In the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein, she discusses the idea that little girls think that in order to get their happily ever after, they must be a princess. They must be beautiful, they must love to wear pink, and most importantly they must win the love of a prince in order to achieve happiness. In an MSNBC article, Orenstein wrote, "What was the first thing that culture told her about being a girl? Not that she was competent, strong, creative, or smart but that every little girl wants — or should want — to be the Fairest of Them All."
Orentstein's research really spurred my interest and caught my attention. Did I subject myself to these ideals without even realizing it? It made me reflect on if this has in fact influenced the way we think. Older Disney movies like Cinderella cast her in a submissive, house maid role, until a man comes along and rescues her. I hoped that maybe this was because they were made in the 50s when society was still completely male dominated. However even "new-age" Disney movies like Mulan, which was created long after women's rights were established sends messages such as, "she is a woman, she will never be worth anything," and "you will teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man's presence."
Have we really made as many strides towards equality as we think we have? Are we setting little girls up to feel like they need to be submissive, housewives in order to be happy by submersing them in this culture? Or are there ways that we can fix this problem and still allow them to enjoy these classic films?
Kelsey R this a great post. I absolutely agree that little girls are being subjected to submissive roles in the Disney movies. I also was a little girl who dressed up as every Disney princess you could think of. Of course when I was a kid I did not think of the shows as exposing me to the thought that I should be submissive to men and have maid like qualities. I did not realize the bad things in Disney until I was well over the age of watching them. O do feel that Disney should make better movies in the future that do not support degrading things for women. I believe that this is becoming a issue that is getting more popular by the decade. I just hope all little girls can have a great childhood as I did with Disney movies and all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post completely. Disney movies give false hope in young girls lives. It makes them think that everything will always turn out perfect. For example, Cinderella had a sad life, but then suddenly she found a man and everything was all better. It makes young girls think that if she has a man in her life, that she will be happy. It makes them think that they cannot be happy on their own, they they need someone to help them with it. I think that Disney movies are entertaining and fun to watch for young girls, but there is a line which gets crossed when the movie affects people lives and puts false ideas in young girls head.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. This class has made me think a lot more about the messages in children's books and movies, especially the Disney classics because I like you also grew up loving those movies. i think Mulan is a great example as well. The fact that they sort of tried to make a women-can-do-the-same-as-men would be a step in the right direction except for the fact that they incorporated still traditional men putting women down stereotypes. Why can't she just be a badass?
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think about how most girls do subject themselves to falling under the influence of wishing to become a princess just like in the Disney movies. This made me think about why we all want this life where we sit and wait for a man to come and rescue us. There is so much more woman can do in the world besides look beautiful and wait for a man. I think movies for young girls should focus more on allowing girls to achieve dreams with out a man and letting young girls know that they can do anything.
ReplyDeleteFor the record I am a guy. I stumbled across this post via an inquisitive probe on opinions. I found it rather worrying that the "princess" mentality is running strong in Disney Films (I mean even take "Tangled" in 2010). I believe that they protray both genders in this way such that it reciprocates. For example, consider the "prince"; why is it that the prince must subject themselves to a particular etiquette towards a feminine character? Why can't they treat the opposite gender in an indiscriminatory way? Why is it that a feminine gender must be a "gentle flower" that is as if objectified for a person to just take? It seems that it is either politically incorrect or disallowed by society for a feminine person to be aggressive or assert leadership. It is as if drilling into the youth that if you are a feminine soul, you must be shallow and concentrate on skin deep beauty so that you can "live happily ever after" with some male. I mean is it not possible to make a female protaganist that doesn't fall in love with some male by putting herself on a pedestal? I feel that DC Comics somewhat acheives that (although it has a lot of other flaws) in characters like Wonder Woman. Perhaps Disney should follow and break from this mentality...
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