The fascination with Disney films has taken over society more so than ever. We have all grown up thinking that Disney films are great for children providing them with wholesome, reliable and fair messages. However, it has been proven to be quite the opposite. Disney sends its viewers messages of gender identity, violence and negative stereotypes that stay with children as their minds are being shaped and values and morals are being created. Children are constantly surrounded by the Disney franchise not only in film but in everyday life. From toys and clothing to school supplies Disney has taken over and corrupted our society today. I will be exploring the negative stereotypes and ideas embedded into Disney's animated films. I will be looking at films such as Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast and more.
Damsel-in-Distress:
We see in almost every Disney movie, a princess needing to be saved by the handsome strong prince. When you look at the movie Snow White, she is a helpless princess waiting to be saved by her Prince Charming (McCormick 2012). When we teach young girls that women need to be saved by men, it creates a stereotype of women being weak and subsequent women are compared to men.
Body Image:
Every Disney Princess has certain requirements as far as their "look". If you take any of the Princesses, all of them have perfect hair and makeup (that does not change in any scenario), unrealistically thin waists, and large breasts. This idea of women is so unrealistic and false it creates a false idea of what women should look like. With a heavy focus on the body rather than the mind or substance of character is puts women's looks at a greater importance than the mind. It has been seemingly proven that Disney continuously represents the stereotypical women time and time again (Zipes 2008).
One stereotype that has followed women for some time is that looks are more important than the mind. One example is in The Little Mermaid. Princess Ariel trades her voice for legs to walk on land. Because of this she is forced to use her body to make Prince Eric fall in love with her. This again creates a negative image for women showing young children that body image is more important than anything else.
Happy Home-Maker-in-Waiting:
The portrayal of the heroine in Disney films has been reduced to little. The hero in all Disney films seemingly is a strong male lead role whereas the women are happy home-makers-in-waiting (Wohwlend 2009). Cinderella is a great example of the happy home-maker-in-waiting example. Forced to be a servant in her own home, she sneaks out to go to the royal ball where she meets the prince and loses her glass slipper. She longs for his arrival day in and day out just waiting for him to find her to marry.
Not only does it not make sense that the glass slipper would only fit on one foot it is a ridiculous concept that Cinderella would wait for Prince Charming to find her to marry after meeting one time. It presents women in a negative light, creating the stereotype that all women are waiting for a prince to come find her
Violence:
There is always a demonizing factor in all of the Disney films. An average of 74% of Disney films contains verbal references towards demonizing or violet characters. Of that, there was an average of 5.6 references during each film. Beauty and the Beast is one of the top 3 Disney films presenting violence to children (Fouts, Callan, Piasenten, Lawson, 2006). In the film, we continuously see Beast acting violently towards Belle, yet the she looks beyond that and falls in love with him. It sends the message to young children, especially girls, that it is okay to be in violent relationships as long as he is handsome.
Lack of Mother:
In many of the Disney films, it is clear there is no mother in the picture. The mother is typically either killed or dies from a sickness. More often than not the mother will be present in a scene of two however shortly after that it is just the father and daughter in the picture. The mother is only present in the film to give birth to the narrative. At that point, Disney views it as she serves no purpose and benefit to the film so she will be removed. (Byrne, McQuillan 1999).
The Value of Imagination:
Disney warps the ideas of imagination and creativity. It seems as if the female leads are only strong and powerful in their imaginations. Without the use of imagination, they are poor young women who seem to be helpless. Disney in a sense implants guilt and fear into the minds of children's growing and developing minds and imagination (Ross 2004). It is just another way that Disney is attempting to remain in control over society.
When you look at almost any Disney movie, the imagination is the strongest part of the female role. But when you look at them in real life as Disney portrays, they are sad, helpless women. The Walt Disney Company is trying to limit children's imaginations in order to gain control and power, which they have done for many years.
The Little Mermaid is a good example of Disney discouraging, creativity and imagination. When King Triton finds Princess Ariel using different objects, creating new names for them and using her imagination he immediately destroys all of it and is very angry with her.
The Walt Disney Company is a large aspect of the media today. For numerous years, Disney has been creating films directed towards young children. Though Disney's animated films have changed since the time I was a child, they still have a long way to go.
Works Cited:
Bryne, E., & McQuillan, M. (1999). Library Home | Ezproxy Login. Retrieved December 1, 2015,
Fouts, G., Callan, M., Piasenten, K., & Lawson, A. (2006, September 1). Demonizing in Children's Television Cartoons and Disney Animated Films. Retrieved December 1, 2015
McCormick, P. (2012, September 1). The do-it-all Damsel. Retrieved December 1, 2015
Ross, D. (2004). Escape from Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
Wohwlend, K. (2009, March 1). Main content area Damsels in Discourse: Girls Consuming and Producing Identity Texts Through Disney Princess Play. Retrieved December 1, 2015
Zipes, J. (2008). Good Girls and Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation. Retrieved December 1
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