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Portrayal of transgender in media
Disney Gender: feminine, masculine, LGBTQIA
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Portrayal of transgender in media
Disney Gender: feminine, masculine, LGBTQIA
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Rhetorical Analysis Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and many other Disney movies all have one thing in common, they feature a female lead who need a male figure to save them. However, things started to change after the release of Mulan 1988. It changed from only having those female leads who always needed to rely on someone, to females who were able to show off their more masculine side. In the article “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Pixar/Disney,” Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden explored the idea that Pixar movies were starting to show male characters who weren 't afraid to show their emotions and feminine attributes, to promote the “New Man” model.
I want to begin with the myth, “Coming Out Today Is Easier Than Ever”, and how it ties into misconceptions of transwomen, such as, "Once a boy", "Use to be a boy" touted in headlines and articles as the universal ideology of being transgender. In Emylia N. Terry’s thesis paper, “An Exclusionary Revolution: Marginalization and Representation of Trans Women in Print Media (1969-1979)”, she writes that; “ excluding marginalized trans women and writing about trans women in a hostile or sensationalistic way arguably leads to the dehumanization of trans people, or the invisibilization of voices from the historical record, which has contemporary consequences”. (Terry, 2014) The telling of other people’s histories and stories in a sensational and
The Little Mermaid: Hegemonic Femininity The transition from a girl to a woman is created by the socially constructed ideals of femininity often depicted in commercials, books, and mainly films. One of the famous animated princess Disney films, The Little Mermaid can be easily added to yet another Disney film portraying hegemonic femininity. In the 1989 film The Little Mermaid, (Ron Clements, John Musker) a beautiful, young mermaid is willing to make a risky deal with an evil sea-witch because she yearns to walk on land and fall in love with a Prince, while secretly the sea-witch wishes for the mermaid to lose the deal. Ultimately, mermaid ends up achieving her dream of marrying the Prince, although the evil sea-witch tries to destroy the plan.
Across the world, little girls and little boys are being raised on gendered norms that determine how they will behave for the rest of their lives. Exposure to various types of media during their formative years instruct children on how they should look, feel, and behave. Consequently, adult women strive to emulate the fantasies they were exposed to through the Disney Princess films they were raised on. Disney Princesses offer a mold for what a successful woman looks like in terms of size, color, and physical sexuality. In modern society, countless marginalized groups are seeking equal representation in the media to accurately reflect how diverse the world truly is.
The earliest forms of traditional drag were practiced and seen as lighthearted amusement in the late 19th century and the early 20th century through entertainment and performance. Drag during this period was utilized as a creative release for self- expression and a way to make a societal statement. But in society’s perspective, a drag queen couldn 't be distinguished from a transgender individual and cross-dressing and being homosexual are intolerable behaviors during the 20th century therefore society immediately branded drag queens as transgender individuals. But drag queens had the vivacious sprits and the desire for the right of self-expression in any way, shape or form. Drag queens became the mockingjay for pariahs.
Media’s influence on society and perpetuation of different ideologies has been a highly debated issue especially in this time of accelerated technological advancement where media surrounds us. One of the most quickly popularized forms of media is the video game industry that provides audience an interactive option of entertainment. Disney’s Pixar realized how popular and powerful this industry was and integrated it into their 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph. This type of media cross over leaves itself open to interpretation from many different angles because it involves ideologies from both cultures.
Disney Company is notoriously known for making revolutionary cartoon movies that always gets the kid’s attention and win their hearts. The vast majority of their movie are targeting kids, kids under the age of 15, who are unbeknownst to the hidden messages about the movie(s) they’re watching. For example, The Disney film Sleeping Beauty, the main character Aurora was cursed to be sleeping forever by an evil witch. And Prince Phillip is bound to kiss her for a “true love’s kiss” and wakes up. It is pretty evident at the ending that the prince kissed Aurora without consent and she had no idea that it was going to happen for she was asleep.
Disney movies can teach you some really valuable life lessons. Snow White: Beauty is the most important part of your identity, women are good at housework, the only way you can solve your problems is for a man, or 7 to save you. Cinderella: The only way out of your horrible living situation is for an overly wealthy man to come and save you. The Little Mermaid:A man will not like you unless you are pretty and quiet, and it is crucial that he likes you because he will be replacing your culture, way of life, and everyone you've ever known or loved.
Amanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay.
Upon examining representations of femininity of Disney characters, it is evident there is a stark focus on the dichotomy of good girls and bad women. In other words, their behavioral characteristics and prevailing climactic outcomes in the films, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, reinforce the idea that claiming agency and independence, is not only associated with evil but also posits a representation of femininity that women are discouraged from emulating. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an influential purveyor of gendered images and this is observed through the charming heroine who fulfills the rewards of marriage as the happiest of endings juxtaposed with the villainous queen who is left without reward and encounters her ultimate
Within the scope of this discussion, different dimensions of “queer” are presented as emulated by villains. “Queer” can be described as an umbrella term used for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual nor cisgender. Correspondingly, Disney cinema villains obliterate all established notions of gender and sexuality, especially heterosexual norms. Through this frame, Disney cinema villains such as Ursula, Maleficent, and Elsa may be read as queer-coded in contrast with the relatively more heteronormative heroes. Queer-coding is essentially understood as fictional characters, who have not been revealed as queer, but are given traits or are being read as non-heteronormative, because of the style, behavior, gestures or overall appearance.
Transgender is the term used to describe an individual whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. The documentary, “Growing up Trans”, is a sensitive clip to watch about young youths who attempt to navigate family, friends, gender, and the medical decisions they face at puberty. “Growing up Trans” focuses mainly on transitioned young youths. The transgender youth from the documentary links to many theories from chapter eight. Theories such as socialization, gender, sexuality, homophobia, transphobia, and microaggression are associated with “Growing up Trans”.
Dinseyfication is sanitizing reality for children, and Disney is well known for being notorious at romanticizing the hush world to suit the minds of children. Though this method of storytelling is flawed and often used negatively, it is still an effective way of visually narrating a story. This essay will prove that as an animator, artist or character developer you rely of stereotypes to help make your characters more appealing and also to make the story believable. This will be achieved through identifying and critically analysing race, sexuality and gender stereotypes in the movie Beauty and the Beast by Disney.
3.3 Aladdin “Aladdin“ is a relatively old Disney movie, released 1992, which won several Academy Awards and broke grossing records of its days. The animated feature is about a street-urchin called Aladdin, who falls in love with the princess Jasmine as she escapes the palace and meets him at the marketplace. However, the evil vizier Jafar finds out Aladdin is the “diamond in the rough“, the only one that can get into the cave, where the miracle lamp is, that he so desperately wants. So Aladdin is arrested and tricked into getting the lamp for Jafar, but eventually catches it himself.
Whether she is singing "Part of Your World" from within a cavern filled with knick-knacks or watching longingly as her sisters partake in the wonders of age old traditions on the surface, the Little Mermaid is a fairytale character which countless children have enjoyed encountering throughout the nearly two centuries that she has existed. In the time between The Little Mermaid 's conception and the present, this tale about a young sea-princess longing for a life out of the ocean has been adapted into multiple stories, plays, musicals, and films; yet, with each adaptation comes a different set of artistic liberties taken by the creators which meld the mermaid into a form which vastly contrasts with the original text. The original Little Mermaid