Analysis Of Disney Princess Effect By Stephanie Hahnes

Lookism is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary (n.d.) as the "prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance and especially physical appearance believed to fall short of societal notions of beauty." The issue of lookism has inundated our youth through the many forms of media including magazines, music videos, and daily television. Girls are often on the receiving end of lookism with the expectation being that they should be attractive and that there is only one definition of attractive. Mary Pipher (2008) describes it by saying "In early adolescence girls learn how important appearance is in defining social acceptability. Attractiveness is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for

What could make children grow up so fast and grow into adulthood? Could it be the interactions or experiences children have? At first, it seemed like this could be just the answer, but now in the 21st century it is something else. In the historical fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee described two characters, Jem and Scout, that went from not knowing the truth about their surrounding community, to being more mature after watching a trial about a african american being accused of raping a white women. Children are taught adulthood from innocent childhood by adult guidance, books and magazines, and social media.

In "Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect", Stephanie Hanes makes the argument that Disney princesses and modern day media influence young girls in negative ways. Hanes suggests that sexualization is everywhere including cartoons. She points out that any detail such as Ms. Piggy showing cleavage, leads girls to assume that doing so is okay and natural. Furthermore, Hanes asserts that allowing girls to see themselves as sex objects is a contributor to depression, eating disorders, and many other health problems for young girls.

This passage is from the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter, by Peggy Orenstein. The overall purpose of this book is to inform the readers of the stereotypes girls must face as adolescents. The author is able to express her opinion as a parent and give advice to other parents with daughters of how to overcome the stereotypes so girls do not succumb to the girly culture that bombards the media. The book touches on Orenstein’s role as a mother to her daughter Daisy and the challenges she faces due to all the stereotypes for young girls. This passage focuses on girls conforming to the stereotype regarding pink is the color for females.

The minds of children are like sponges, absorbing everything they hear, touch, and see. They are consciously taught ideas in school and participate in subconscious learning of moral behaviors and attitudes outside of the classroom. Disney is undeniably a large part of most children’s subconscious learning. Regardless of the movie, children are internalizing stereotypes of what princesses and princes do and what they look like. Before 2009, the stereotypical princess was a character being of lighter skin, dependent on men, and being of privileged descent. Finally in 2009, Disney introduced its first African American princess, trying to meet critics’ demands. Although Disney’s Princess and the Frog creates greater diversity among Disney Princess,

Many people believe Disney princesses can alter a child’s perspective about his or her self. The way princesses act and what they wear both affect children’s state of mind. The essay “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by Monika Bartyzel claims that the image of Disney princesses changes the way both children and society feel about women.

The topic of self confidence is a subject that is heavily discussed when it comes to girls of all ages. Journalist, Stephanie Hanes, examines the current trend of sexualization amongst young girls. In the article “Little Girls or Little Women: The Disney Princess Effect”, Hanes examines the current trend of sexualization amongst girls. She addresses the issue of desiring to become a women too soon. Hanes develops her article by using the literary techniques of pathos and logos to describe the emotions young girls feel when they see images of women with unattainable features.

Across the world, little girls and little boys are being raised on gendered norms that determine how they will behave for the rest of their lives. Exposure to various types of media during their formative years instruct children on how they should look, feel, and behave. Consequently, adult women strive to emulate the fantasies they were exposed to through the Disney Princess films they were raised on. Disney Princesses offer a mold for what a successful woman looks like in terms of size, color, and physical sexuality. In modern society, countless marginalized groups are seeking equal representation in the media to accurately reflect how diverse the world truly is. Despite these movements, some companies seek to reinforce the traditional expectations

Most women and girls you may know in developed countries have an idea of who their favourite Disney Princess is. A question may arise out of this cultural notion: What effect has Disney’s Princesses and other Disney’s animated female icons had on women and girls over the years, in terms of their identity? Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown discuss this question in their 2008 paper Disney’s Version of Girlhood. However, more Disney Princesses and Female Icon’s (FI’s) have emerged and touched little girl’s hearts since then. My goal is to take the following female Disney characters and see how they were portrayed, and cross-examine them with the categories made in Lamb and Brown’s article.

His pathos includes the existence of sexism in these productions, which appears in the enforcement of male superiority; the most important characters to the plot are always male (Babich 236). Introducing the argument of sexism sparks pathos because the existence of this topic upsets people and associating it with children triggers red flags. These red flags allow for attention to shift to the main issues and attempt to influence the audience to reject the approach that kids’ movies take, when it comes to the portrayal of women. Pathos also presents itself when Babich touches on the truth that female protagonists are always femininely built, exploiting their bodies in order to appeal to the audience and capture their attention (238). The emotion provoked here is disgust concerning the sexualization weaved into media created for children. Babich intends to instil a revolting reaction from the reader by pointing out the disturbing presence of hidden sexual content in a kid-friendly environment. The idea behind children-targeted films is to provide a pure and wholesome opportunity for young and naive kids to receive entertainment. By mentioning the common and suggestive physique of female characters, Babich introduces and uncomfortable and taboo concept to spark the attention of his

In her paper "Bonfire of Disney Princesses," Barbara Ehrenreich states how Disney princess are bad influence on children. Ehrenreich tries to convince her readers that Disney's marketing is bad. She than talk about how Disney brainwashes Young girls into believing what their role is towards society. For Example Cinderella portrays how all girls only job is to clean floors and be a servant, and wait around until their prince comes along and take them away in a carriage. Disney princess teaches young girls that intelligence means nothing and girls can't do anything without men. Ehrenreich then makes another powerful point by comparing Disney's princess as role models to Dora the Explorer, she writes, "For this their little girls gave up Dora,

Mass media represent a powerful force in modern societies as they shape public discourse and influence public opinion by transmitting social, political and cultural values.

The Little Mermaid which was produced in 1989, was the first Disney movie to challenge the traditional gender roles, for the fact that Ariel wanted to explore, and was more independent and assertive in her desires than the earlier princesses of the 1930’s and 50s films. Also the prince in The Little Mermaid went against traditional gender roles as well, simply because he was more affectionate and loving than his prince counterparts in other Disney films. “Both the male and female roles have changed over time, but overall the male characters evinced less change then the female characters and were more androgynous throughout.” (Descartes & England, pg.566). Disney movies have been for a long time a strong media target for children, and can serve as a way to address stereotypical gender roles (Leaper, 2000). These studies suggest that children observe gender stereotypes at an early age unintentionally. Since children’s brains are constantly soaking in new information about the world around them, they have to do so in a way that they are seemingly most comfortable. Studies show that children are most comfortable learning from people who are actively in their lives and attractive movie and TV

People of all ages throughout the years are very familiar with the concept of Disney movies. Some notable classics of Disney are “Beauty and the Beast” which was released in 1991 and “The Little Mermaid” which was released in 1989. Among the children, the Disney princesses left a good impression on them like Cinderella from “Cinderella”, Pocahontas from “Pocahontas”, and Mulan from “Mulan”. However, many believe that Disney movies serve as a good influence to young audiences but people should know that Disney also has its flaws. Disney have showed negative portrayals of Disney princesses in their films especially when it comes to their usual unattainable beauty ideal and portraying their princesses as inferior to men. There are also negative life lessons found in Disney films. Some examples are on how it’s a must for each girl to become like a princess; ugly people are evil and immoral and that

Amanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay. Putnam explains that when her daughter asks questions about gender norms (boys having long hair, etc...), she knows that this is because of influences like Disney that establish and reestablish ‘correct’ gender standards in many of their films.