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Princess Archetypes Research Paper

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Are Princesses Really Fit to Lead? When someone was a child, it is most likely that they watched a princess movie or a fantasy movie and wanted to be like them or even imitate them.The princess fantasy is one of the most common and pervasive archetypes in popular culture and can be traced to ancient literary and oral mythological traditions. The fairytale genre of fiction that emerged in Europe and North America in the seventeenth century continues to influence depictions of both male and female characters. The princess remains one of the most common depictions of women in fantasy, and elements of this archetype influence the way that “non-princess” women are depicted in film and literature (Isitt, “Princesses”). However some critics believe …show more content…

Although these characters are just fiction, children are still able see them and learn from them. Young girls especially begin to wonder why they do not have a tiny enough waist like Ariel or why they do not have the ideal face of a princess. These princesses may look really adorable but little do people know that girls are judging themselves because they do not fit the ideal princess archetype. “Villains all have one common feature- obesity. They are all overweight, with double chins and over-exaggerated curves. This is because such representations have taught us to see obesity and anything that is essentially not a size zero figure as an unpleasant element, which is far from the truth” (Laha). To Disney, not having a perfect body shape, being a little overweight, and even being obese is considered a bad thing. Usually when someone sees a villain in a princess movie they are ugly or obese and that should not be acceptable. Children are being taught at a young age that people are “bad” if they do not ideally look like the princesses from the movies. Young girls should be taught that every body shape is beautiful no matter if it is not considered beautiful to

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Gill disagrees “About 20% of the reviews studied focus solely on the heroines’ appearances rather than their personalities and do so in a way that is more demeaning than complimentary” (Gill 763). The author also emphasizes how Disney movies like to show that the women always end up needing a prince to “save them” and depend on. The article also goes in to detail on how movies stereotype each princess to look perfect, portray innocence and have the same main goal; finding their prince charming. (Gill) states, “By subtly influencing society’s view of Disney princess in a way that implies they are stereotypically feminine, these media weaken the perception of the princesses’ strengths and focus instead on traits such as beauty and domesticity” (Gill

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The minds of children are like sponges, absorbing everything they hear, touch, and see. They are consciously taught ideas in school and participate in subconscious learning of moral behaviors and attitudes outside of the classroom. Disney is undeniably a large part of most children’s subconscious learning. Regardless of the movie, children are internalizing stereotypes of what princesses and princes do and what they look like. Before 2009, the stereotypical princess was a character being of lighter skin, dependent on men, and being of privileged descent.

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From its onset with its first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Disney has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon today. But over the years, various parent groups, scholars and film critics have accused Disney for creating shallow, stereotypical princesses whose ultimate aim was to find her 'prince charming ' and live happily ever after. In her article, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” in the New York Times, Peggy Orenstein expresses her concern over the effect of princess figures like Cinderella on young girls ' perceptions of themselves and how they should behave (“What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”).

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Logos creates a sense of urgency in the reader’s head that they need to monitor their child’s behavior. One of the credible sources Hanes uses is from a University of Central Florida poll, which found that, “50 percent of 3-6 year old girls worry they’re fat” (*). Hanes argues this statistic could be stemmed from the Disney Princesses image. The princesses have a particular shape and size that has created a standard for body image. The author uses these facts to show her audience that if parents continue to allow their children to view these images, their child will desire to be just like the Disney Princesses.

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The audiences choose some of those characters as role models. Hercules is very great looking and for an average person in order to get a body like him takes years of training, healthy eating and strict diet. As children see him, they want to be like him and that leads them to not eating properly or try lifting heavy objects in order for that to happen which is very dangerous for their health. On the other hand there is Megara, beautiful women with very thin body and she looks flawless doing about anything while average girls don’t even look that skinny or flawless doing anything, “many Disney princess films portray various stereotypical images, they can be detrimental to a young girl’s development of a positive self-image despite the various positive messages and life lessons the films often convey” (Bispo, N.D, page 2). Disney with the way it shows female, male characters bring many young people’s self esteem down.

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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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I am interested in how Walt Disney Company’s princess movies have evolved over time to influence and reflect societal images of women. How do these movies impact the way society shapes the idea of a woman? For example, movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella reflect the 1930s through 1950s stereotype of women, which was to cook, clean, and be a housewife for their husbands. Over the years, the princesses in the movies have become more heroic, independent, and do not fit the stereotype of previous generations of women. How do these princesses reflect what was going on in society at the time these movies were released?

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Even the lives of great heroes did not have a fairy tale. Queens, kings, princesses, and powerful leaders seemed to have it all, but, in fact, they did not not. Queen Elizabeth is one who was a great leader, but she went through a lot. Jess was also leader in the book, Cinderella Society. She lead others, as well as herself, to greatness; this is similar to Queen Elizabeth’s life.

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In her essay, “Representation of Disney princesses in the media”, Isabelle further infers that the media misrepresents Disney princesses by failing to celebrate their feminine and masculine qualities.

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For starters, children are impressionable. The little details of a character’s physique has set an unspoken criteria of what is beautiful. Many try to resemble and embolize their favorite character. On the other hand, these role models do not look relatable. For instance,

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The Disney movie Little Mermaid is an unsuitable movie for the children due to its negative gender representation which overemphasizes physical appearance and stereotypical gender roles through the characters in the film. In the Disney film Little Mermaid, they over-emphasize physical appearance and stereotypical gender roles throughout the movie, which causes negative effects on children for it could discourage them their own self-image, on how they look and may despise their body appearance. Throughout the film, the vast majority of the human-like characters were depicted stereotypically. Many of

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Therefore, Princess movies have a habit of displaying sexism that affects our thinking on how women are stereotypically perceived. This sends the wrong message to young girls who look up

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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).

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While many young girls love the princesses and look up to them, others view these characters as negative role models. Disney Princesses have always appeared in movies as young women who dress in elegant gowns, have sexy bodies and perfect hair. They are always paired with a prince who lives in a castle, meaning that he has a lot of money. This description of what the Disney Princess is like; give us a big concern in the influence this image is giving to the little girls. Unfortunately, what girls learn as children carries on into adulthood.

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In the article, “ Little Girls or Little women? The Disney Princess Effect,” author Stephanie Hanes educates the reader on the increasing sexualization of our younger generation of girls. Her organizational method of the article provides an easy and personal, yet factual explanation for her audience through her use of combining the appeals of ethos, pathos and logos. Hanes applies ethos by referencing different sources and statistics throughout her article, creating a sense of credibility to the reader. She makes it clear right off the bat that she is well informed on what she’s writing about by including an easy-to-read bullet point list of facts.

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