Importance of Princess Figures Isabelle Gill published an article title, “Representation of Disney Princesses in Media.” The main idea in this text it that there is a bias representation of women in many forms in the media. The article refers to how in movies and media women are shown as beautiful and how domesticated they are. This limits women to only being valued for their physical appearance and the contributions they make in the home.
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.
Is this a fair picture of how women are or should be? How does it differ from “normalized” views of women? Does it differ from other Disney interpretations of women? (1 – 1.5 pages minimum; value 20) Intertextuality Intertextuality is the way in which texts refer to other media texts that producers assume audiences will recognize.
However, the later Disney films have gradually attempted to break away from this stereotype resulting in stronger female characters like Ariel, Mulan, and Elsa among others. Keeping this transition in mind, this paper uses semiotic analysis of four popular Disney films, namely, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Little Mermaid (1989) and Mulan (1998) to depict the influence of societies ' changing perceptions of women on the portrayal of Disney princesses. These films taking into account the earliest film and certain popular characters that have represented a shift from being the coy damsel in distress to a woman who plays an active role in determining her own destiny. The portrayal of the Disney princess has changed in accordance with the development of women in society over time (1937 to 2013) from demure and traditional to
Animated films are products of frame by frame photograph of individual drawings, painting, or illustrations and Disney is one of the companies known to produce a number of top grossing animated films. It has been entertaining families and has become a household name. However, this multi billion company whose movies are known by children worldwide is claimed to have been distorting the young impressionable minds as they continue to produce princesses movies which reinforce negative stereotypes of women and men (Ewert). In response to these setbacks committed as critiqued by feminists, Disney has been making modifications to women’s representation starting with Mulan in 1990s down to the contemporary ones.
The thought of a princess being swept off her feet and carried into her future has been modified in this current Disney hit. Not only had the villainous Maleficent taken the role of the hero and saved Aurora, but her debut had dragged along the possibilities for all Disney females, both hero and villain, to have a higher potential in their own realm. Another example would include Merida’s dauntless taste for freedom in Brave, Mulan’s fearless passion to fight for what she believed in as seen in Mulan, and even Elsa’s dream to “let it go” as presented in Frozen. The idea of a strong female character blew up the box office, and soon found its way into television, as seen in Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe, where a race consisted only of feminine beings were the only characters going into battle. Each of these major motion pictures prove a fictional hero’s role is not limited by their gender.
Ebi Hegeman Ms. Coen English 10 May 19, 2023 Perpetuation of Gender Roles in A Raisin In The Sun A study from the University of Maine defines gender roles as “society's beliefs about differences between the sexes” and “roles that men and women are expected to occupy based on their sex” (Blackstone). Women worldwide attempt to break these standards, with often to no avail. These stereotypes were incredibly adverse in the early 20th century. In the play by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, the characters Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha all attempt to fight domestic roles with gender-defying jobs, possible abortions, and leading the family’s decisions, however, they all eventually perpetuate the idea as they yield to men in their lives, ultimately
In today's society, the issue of gender roles has always been divisive and is still a source of contention for many. Remarks made about women in the media and even in person have always presented difficulties for women. Isabelle Gill writes about the prejudice that women still experience today and how it affects how princesses are perceived. Her article's goal was to highlight the distinctions between men and women in Disney tales. Isabelle talks about how princesses in movies receive unfair criticism and why they should be given more credit.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about making hard decisions and doing what is right in life. This novella is about two guys who are friends jumping from town to town trying to find work and get money. They find a ranch and along with it a fair bit of trouble that they have to sort through. Lennie, a mentally challenged guy, gets in a lot of trouble when he kills the ranch owner's son's wife. Although gender plays a role in the American Dream not being available, race and adversity are what genuinely make it unattainable for some.
The Little Mermaid which was produced in 1989, was the first Disney movie to challenge the traditional gender roles, for the fact that Ariel wanted to explore, and was more independent and assertive in her desires than the earlier princesses of the 1930’s and 50s films. Also the prince in The Little Mermaid went against traditional gender roles as well, simply because he was more affectionate and loving than his prince counterparts in other Disney films. “Both the male and female roles have changed over time, but overall the male characters evinced less change then the female characters and were more androgynous throughout.” (Descartes & England, pg.566). Disney movies have been for a long time a strong media target for children, and can serve as a way to address stereotypical gender roles (Leaper, 2000).
As feminism and gender equality are becoming more important to society, the way gender roles are depicted in literature and media are shifting to conform to society’s views. This usage of gender roles can be seen in two popular contemporary animated movies: Frozen and Spirited Away. Both of these films are geared for younger audiences and attempt to teach important life lessons, like friendship and growing up. Through closer examination of how each film portrays gender, however, Frozen appears to not be as egalitarian as many have come to believe. Comparing both films, Frozen is not very feminist as it continues to perpetuate traditional gender roles and fairytale tropes, such as love at first sight and damsels in distress, whereas Spirited
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.
Gender roles have been noticeable in Disney films especially the Disney Princess series. Women are typically portrayed as a princess, homemaker, or queen while men are portrayed as strong, dominant and authority characters. The portrayal of the prince or knights in the movies usually highlighted with the strong and powerful characteristic, whereas the Disney princesses are weak, vulnerable and being protected. According to Tiffany, gender stereotypes and behaviours illustrations are very common in Disney culture and their depictions have become sophisticated over the years especially those of female characters.
Gender roles play an important role in A Raisin in the Sun. During the time A Raisin in the Sun was written the idea of set in stone positions in a household and society were common. Women were supposed to do house jobs, keep their mouths shut, and support their husbands’ decisions and men were seen as the headman or boss. A Raisin in the Sun shows readers a window into the world where those gender roles have a twist on them. Women in the time of A Raisin in the Sun were supposed to be subservient to men.
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.
