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Disney Gender Roles

683 Words3 Pages

Deconstructing Gender Portrayals in Fairy Tales
In the essay of Grace DuGar, 'Passive and Active Masculinities in Disney's Fairy Tale Films' discussed how Disney fairy tale portrays masculinity as 'an object of female agency'. On contrary of what critics said on the negative portrayal of fairy tales to women, in her study reveals how masculinities in Disney's versions actually portrayed them inconsistently. First, she raised the argument that princes play small roles. Since Disney films featured the journey of the heroine, the prince was seen only as 'an accessory to the plot' as what also Zipes claimed (4). She argues how with misogyny of Disney is the misandry that accompanies it. Using the princes in classic fairy tale films, DuGar exposed …show more content…

Contrary to the Victoriean gender ideals of men, which is authoritative and independent, Disney presented the princes as passive and easily manipulated. The prince is ' either strapping young heroes, who are as one-dimensional as they are interchangeable' (9) which makes the prince lacks personality. The prince embodies the archetype of trophy-male: 'They are beautiful props— desirable to the princesses because of what they are, not who they are' (10). Here, it shows how men are also objectified, just like how beauty for princesses are a must. The trophy-male offered two things: social security and physical beauty (12). This gave the impression that the importance of wealth and beauty is more valuable than the personality, authority and individuality. Disney also shows the blurring of male authority in the fairy tale as the princes have little heroic acts. Snow White's prince used just a kiss to wake her. Prince Charming ordered his servants to find Cinderella, Prince Eric was saved by Ariel and Prince Philip was helped by the magical power of the fairies. It contradicts the notion that men are independent. DuGar presented the concept of the …show more content…

Cinderella reflected the image of subordination but it also explored the sense of dignity and realization (147). In this essay, Al-Barazenji discussed the polemic voices of women through the good and bad images in fairy tales. The struggles of Cinderella manifested through her silence. The transformation of her clothes from the torn dress to a magnificent sapphire ballroom dress depicted her realization of her dreams and hopes. The role stepmother in the tale acts as the contrast of another image of woman who made women realized and gave chance for the women to express their identity. On the other hand, Cinderella was seen as hoping for a man to rescue her. This gives the false image of independence: depending to the prince to swept them off their feet. Exploring the polar opposite of women is the wickedness of witches. They are represented as evil, ugly and ambitious. Evil witches that used magic to express their power and authority, even to men. Thus, ' The witch’s recognition of her power and voice confidently leads to improve her representation from marginalization to centralization as a triumphant feminist. By using various sorts of evil, witches used their magical power

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Analysis Of Jack Zipes Breaking The Disney Spell

682 Words | 3 Pages

In “Donkeyskin,” Charles Perrault tells the story of a princess whose mother passed away wishing the king to only marry someone who is smarter and more beautiful than she is. The king wish to marry his own daughter so she ran away with the lavish gowns and donkey skin he had given her. In Jack Zipes “Breaking The Disney Spell,” he argues that Disney appropriates the fairy tales and injects his “all-American” morals and values into them. By putting his idealistic vision into films for everyone, Zipe claims that Disney insults the historical integrity of the folklore tradition, deceiving audiences with an illusion of happy fairy tales. Like Zipes, who argues that fairy tales validates the social norms and power structures, Charles Perrault’s Donkeyskin shows that the value of women is their beauty and for them wait for the male to make the first move.

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"Little Briar Rose," a famous fairy tale collected by the Grimm brothers, can be reconstructed through the lens of feminist literary theory to investigate and challenge established gender roles and expectations. This analysis looks at how femininity is portrayed in the story, the function of agency and power in the story, and the possibility of subversion and empowerment for female characters. Gender stereotypes that get developed in typical fairy tales should be questioned and challenged, according to feminist literary theory. In the beginning, "Little Briar Rose" portrays Briar Rose as a weak female character who suffers from the curse of sleep. She represents the stereotype of a defenceless princess in need of rescue with no visible effort.

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In their essay “Post-Princess Models of Gender” Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, both professors at Missouri State University, uses their research from their book Pixar’s Boy Stories: Masculinity in a Postmodern Age to argue that Disney/Pixar is creating a new version of the traditional alpha male, one that’s less masculine. Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden claim that Disney/Pixar depicts a male character as one that is dependent upon a female or in some cases another male; they believe that the traditional male model is no longer macho but more feminine. While the issue of the emasculation of male characters is undoubtedly important, one can only imagine the impact that it will have on our young boys. Today’s Disney/Pixar movies cause our

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Princesses’ in Disney movies are tied down to a recurring theme: the princess that must be saved from the evil woman by the charming prince. A significant contrast to the usually weak and easily persuaded figure of the father. Even though the women are portrayed as weak, nobody stops to think how strong they have to be to carry the responsibility of an entire household on her shoulder, while the men always seem to be traveling or ill. Fairytales are based on a patriarchal way of thinking and as time passes by, it’s proven to be detrimental to society Women and men are constantly being bound to a series of stereotypes.

