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.” This was a time of women

empowerment and we can see it both in this Disney film as well as in reality. While reading Phil

W’s article “Why Tangled is Disney’s Most Feminist Film” information shows that Tangled

compared to Disney’s ‘Frozen’, ‘Tangled’ won the feminist award. This article shows how

Rapunzel has many more progressive traits rather than both of the main female characters in

Frozen. Rapunzel has taught herself chess, to read and write, Astronomy all along with doing

domestic housework things such as baking and cleaning. Elsa on the other hand from Frozen

lives exiled within her Castle awaiting her time to run the kingdom while her sister falls in love

with a man who she just met. This article shows the differences about the two films and how

Tangled even though created 3 years before Frozen is more progressive within stopping gender

stereotypes and norms.

Now, that these few movies have been dissected by gender here are some facts about how

Disney and other characters from Disney that have not been mentioned yet have affected young

children. In the Evolution of Disney: Gender Edition it states,

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“A survey that was conducted by Disney discovered that 97% of children from ages 2-11

recognized who Cinderella was. Out of the 14 characters they asked about, children were least

familiar with Eeyore, who was even still known by 86% of the children who participated in the

study (Sims). As you can see, these characters are imprinted on the minds of children as well as

the messages that these story-book characters emit.”

Looking just as this alone, Disney has a very large and powerful stance when it comes to

children. For one, the ages that were surveyed are right in the years of the sponge, which means

the children are right in the prime years of learning. That being said, when these kids are seeing

movies such as Cinderella and Snow White they are already losing a fight that they will have to

fight later on in life and that is the fight of gender equality and independence from a man. In

McKenzie Barber’s study Disney’s Female Gender Roles: The Change of Modern Culture

(2015) she states the following about gender norms, “Many children get their information about

gender roles and other beliefs or values from media sources (Tonn, 2008). These sources that are

reinforced in the United States’ culture are through the forms of children’s media, children’s

literature, and mythical figures (Tonn, 2008). In other words, children make sense of their

identity, surroundings, and behaviors through popular movies, fairy tales, and stories.”

McKenzie is writing about how the younger generations are collecting information about the

world through non-realistic sources such as made up stories, mythical and fictional characters.

This is fine to an extent because some of these stories do have good underlying messages and

takeaways, but it can also be a harmful thing due to the fact that the stories are made up and the

children can be taking the wrong information and trying to make it into a reality. For example, if

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a group of children were watching Cinderella and seen that she had talking mice as friends who

sewed her a dress, and a fairy god mother who appears out of nowhere and turns a pumpkin into

a carriage. Nothing in that is reality and this could one be disappointing to the girls because they

are now expecting their heartaches and troubles to be fixed by talking mice and a fairy, which in

reality just doesn’t exist. These things could also be aimed towards the male gender as well

because of the fact that all of the main male characters are portrayed as these perfect, model-like

men who are rich, and everyone wants to marry them, but in reality, these things do not exist in

every single man. This can be troublesome for the young men because now they believe that if

they do not look like these characters they will never grow up to have a good life and a great

partnership.

All of these things about Disney are truly a remarkable feat for this company. The

amount of reactions and support that they get for their movies, just to make them in a way that

has affected children of all ages in both good and bad ways. Disney is arguably one of the most

influential companies in the world, and this can be both good and bad influences. From the

movies they made that take on stereotypical gender roles that create a wall between women and

men of their times all the way to the point that Disney has created this illusion that the world is

secretly full of pumpkin carriages and talking animals that can help you clean. Disney has

mastered the art of educating the young generations with some knowledge of how things work in

reality as well as non-reality.

Sources:

1. Eisenhauer, Karen. “. a {Fill: #c00;} Think and Do the Extraordinary the Campaign for NC State Humanities and Social Sciences News.” Language, Gender and Disney

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Princesses, 20 Apr. 2017, news.chass.ncsu.edu/2017/04/20/language-gender-and-disney-princesses/.

2. Barber, McKenzie. “Disney’s Female Gender Roles: The Change of Modern Culture.” Disney's Female Gender Roles - Indiana State University, 24 Nov. 2015, scholars.indstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10484/12132/Barber_McKenzie_2015_HT.pdf? sequence=1.

3. Not Found. “Impact of the Media.” The Evolution of Disney: Gender Edition, 11 Dec. 2014, disneygenderevolution.wordpress.com/impact-of-the-media/.

4. Sieczkowski, Cavan. “Disney Princesses May Impact Gender Stereotypes for Girls (But Not Boys), Study Finds.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/disney-princesses-gender-study_us_576a8db1e4b0c0252e77c257.

5. Anderson, Hannah, and Matt Daniels. “The Largest Analysis of Film Dialogue by Gender, Ever.” The Pudding, Apr. 2016, pudding.cool/2017/03/film-dialogue/.

6. Hentges, Beth, and Kim Case. “Gender Representations on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon Broadcasts in the United States.” Taylor & Francis, Mar. 2013, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17482798.2012.729150.

7. D'Ambrozio, Gianna. “Because Of Modern Feminism Disney Princess Gender Roles Are Changing.” The Odyssey Online, 26 Oct. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/the-evolution-of-gender-roles-in-disney-princess-movies.

8. Abbadessa, Ellie. “Female Stereotypes.” Disney Gender Analysis, 0ADAD, disneyanalysis.weebly.com/female-stereotypes.html.

9. Ewert, Jolene. “A Tale as Old as Time - An Analysis of Negative Stereotypes in Disney Princess Movies.” Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences, Kappa Omicron Nu, 2 Aug. 2001, www.kon.org/urc/v13/ewert.html.

10. Anaba, Cynthia Ebere. “Children’s Perceptions of Gender Roles as Portrayed in Disney Films.” ba_ebere-anabathesis_c_2016.Pdf 1 / 58 , Dublin Business School, Mar. 2016, esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/3103/ba_ebere-anabathesis_c_2016.pdf?sequence=1.

11. unknwon, unknown. “Male Stereotypes.” Disney Gender Analysis, 0AD, disneyanalysis.weebly.com/male-stereotypes.html.

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12. NA, NA. “Relevant Theories.” Gender Roles Brought to You by Disney, 0AD, blogs.longwood.edu/genderrolesbroughttoyoubydisney/relevant-theories/.

13. Adrian. “Disney Princesses and Their Gender Stereotypes.” Gender Stereotypes, 4 Dec. 2014, am10098.wordpress.com/rantraves/rantrave-1/.\

14. "Gender Roles and Sexual Relations, Impact of the Great Depression on." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. . Encyclopedia.com. 4 Apr. 2018<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

15. Fouts, Justin. “Gender Roles in the 1950s.” Prezi.com, 18 Oct. 2012, prezi.com/2faff0kgemtj/gender-roles-in-the-1950s/.

16. Watts. “‘Heigh-Ho’ from Snow White.” Declarations of the Depression, 8 Aug. 2012, greatdepression1930.wordpress.com/1937/12/21/heigh-ho-from-snow-white/.

17. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. . Encyclopedia.com. 9 Apr. 2018 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

18.Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly. “Cinderella: The Ultimate (Postwar) Makeover Story.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 9 Mar. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/cinderella-the-ultimate-postwar-makeover-story/387229/.

19.Bayles, Phil W. “Why Tangled Is Disney's Most Feminist Film.” One Room With A View, 25 Jan. 2017, oneroomwithaview.com/2016/11/30/tangled-disneys-most-feminist-film/.

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