ipl-logo

Gender Roles In Disney Princesses

1039 Words5 Pages

From the very beginning of Disney Princesses’, young children have received the wrong ideas on what gender roles should really be like. The story of Cinderella is about a young girl whos mother and father both passed away. However, before her father's passing, he remarried a woman with two daughters. Her step-mother took in Cinderella and made her the maid for her and her two children after the passing of Cinderella’s father. After being tormented and ridiculed, Cinderella was introduced to her Fairy Godmother. Her Godmother magically turned her beautiful to attend the Ball and meet the King. By the end of the story, the King finds Cinderella and she leaves her tragic life to be a wealthy and married princess. From this story, and many other similar Disney Princess stories, Ashley Bispo was able to write her article, “Fairytale Dreams: Disney Princesses’ Effect on Young Girls’ Self-Image”. This writing piece discusses the ideas of how stories like Cinderella have negative effects on girls and how they see themselves and/or others. Through both readings, it is clear that the Disney Princesses’ have given girls and boys an inaccurate understanding of gender roles in society through domestic responsibilities, one's appearance, and the ideas of marriage. When Disney Princesses’ were first introduced, their ideas on gender roles were very different from …show more content…

Men were supposed to be the caretakers of the finances, while women were in charge of cleaning the house and being superb wives/mothers. This was shown in multiple ways throughout the Cinderella stories. Cinderella took care of the household and eventually became beautiful enough to win over the heart of the prince. Her entire position in the story shifted as soon as she was able to become a wife and a princess. All in all, the story of Cinderella is a prime example of the way girls are misinformed on gender roles in

Show More
Related

  • Princess Paradox By James Poniewozik Summary

    1015 Words  | 5 Pages

    He begins to say, “You give your daughter legos and soccer balls, not barbies” (323). Poniewozik proceeds to argue his point by explaining how Hollywood finally discovered that it is pointless to fight the urge of the astonishing pink princess epidemic, while producing many more princess themed items because it is what girls seem to want. Similarly, Peggy Orenstein opens with a story about a mother who is simply appalled by anything and everything princess based on how her daughter gets treated by other adults. However, Orenstein tried to keep a consistent theme of not accepting the whole idea of being picture perfect throughout the article, but while making an argument, she would then come up with a contrasting argument. The question of, “Does every little girl really have to be a princess?”(Orenstein 326), arises when thinking about all of the times how even strangers assume little girls always want pink.

    Read More

  • Gender Lens In Walt Disney's Fairytales

    331 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author, the assistant professor at the University of Oradea, uses what she coins a “gender lens” to peer into the gender and behavioral effects that fairytales have on children. She dives into the idea of how the fairytales were constructed with her data she reconstructs the writing process that the writers of that exact time would've preformed to recreate the mind behind the tale. She especially evaluates the old fairytales and how they have evolved into Walt Disney's fairytales. Snow white was a great representation of a fairytale that the gender lens peered right into, showing the monolithic stereotype of a women and how she seeks a man for finical and physical security. The author finds that even with young children playing with these

    Read More

  • Cinderella 1950 By William Peet

    889 Words  | 4 Pages

    The movie Cinderella,1950 written by William Peet is one of the most known and recognized disney films of all time. The film looks into the life of a girl whose father left her, displaying the mistreatment she faced from her step mother and step sisters; she is later “rescued”from the mistreatment by marrying Prince Charming after searching for the lady he danced with at the ball. Brave is a disney film created in 2012,screenplayed by Mark Andrews,Steve Purcell,Brenda Chapman,and Irene Mecchi follows 16 year old Mereida who is born into a royal family, she is next up in line to become a princess. She struggles with not being the “perfect princess” her mother wants to be. In the movies Cinderella and Brave two of the most used and analyzed lenses are the historical and feminist lens.

    Read More

  • Disney Princess Influence Young Girls

    1360 Words  | 6 Pages

    While many young girls love the princesses and look up to them, others view these characters as negative role models. Disney Princesses have always appeared in movies as young women who dress in elegant gowns, have sexy bodies and perfect hair. They are always paired with a prince who lives in a castle, meaning that he has a lot of money. This description of what the Disney Princess is like; give us a big concern in the influence this image is giving to the little girls. Unfortunately, what girls learn as children carries on into adulthood.