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922 Words | 4 Pages

Thereafter, Panttaja explains in-depth about how Cinderella is not truly motherless, while describing what in the fairy tale represents Cinderella’s mother. Shortly after, Panttaja compares the mother and the stepmother of Cinderella, believing that both of the mothers have the same attitude to help their daughters achieve their goals (288). Next, Panttaja questions the morals of Cinderella by explaining magic being the theme of the fairy tale instead of the “alleged theme of romance.” In conclusion, Panttaja used multiple examples, including fairy tales and mythology, to explain how the main character, in this case Cinderella, uses power and manipulation to succeed in the goals they’re for

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What's Wrong With Cinderella Summary

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In “What's Wrong with Cinderella?”, Peggy Orenstein retaliates against the princess culture that bombards her daughter's life. Princesses, it seems, dominate the market for toys to young girls due to their inexplicable appeal to being pretty, pink and - as most girls see - perfect. As a feminist mother, Orenstein feels the need to rebel against this not-so-sudden craze that attracts her daughter's attention. The author assumes that the subliminal messages presented to her daughter's developing mind aren't beneficial to her future expectations in life. Because of this, she critiques the faults of princesshood in order to demonstrate the possible detrimental impacts that the princess culture may have on a young girl.

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597 Words | 3 Pages

The movie “The Princess and the Frog” is not your typical “boy saves girl” movie. Instead, this Disney movie presents us with a strong female lead who doesn’t need a man to achieve her goals. In many previous Disney movies, it is demonstrated that a girl needs a man in order to get her happily ever after. Without a prince, she is nothing. In “The Princess and the Frog” the gender roles are presented to us as equal, even reverse at times.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

Positive interpretations of the story focus on the idea of love conquering all and the idea of a rags-to-riches story. These interpretations celebrate the idea of a woman finding happiness and success despite facing adversity. However, feminist interpretations of the story question the patriarchal nature of the story and challenge the traditional gender roles that the story reinforces. These feminist interpretations offer alternative perspectives on gender roles and seek to break down harmful gendered expectations. Anne Sexton's "Cinderella" is a modern interpretation of the Cinderella myth that explores the theme of sexual abuse.

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Gender Stereotypes In Disney's Cinderella

1880 Words | 8 Pages

Margarita Carretero and Maria Elena Rodriguez state in their article: “Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking Behind Female Independence” that “fairy tales are probably the narratives which better express classic conflicts between women” (202). Reiterating that first notion of physical attractiveness being a girl’s most promising asset to secure a marriage, and as a result, a position, the fact that a marriage prospect often plants the seed of jealousy among women in fairy tales comes as no surprise at all (Carretero and Rodriguez 203). For instance, in “Cinderella,” the wicked stepsisters, clearly jealous of the maiden’s superior beauty, strip her of her pretty clothes, dress her in rags, and force her to do the housework (Lieberman qtd. Grimm 392). Disney’s Cinderella also has quite a similar jarring scene in which the stepsisters rip off the dress from Cinderella’s body in order to impede her going to the ball.

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1436 Words | 6 Pages

She is forced to marry Aladdin, a commoner, against her will and is used as a tool for Aladdin’s advancement. The story reinforces that women object to being won and used

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1276 Words | 6 Pages

Most of the children read about many fairy tales, especially Snow Whites, Sleeping beauty, and Cinderella when they grew up. It is a surprising fact that to discover a hidden, unexpected political intention in the simple plot of fairy tales. That is a feminization of woman. The fairy tale world suggests a male-centered patriarchy as an ideal basic society and impliedly imply that man and woman need to have a proper attitude toward this opinion. However, Jewett’s A White Heron describes a new perspective of fairy tale’s plot.

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881 Words | 4 Pages

Numerous schools of criticisms have attempted to find the meaning behind most of our favorite childhood stories. From Marxist who pursue the idea of social classes portrayed in literary works, to Psychoanalysts who depict the sexual tensions and desires that are subconsciously embedded behind characters’ motives and actions, to Historicists who try to show the preservation of tradition in stories, many different concepts exist for each fairy tale. The Feminist school of criticism greatly focuses on unveiling the patriarchal system and sexist roles that are displayed in stories, and more specifically, fairytales. Four versions of the well-known fairytale of The Little Mermaid will be compared and discussed while focusing on many distinctive

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743 Words | 3 Pages

There are two different versions of “Cinderella”; there is a Walt Disney version and another version by Anne Sexton. Both of these versions are the same, but they are told to the reader differently. In both versions of the story, the authors describe a girl who was enslaved by her evil stepmother and her step sisters, who has shown jealousy towards her. However, the most important part, about the two versions of the “Cinderella” story told by Disney and Sexton is that both have different elements that are comparable and contrasting. The elements that compare and contrast both versions of the story are the plot, characters, characterization, and conflict.

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