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Sharon Lamb's Version Of Girlhood Analysis

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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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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.

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Ariel is the only reoccurring female character, as most of the animals and people featured in the human kingdom are male, sharing the same male dominated ideals. The Little Mermaid was even accused of portraying penile imagery on its videocassette cover, which Disney later defended as simply a “castle,” although its “phallic-shaped center spire” makes this unbelievable (Schweitzer and Schweitzer 143) Most of all The Little Mermaid exhibits many examples of female objectification and themes of misogyny, versus the hegemonic male characters, that force inflicting control of sexism over the women, while belittling their self-worth and social relevance. They are constantly victimized or portrayed as victims and imposed upon by

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The Rejected Think back to the list of women that are taught in the public school system; it is not a long or diverse list of individuals. This is part of the Jason Porath’s idea behind Rejected Princesses, to expand the list. Telling stories of women too awesome, awful, or offbeat for kids’ movies. During his lecture, Jason Porath uses these women’s stories to explain the current status of the movie industry, as well as just to tell these crazy, amazing stories of these women’s lives.

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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

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Provided that, this film caters to the ideal western image of beauty. Ariel along with her sisters are presented having very slim hourglass figures. These characters conform to the ideologies of beauty also by having doe-eyes, a button nose, big smiles, symmetrical faces and luscious long, voluminous hair. All essential features that can be described as “beautiful” by society’s gender norms. Ariel’s sisters are also portrayed in the beginning of the film as high maintenance gals, since they are applying makeup to always look appealing.

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In conclusion, Disney character’s roles are based of their good looks and muscularity. Disney heroes/heroines use their charisma skills and charms to get what they want. Disney’s body image helps reduce its audience’s self-esteem. Disney uses muscularity and looks for the hero/heroine of their movies.

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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.

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Section I — Of Vanity and Reflection In Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Allegory of Prudence, the viewer is presented with a young woman who gazes at a mirror. The painting conveys a moment of prolonged reflection and self-evaluation that encourages the viewer to pause, if only briefly, and utilize a moment of reflection in art to turn the viewing inward upon the self. Prudence’s moment of prolonged reflection is created by line, compounded by the color and lighting of the painting, and reinforced by the interactions of shape that emphasizes focus on the mirror. The painting utilizes the interaction of line, color, and scale to display the subject’s moment of reflection, but also to question the fine line between self-reflection and vanity.

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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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People of all ages throughout the years are very familiar with the concept of Disney movies. Some notable classics of Disney are “Beauty and the Beast” which was released in 1991 and “The Little Mermaid” which was released in 1989. Among the children, the Disney princesses left a good impression on them like Cinderella from “Cinderella”, Pocahontas from “Pocahontas”, and Mulan from “Mulan”. However, many believe that Disney movies serve as a good influence to young audiences but people should know that Disney also has its flaws. Disney have showed negative portrayals of Disney princesses in their films especially when it comes to their usual unattainable beauty ideal and portraying their princesses as inferior to men.

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Walt Disney has been making girls think that in order to be beautiful you have to be the perfect shape and size. (Shortridge). Some people believe that the Disney Princesses are great role models for children because Mulan teaches us to never give up on the strengths we have just because we are girls, Belle teaches us to never judge a book by its cover, and Pocahontas shows us real princesses are strong leaders. On the other hand, some individuals feel that Disney Princesses are bad role models because of their unrealistic body appearance, telling girls every marriage ends with a happily ever after when you get married at a young age, and saying every girl needs a man in order to be happy. Both sides have valid points but in reality everyone

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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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The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

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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.

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Over generations, the Disney Princess has seemed to evolve in a way, but yet holds true to old, classic traditions and ideas that have been around since these stories came about. There are three major eras of Disney princesses: The first era includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty; the second era includes The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan; and the most current era includes The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave, and Frozen. Between these three eras, parents, children, and almost anyone who has seen a few Disney movies can see that the character has evolved from the traditional, ancient-themed scenario to a more modern one that fits in a little better with society in

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