    Read More

  • Cultural Differences In 'Ashenputtel'

    969 Words  | 4 Pages

    While reading and watching films of different cultural Fairy Tales, you notice that in every Cinderella Tale there is a girl who is tired of living a life where they just want to be better. Also from all the different versions of Cinderella stories, all of them are surrounded by jealousy, hate, and negative vibes. However, there are cultural differences that are expressed in each of the different versions of these Fairy Tales. In my paper I am going to express these differences, the two versions that I’ll be talking about is “Aschenputtel” which is the Germany version, and a modern version “Maid in Manhattan”. My goal in this essay is to compare the historical context between the two, and also the cultural differences that is shown while reading

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Princess And The Frog

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie “The Princess and the Frog” is not your typical “boy saves girl” movie. Instead, this Disney movie presents us with a strong female lead who doesn’t need a man to achieve her goals. In many previous Disney movies, it is demonstrated that a girl needs a man in order to get her happily ever after. Without a prince, she is nothing. In “The Princess and the Frog” the gender roles are presented to us as equal, even reverse at times.

    Read More

  • Sharon Lamb's Version Of Girlhood Analysis

    1606 Words  | 7 Pages

    Introduction: A New Age of Disney Females? 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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of What's Wrong With Cinderella

    1343 Words  | 6 Pages

    From its onset with its first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Disney has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon today. But over the years, various parent groups, scholars and film critics have accused Disney for creating shallow, stereotypical princesses whose ultimate aim was to find her 'prince charming ' and live happily ever after. In her article, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” in the New York Times, Peggy Orenstein expresses her concern over the effect of princess figures like Cinderella on young girls ' perceptions of themselves and how they should behave (“What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”).

    Read More

  • Paper Bag Princess Stereotypes

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    Princesses’ in Disney movies are tied down to a recurring theme: the princess that must be saved from the evil woman by the charming prince. A significant contrast to the usually weak and easily persuaded figure of the father. Even though the women are portrayed as weak, nobody stops to think how strong they have to be to carry the responsibility of an entire household on her shoulder, while the men always seem to be traveling or ill. Fairytales are based on a patriarchal way of thinking and as time passes by, it’s proven to be detrimental to society Women and men are constantly being bound to a series of stereotypes.

    Read More

  • The Little Mermaid Gender Stereotypes

    1690 Words  | 7 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Marxism In The Little Mermaid

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    Numerous schools of criticisms have attempted to find the meaning behind most of our favorite childhood stories. From Marxist who pursue the idea of social classes portrayed in literary works, to Psychoanalysts who depict the sexual tensions and desires that are subconsciously embedded behind characters’ motives and actions, to Historicists who try to show the preservation of tradition in stories, many different concepts exist for each fairy tale. The Feminist school of criticism greatly focuses on unveiling the patriarchal system and sexist roles that are displayed in stories, and more specifically, fairytales. Four versions of the well-known fairytale of The Little Mermaid will be compared and discussed while focusing on many distinctive

    Read More

  • Disney Princess Stereotypes

    1330 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Cinderella And Shrek Gender Analysis

    642 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cinderella is also portrayed as a young woman suffering silently, without taking any action and waiting for her Prince Charming to rescue her from her horrible life. This is as much a fairy tale convention as it is a gender expectation for women to be beautiful and silent. However, this wasn’t as much as a gender expectation in the 1800s as it is today. Cinderella’s father does not appear to be home as much as the stepmother, and this illustrates the type of work and expectations for women’s and men’s jobs in the 1800s. The father is probably commuting to work, and this is evident through the fact that he never sees the cruelty experienced by Cinderella.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Cinderella's Identity In Different Social Classes

    865 Words  | 4 Pages

    With her beautiful dress, she received “a pair of glass slippers, the prettiest in the whole world.” At the ball, no one is aware of Cinderella’s true identity. Despite that, the King’s son falls in love with her and she gets a happily-ever-after. Due to the different social classes Cinderella portrays to be, she is treated differently

    Read More

  • Fairy Godmother's Dress

    1465 Words  | 6 Pages

    Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away from many towns, villages and other kingdoms, a beautiful baby girl was born into a wealthy family. Her name was Cinderella and she had beautiful, luscious hair, and a smile that could make any gloomy day sunny again. She was loved endlessly by all creatures, big and small. Her life was literally the definition of perfection. She received everything she desired in life, whether or not her parents approved of it or how expensive it was.

    Read More

More about Gender Roles In Disney Princesses

Open Document