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Disney Princess Stereotypes

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“When I grow up I want be a princess.” Almost every little girl 's dream was to grow up and live the life of the princesses we saw in movies. It was not until I actually started to analyze the movies that I realized that I do not want to be the princess I see on the screen. For so long I fell in love with the idea that I will one day find a man who will take care of me. I also pushed myself to fit the image of a “perfect princess”. By this I mean, I was obsessed with becoming a size 0, wearing dresses all the time and even trying to talk like the princesses. One of my favorite princesses from Disney was The Little Mermaid. Analyzing this movie has made me realize that women have been portrayed in such a diminishing way at such a young age. …show more content…

The Disney princess movies had a great deal of influence on many young girls watching princesses represent what royalty looked like. The princesses are always beautiful, polite and seeking the love of their Prince Charming. This plays a strong role in perpetuating the idea that being a princess means seeking only love from a man, and a man who contains all the stereotypical masculine qualities; handsome, powerful and rich. For example, in The Little Mermaid, Ariel had to give up who she was in order to win over the affection of her prince charming. She traded in her voice in order to have real legs and near Prince Eric. This movie represents everything that society says a real life princess should be; beautiful and silent. Ariel is the princess that shows that the innocent and quiet women will always win. Women in movies and books are often described as dependent, weak, self-critical, and passive. While there is a great deal of influence over younger girls, boys are also influenced through the slight humor in male characters. Prince Eric is described as masculine and has qualities including being a man of power, strong and self-confident. While the other male characters such as Scuttle and Flounder were unintelligent and dependent. These ideas that men are superior to women are shown by female disney characters, and the portrayal of masculinity and femininity in movies and media to people from a young

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