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Aladdin Princess Jasmine Gender Roles

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Many Disney Princesses are portrayed as strong-headed women in male-dominated societies. In Disney’s Aladdin, Princess Jasmine appears to be no different, as she very openly rejects her role as a woman and as a princess. She despises the way that men treat her, and she desires to be more like a commoner so she can have more freedom. However, looking at the film through both a gender and a class lens, there are several examples where she relies on these very roles that she fights against because she doesn’t know how else to survive. Jasmine is the only female lead in the movie, and she very much dislikes the role of women in Agrabah. The kingdom’s social structure is clearly defined as a patriarchy by the way that Jasmine is treated by her …show more content…

Unlike most other Disney characters who wish to increase their class status, Jasmine wishes to move to a lower class. As royalty, she feels trapped by the palace walls, she’s being forced to get married, and she feels as though her life is being controlled by those around her. Envious of the freedom that she thinks commoners have, Jasmine dresses in rags and runs away, hoping to free herself from her duties as a princess. Unfortunately, having never left the palace and having grown up with the privileges of the upper class, Jasmine has a naivety around the life of those with lower status that almost costs her dearly. While in the market, she sees a hungry child and hands him an apple, unaware that as a commoner, she must pay for it. The man selling them angrily demands that she pay and she replies, “Pay? I’m sorry sir, I don’t have any money. Please, if you let me go to the palace I can get some from the Sultan.” She thinks she would rather live outside the palace, and yet immediately relies on her family’s money to survive. Additionally, when Aladdin is arrested, she reveals that she is the princess in attempt to free him, “Unhand him, by order of the Princess...do as I command, release him!”. Even though she wishes that she could be free from her obligations as princess, she doesn’t know any different and ultimately relies on her royal status to

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