The video, “ Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Movies” identifies gender themes that run through popular Disney films, specifically highlighting how gender is portrayed in Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), Peter Pan (1953), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and the Lion King (1994). These films are a part of popular culture that spans 75 years and for many children in western societies these films provided the soundtrack to their childhood.
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was Disney’s “first full length animated feature” (http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/history.html) film it was released in 1937, only 17 years after women gained the right to vote in America (19th Amendment to the US Constitution). This is an era when men and women were expected to fulfill certain gender specific roles. Women were caregivers and men were providers. Even up to the end of the 1960s it would have been revolutionary for Disney to deconstruct traditional gender roles in their movies.
Many people (Ford, 2010; Lily, 2010; Maher, 2011) claim that Disney movies perpetuate gender misrepresentations, inequity and sexism. While it is clear that Disney movies prior to Mulan (1998) typified stereotyped gender role, it could be argued that they simply mirrored societies gender expectations (Welsh, 2011). Disney is a multi-million dollar, multinational company that wants to make a profit by appealing to a family based audience. They are not trying to redefine gender and sexuality they are merely creating characters that the audience can relate to. Perhaps society was not ready for more “masculine” princesses until the late 90s. It is important to look back on these movies with an open-mind. When being viewed in today’s context with a set of criteria that relates to societies expectations today Disney movies (prior to the end of the 1990s) appear overtly sexist, highlighting gender misrepresentations. Would they have been viewed this way in 1937? or 1953?
- What the Kids are Watching: Disney's Gender Portrayal
- Disney's Gendered Characters and the Impact on our Children
- Sexist Portrayal of Women in Disney Movies
- Woman, Race and Culture in Disney Films
References:
Disney, The Walt Disney Studios History: http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/history.html
Zack Ford (2010), What Disney Taugh me About Gender, Zack Ford Blog: http://zackfordblogs.com/2010/05/what-disney-taught-me-about-gender-roles/
Zelda Lily (2010), Disney Princesses Play into Gender Sterotypes, Set Bad Examples for Girls, Feminism in a Bra: http://zeldalily.com/index.php/2010/05/disney-princesses-play-into-gender-stereotypes-set-bad-examples-for-little-girls/
Bill Maher(2011), How Disney Teaches Gender Roles, Marinagraphy: http://marinagraphy.com/disney-teaches-gender-roles/
Jennifer Welsh (2011), Disney Princes and princesses still slaves to some stereotypes, Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/13526-disney-princes-pink-princess-culture-stereotypes.html
Hey Taryn
ReplyDeleteI found this article about the beast that is Disney during my travels. Some interesting points about the extension of the screen model to consumer markets. Children are the target and big business like Disney are making millions.
http://www.infowars.com/how-disney-magic-and-the-corporate-media-shape-youth-identity-in-the-digital-age/
Happy reading! Shelley
I have mused a little further over the gender stereotypes in Disney movies and as a youngster raised on books- and Disney flicks I must admit that I bring a very different perspective to the reading of them now than I did when I was young.
ReplyDeleteI was never a girly girl and the idea of the prince kissing the princess made me squirm (boy germs) however I could always relate to the nice gesture of the story itself. I never once thought about the way that girls were portrayed- and as a child I did not question what I saw.
When I first encountered gender representations in fairytales it was through a deconstruction of Little Red Riding Hood in my first year of university. The brutal deconstruction that ensued still evokes powerful imagery that I wish I could erase! It was only as an adult that I questioned any inequities in the movies on which I was raised. This brings me to the point you make in your final sentence about viewing Disney in context. I agree- we need to contextualise film in the same way we do any kind of text- through the discussion of discourse and social norms at the time. From this we can move forward to look at how things have changed and why. Imagine studying the development of Disney films through a socio-historical lense- what would the 21st Century Princess look like?
Sorry should have mentioned that post above was from me! SB (Shelley)
ReplyDeleteIt might also be of interest to this group to see whether TV, especially for children and youth, can any longer be considered as discrete from the newer media. The cross-licensing of Disney productions and products provides a good example of this in action.
ReplyDeleteDo I sense a tinge of media panic here? Hindsight media panic, at that! The Disney movies of the 1930s to 1960s must be taken in context of the times. There was no TV and most times a child’s
ReplyDeleteviewing of these movies would be at a cinema in company with an adult so there was no saturation by Disney through film. There could have been some reinforcement of any perceived stereotyping with the Disney story books but combined with other popular books of the time such as those by Enid Blyton, this would have been somewhat diluted. Blyton’s books had courageous girls always on some escapade at boarding school or exotic locations as smuggler’s caves and isolated islands.
Exam results, while good, are not the most important things at Malory Towers, Miss Grayling explains. Instead, the school wants to turn out 'good strong women the world can lean on'. These are the Malory Towers 'successes'. 1
Are there other values being presented in the Disney movies that have more influence on the young minds then gender stereotyping? Do they have a strong slant towards good over evil? What values are presented? Even the words of Snow White’s song say, “and cheerfully together we can tidy up the place”. Is that a touch of harmony and collaboration I hear in those words? And whistling while she does her menial tasks! What, no whingeing? Are the viewing children going to pick up on this? I can only hope so. Although there is some violence in the Disney productions, physical domestic violence is not promoted. Females who are set upon by dominant males often win out by using what could be called “feminine wiles or cunning” and mental agility making up for their physical weakness e.g. in Aladdin.
Then, as now, there were many influences in a child’s life - parents, peers, school teachers, their sporting and cultural experiences and more - that they were exposed to, and all of these would have some influence in their perceptions of gender. The social and economic conditions of any period have affected the roles males and females have. The misrepresentation, inequity and sexism accusation comes from hindsight in a new set of social and economic conditions. There may be some truth in it but let us not ban or berate the Disney movies because of it. Encourage a broad range of activities for our young generations and the study of literacies, including media literacy, and they will cope with any gender misrepresentation that may be present.
http://www.enidblyton.net/malory-towers/first-term-at-malory-towers.html retrieved 16/10/2011
Posted by Cecily 16/10/2011