Disney Princesses: Role Model Of Little Girls

Disney has been known for their theme parks and in producing movies and shows. They became famous starting from their first cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, and their lists of cartoons started to expand from then on. Disney started to have their own princesses which are looked up to by many young audiences and they somehow became the role model of little girls. This paper will discuss how far Disney Princesses have come in terms of gender politics and female empowerment, from princesses who are ‘damsels in distress’ to princesses who are capable of defending their selves.

Renzetti said that, “Media content mirrors the behaviors and relationships, and values and norms most prevalent or dominant in a society” (1992, p. 107). Media use subjects

They are the princesses who are most influenced by the patriarchal society. Their only dream is meeting the prince who is their true love. Steinkellner (2014) pointed out that these princesses were passive and the princes are the ones active in the story. Men are the ones who make the story move forward (Mulvey, 1975 & Steinkellner, 2014). Without the princes, the story would not progress and the princesses would have no purpose and no dream. In the latter part of their stories, Snow White and Aurora both fell into a deep sleep only to be awakened by a true love’s kiss that came from their princes and Cinderella was found by her prince through the glass slipper she left at the ball. They were all illustrated as the girls who were ‘damsel in distress’ and in need of a prince charming to save them. They were all saved by their prince, Snow White and Aurora from their death and Cinderella from her evil stepmother and

According to Whitbourne (2014), a study by England et al.’s (2011) showed that the first three princesses were “affectionate, helpful, troublesome, fearful, tentative and ‘pretty’”. Whitborne (2014) said that, “As they [England et al.] expected, the earlier films were far more likely to reinforce the traditional male-female distinctions in gender roles.” Women in a patriarchal culture are the ones responsible in doing the household chores and also in taking care of the children. According to Baron-Cohen (2004, p. 93), ”Women are also more “communal” (more selfless, more concerned for others)”. This can be illustrated by the princesses who are shown to be cleaning the house for their family or friends like Snow White, and Cinderella. In addition to that, almost all of the princesses have animals as friends which show how they care for