Racial Stereotypes In Disney Movies

While watching Disney movies, do we stop and think about what is really being portrayed in these movies? Do we know what our kids are being taught by these “entertaining, inspirational” movies that has the entire world in its grasp? Growing up, Disney was a big part of my life. They make up my childhood and happy memories. I watched Cinderella almost day, admiring her golden hair, and sea blue eyes, wishing that someday I can transform into a princess and be swept up by a prince. Aladdin was an exciting movie with great, catchy songs that I remember dancing to and singing along with. I recall clearly wanting to be a mermaid because of Ariel, and having Rapunzel's long, beautiful blonde hair, and talking to wild animals. But now I realize that

According to Oxford Dictionary, a stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” In Disney movies, there are generalizations of how girls and boys should act and how certain groups of people act; these are the gender and racial stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are beliefs that both men and women should act a certain way and conform to society, and racial stereotypes is the belief that one ethnic race or group is bad or barbaric. Disney produced movies about Native Americans, Arabs, Asians, and colored people to add diversity to their movies, but have racist undertones. Gender roles also play a huge part in Disney movies and in almost all of the movies, men are portrayed as strong and dominant while women are subservient and

They portray gender roles in many of the movies which skews with children’s perception of themselves. In some ways, I agree with people who argue that Disney movies are just for entertainment and a break from reality for children to believe what they want and have fun. Disney movies can be enjoyable to watch and especially for children, it sparks their imagination and teaches them some good life lessons. All of these movies teach us to be respectful, kind, brave, independent, reach for the stars and never give up. However, these same people fail to acknowledge the harm of Disney movies and the negative impact they have on young kids. According to a research conducted by Montana State University, Disney teaches children of the “right and only way to live by enforcing gender roles, race, and social classes. If children don't look or live like those they see on the screen, they often see something wrong with themselves and develop self-esteem issues.” This is very true for children and teenagers in this generation have self esteem and body image issues. Society and the media condition them to think and live a certain way, and if they don’t look skinny, pretty, or masculine, they will doubt their self esteem and change themselves to fit in. It’s hard to accept oneself with all these movies teaching us how to act and look. One gender stereotype is evident in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow white is