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Sharon Lamb's Version Of Girlhood Analysis

1606 Words7 Pages

Introduction: A New Age of Disney Females? Most women and girls you may know in developed countries have an idea of who their favourite Disney Princess is. A question may arise out of this cultural notion: What effect has Disney’s Princesses and other Disney’s animated female icons had on women and girls over the years, in terms of their identity? Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown discuss this question in their 2008 paper Disney’s Version of Girlhood. However, more Disney Princesses and Female Icon’s (FI’s) have emerged and touched little girl’s hearts since then. My goal is to take the following female Disney characters and see how they were portrayed, and cross-examine them with the categories made in Lamb and Brown’s article. The following …show more content…

The categories used in their paper will be used in this one, comparing to all the afore mentioned Disney FI’s and where they fit shall be discussed. The first trope laid out by Lamb and Brown is “Disney girls are women with Barbie doll bodies” (336). Out of the FI’s I’ve mentioned above, it is split in regards to their size in appearance, which is a welcome surprise. Tiana, Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa fit the classic Disney size of a synched waist. In contrast though, Merida, Moana and Riley, as well as her emotion Sadness, have varied body types. It would seem slight, but the difference is nonetheless noticeable. Merida and Moana are still fit, but they are clearly not an extra-small, as the legacy of Disney FI’s before …show more content…

“Disney girls can’t resist a mirror” says Lamb & Brown (336). Though each recent, positive Disney FI may be seen observing themselves, it should be noted that it never seems to be out of vanity. If any of these characters happen to catch a glimpse of their reflection, it acts as more of a moment for these girls, an opportunity for self-realization. Tiana may wonder if she will ever be the woman she aspires to be in her career, and another mirror shot serves as a revelation of her form change into a frog. Whenever Rapunzel glances in the mirror, she is either faced with the possibility of her identity being something else (secretly a Princess as she reveals herself wearing a crown). In contrast, Mother Gothel the evil witch, can be seen obsessed with her looks and “unresisting” of a mirror, which contributes to a new Disney ideology: “being obsessed with appearances is bad.” This may be a progressive development, but it may also be a form of shaming the girl who enjoys looking her best. Merida’s imperfectly perfect curls are uncontrollable, a fine allusion to her personality. When she mirror gazes at herself, after being stuffed into a dress that she can hardly breath

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