This article was originally written for and published by The Red Elephant Foundation.
http://www.redelephantfoundation.org/2017/04/disneys-gender-portrayals.html
Disney’s animated princess films are perhaps one of the
first movies that a young child, born in the millennial generation, would
watch. I, myself, remember growing up with classics like Cinderella, Beauty and
the Beast, the Little Mermaid and Mulan. When I re-watched them as a teen, I
found myself completely horrified by the portrayal of young adult women and men.
I found myself really thinking about the stories and the ideas they project to
the viewers and I was left upset and appalled because the movies had been
ruined for me.
Snow White projected to viewers that being fair-skinned
makes you the most beautiful. Sleeping Beauty showed a prince falling in love
with a woman solely based on her looks (this is evidenced by the fact that he
kisses Aurora while she is in a ‘sleep-like-death’). In Cinderella, the prince
sets out to marry the woman whose foot fits into a dainty and delicate glass
heels because apparently, he can’t remember the personality or even the face of
the woman he danced all night with. Jasmine and other women in ‘Aladdin’
perpetuated the stereotype that brown-skinned women are feisty, animalistic and
sexual – a vast majority of the women were shown wearing racy clothes and
dancing seductively. These cases described send out a dangerous message to
young girls and boys watching: the message that a woman’s looks are her most
important asset and that physical appearance is the only thing a boy will look
for in a girl.
Another common character trope portrayed in many Disney films
is that a woman’s personality is binary. The heroine, often young/adolescent,
is frail, gentle, kind-hearted, beautiful, loved by all, extremely feminine,
domestic and sensitive. On the other end of the spectrum lie the villains:
middle-aged woman portrayed to be vile, cunning, wicked, ill-hearted,
unpleasant to look at and downright unlikeable. For example, Mother Gothel
(Rapunzel), Ursula (The Little Mermaid) and the wicked Queen (Snow White) all
fit into the aforementioned category. They have been called Disney's femme
fatales (powerful woman defined by their sexuality). The step-mother and
step-sisters from Cinderella are also significant examples that exist to act as
foils to the protagonist’s character. All of these ‘evil’ women serve the
purpose of making the innocent, naïve heroine look like a charming damsel in
distress – one who is perfect to be wooed and one who stands out amongst the
other gaudy women. They also make it seem like a woman is either ‘good’ or
‘bad’ and that there is no in between.
There are, however, two Disney princess stories, such as
Mulan and Pocahontas, that go against the traditional mold and portray the
female leads as independent women. Throughout the movie, Mulan is constantly
breaking stereotypes either by enlisting herself in her father’s place in the
army (albeit disguised as a man) or only considering marriage because it brings
honor to her family. The romance between Mulan, and her love interest, Li Shang
is placed on the backburner to emphasize her bravery and autonomy. One of Disney’s
native American characters, Pocahontas is displayed as a loyal, noble and
wise-beyond-her age woman. Loosely inspired by the historical figure,
Pocahontas has an integral role in preventing the war between the British and
native Americans by using her shamanic powers. Like Belle (from Beauty and the
Beast) and Mulan, Pocahontas does not believe that marriage is her eventual
fate, although she doesn’t reject it altogether.
Of course, progress cannot be made overnight. It is made
through long periods of evolutionary thinking and Disney has been somewhat
changing the cards on its table. Recent films released by Disney and its
subsidiary, Pixar, have been more diverse in terms of characters and
storylines. The films also see a departure in romantic plot-lines for the
heroines – instead giving the arcs of self-discovery and spirited passion. Brave
put a new and much needed spin on the classic princess story. Fans and
audiences were delighted to see that Disney’s idea of beauty (long, flowing
hair, doe-eyes, dazzling smile, hour-glass figure) had been given a make-over
and replaced with a more realistic image of a woman. Merida, Brave’s princess,
had messy and tangled curly, a freckled face devoid of makeup, a torn dress as
a result of days spent practicing archery, riding horses and climbing rocks.
Merida’s frame was gangly, awkward and everything a pre-teen and teen girl
embodies. On screen, she showed discomfort in being stuffed into a slimming
corset and curve-accentuating dress. Her gait was not ‘princess-like’ but very
comical and free. Furthermore, her goal was not to find a husband but rather to
find herself and mend her relationship with her mother. Merida was so widely
accepted by audiences (clearly showing that the 21st century viewers
demand something different from Disney’s long withstanding character
stereotypes) that a vastly popular petition caused the writers to revert back
to the version we see on screen, after a short stint in trying to ‘beautify’
Merida by making her adhere to the unrealistic body expectations that Disney is
known to promote. Disney’s most recent release Moana, is another proof that
when Disney breaks away from the status-quo, it receives acclaim from both
critics and viewers. Sporting a healthy
and lean figure (as opposed to hour-glass like curves), Moana disliked being
called a princess, never accepts the limits imposed upon her by her family and
also takes on Maui’s (the demigod) destiny of restoring the ‘Heart of the Sea’
into her own hands. Marriage or even relationships are never even mentioned in
this movie wherein the heroine gains confidence and spearheads battles against
her enemies most of all her self-doubt. Moana proved to be a very relevant and
necessary movie for Disney wherein a POC (person of colour) is given the leading
role and isn’t reduced to a sidekick.
The discussion surrounding Disney’s portrayal of gender
stereotypes would be incomplete without exploring the image of the various male
characters. Gaston (from Beauty and the Beast) is the typical ‘manly man’:
tall, white, burlesque, hairy and muscular, commanding the attention of all the
maidens in Belle’s village. Often, the main male characters are given small,
sometimes fat and witty comic-relief sidekicks (eg. Le Fou, Timon and Pumba)
who serve as foils to the masculinity of the ‘hero’. These sidekicks are given
‘feminine’ qualities like offering advice to the hero, motivating him are often
more sensitive and caring. In fact, most
Disney princess films portray the men as the ultimate ‘saviours’ (case in
point: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid). This perpetuates the
notion that women need to be saved and that men always need to save which is
harmful for both male and female characters. It also brings in the idea that
men are ‘superior’ to women because they possess a higher skill-set and have
qualities that women do not.
Ultimately, Disney’s long enduring legacy of princess films
have been showing various stereotypes that have only recently been broken. When
Disney can diversify their characters, storylines and themes, they produce
films that are not only open minded, but also progressive. The new wave of
Disney animated films gives modern-age audiences hope for a more widespread and
globalized approach to film making.
-V
* I am not rude. I am outspoken.
References:
1.
Gender & Pop Culture - Adrienne
Trier-Bieniek and Patricia Leavy (Eds.)
6.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moana_(2016_film)
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