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Gender As Reflected In The Film The Little Mermaid

958 Words4 Pages

Media does not capture the world the way it is, but rather tends to emphasise and support the values and ideas of those who create the message they want people to hear. These are often changed because of commercial considerations and advertising, which plays a large part in media. This results in the perspective of some to be ignored or showed in negative ways. Ideas and representations about gender have been influenced by the media. In media such as advertisements, newspapers, magazines, popular music, films, and video games, women and girls are more likely to be shown in homes, doing domestic chores (e.g. laundry, cooking, ironing, vacuuming, etc.). In many movies and series, women are often victims who cannot protect themselves, or are given the roles of being harassed, sexually assaulted and murdered. They are portrayed solely as homemakers, dependent on men, or as objects of male attention. On the other …show more content…

In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel starts out as a brave, curious, and adventurous young mermaid. She explores the sea with her friends and saves Flounder and Prince Eric from drowning. Once she develops a crush on Prince Eric and is briefly transformed into a human, however, she becomes quiet and reserved, spending most of her time obsessively admiring the prince. Prince Eric, of course, loves this version of Ariel. She then goes on to trade her voice with the evil sea-witch in exchange for human legs. Ultimately, Ariel is with the prince, but this was at the expense of leaving her friends, family and world behind. This may not have seemed obvious while watching the movie, but Ariel had changed her entire personality to be with Eric. She used to have a passion for exploring the ocean for human culture, and swam to many places far from her home. This all changed after she met Eric, and her curiosity became nothing else but to seek a kiss from the

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