Do Disney Princess Lean Towards Expressing

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Mariam Saeed Shafqat

Roll Number: 16-10132, ENGL-103, Section: K

Forman Christian College

The Disney film industry has had a great impact on children since it began in 1937. It produced most of the well-known fictional characters for children know till this day such as Bambi, Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and his gang, and, of course, the Disney Princesses. All children and, almost, all adults have either heard, read or watched one of the Disney Princess movies- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, The Frog and the Princesses and Tangled. The few people who have not directly heard, read or watched them either know the basic storyline or have watched the new modern day version of the same movies such as the various Cinderella stories, Mirror Mirror, the recent Beauty and the Beast or even the notable Shrek series which has several of the Disney Princesses. Although there are ten official Disney Princesses, I will only discuss a selected few in this paper. Within these Disney Princess movies some have good morals for children while others indirectly lead to feminism. Both these morals influence the views the child has of the world. Thus the unrealistic gender barriers that Disney has set for the children stays with the children. Disney princesses do not support a feministic view; they do the opposite by making the heroines seem like porcelain dolls, showing racism against cultures and not at all giving them an equal position to men.

Feminism has barriers linked with both culture and race along with many others. Several of these are seen in the movies at one time or the other. Feminism is the discrimination against women and the social disadvantages women face. Feminism is branched into many fields and types. It is a biased act which segregates the authority between men and women. It is also often a movement taken by people to gain more rights for women. For example, the Nineteenth Amendment (to the United States of America’s Constitution) allowed women the right to vote (Encyclopedia Britanncia Online).

While watching the relatively new Disney Princesses, such as Tangled and The Princess and the Frog, I began to notice the biased mind-set shown in the movies. I was appalled at seeing the influence it had on my younger sister so I decided to reevaluate my opinion after watching the first few Disney Princesses again (Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora). To my surprise I found things in the movies that had been alien to my eyes in my childhood. Disney Princess movies have a typical type of layout, whether original classic or modernized story which goes in the following pattern: true love and good always win, affection with humor and enjoyable songs often sung by the adorable animals in the movies. In this paper, I will not only look into the way girls are swayed by these movies, but also how each, selected Princess shows feminism. The questions that will be answered through this research paper are:

How is feminism embedded in these chosen Disney movies?

How do these Disney Princess movies affect their audience?

Seeing that Disney has a very large number of spectators, for its success it has to please all categories. So far feminists have been troubling Disney with this issue. Thus it is hypothesized that Disney has been trying to satisfy and level with the feminists in recent years.

When looked into, Disney studios non-feminist approach started from 1923, when the studio initially began. Disney studios have always had a father figure but not a mother. Walt Disney is the man who started the Disney productions and is known very well all around the world. However, Lillian Disney, who took great part in the Disney studios and contributed large amounts of money as well as helped plan Disney’s future, has hardly been heard of by many (Craven, 2002, p.137). Interestingly, Mrs. Disney was the one who came up with Mickey Mouse’s name: it was originally to be Mortimer. Allison Craven’s article in the European Journal of Women Studies (2002, p. 137) tells how Walt would sit with Lillian and tell her of his plans starting from Snow White and going on till Disneyland.

The obvious signs of femininity and masculinity can easily be spotted in the movies such as the way the characters appear and sound. The Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has this dark gloomy appearance and, in the cartoon figure, there is hardly a comparison between the Queen and Snow. Cinderella has the perfect blonde hair and blue eyes combination. Aurora has fairies surrounding her and protecting her, trying to make her life as enjoyable and perfect as they can without their magic. Mulan, who does not live the life of a Princess, has a beautiful voice. Tiana is associated with the feminine job of a cook. And to complete the Disney Princess mold along with the ‘happily ever after’, they all meet gorgeous, remarkably well built and unbelievably sweet men. Both the physical and emotional characteristics are complete. After having seen a brief description of the feminism in the movies, I will further elaborate on each movie as I merge with my second research question: How do the Disney Princess movies affect their audience?

From the time a child starts going to school to the time the group up and have their job; there is always competition, direct or indirect, with the opposite gender. One of the biggest reasons for this because that is what they have seen in their childhood and as they grew up. Similarly, nowadays, when children watch the Disney movies, the legend lives on. And to add to that, "The films are creating the idea that if a woman is free and independent, she will be unhappy" (Matyas, V. 2010, p.5). In the earlier Disney Princesses-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty- the Prince comes to save the Princesses. In Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is the one who comes with true love’s kiss and not only to awaken the ‘fairest of them all’ but also to take her to safety. Prince Charming comes to Cinderella’s rescue by removing her from the clutches of her stepmother’s torture. Seeing such traits and characteristics as a child, a young girl can only wait and wish for her Prince to come so her fairytale dream can come true.

However, in some parts of the Princesses movies, the female character does overtake the male character. For example, in the time of need, Tiana does provide food for Prince Naveen and Louis. In the same way, Mulan overtakes her father’s position in the Chinese army. All the same, even in their moment of glory, femininity is present. Tiana carries out the infamous form of cooking which is nothing less than a household chore, a task that is associated with women. And although Mulan (the movie) shows many ways in which society is judgmental, Mulan (herself) falls prey to true love- the weakness Disney has tied up with women- despite the secret battles she fought to prove her masculinity. Tiana is a career driven women and is willing to work hard for her goal while Mulan is forced into uncomfortable situations but must hide her physical feminine appearance. Yet, somehow by the end of the movies, Tiana has her Prince and her dream while Mulan has the honor of being the ‘Savior of China’ and is noticeable in General Shang’s eyes. Thus, one way or another the princesses go through the "transformation into a Cinderella-like ball gown" (Craven, 2002, p.130), literally or figuratively.

Media plays an important part in our lives. Whether it is the news, some television show, celebrity gossip or just some sports match, it has some effect on someone somewhere. This does not change for a younger audience. Disney has a huge effect on children, especially on young girls, with its Disney Princess movies and its products. However, the idea it portrayed through the earlier movies is, "if you are a woman who chooses to pursue your own dreams, you will be left without the love of a man" (Matyas, 2012, p. 36). The recent Disney Princesses have a motto similar to, ‘if you pursue a man, your dreams too will come true’. The main difference between the two sayings is that in the first the Princesses did not work. In the latter, hard work led them to their final, complete ‘happily ever after’.