The article “Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking Behind Female Independence” states that “female independence has traditionally been perceived as a menace for the order established by patriarchal society”.  This quote is a perfect representation of how women are perceived to live in a male dominated society.  The article examines the literature and movie of “Cinderella” to further conceptualize these stereotypes and how women who believe them are the “worst enemies to their own gender”.  This exemplifies that teaching young girls, through movies, to believe that they live in a patriarchal society makes changing the stereotype impossible.

The article “Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the Disney Heroine” uses the movies “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Pocahontas” to criticize women’s image of their selves.  This article looks at the evolution of the female roles in these movies; the progression of self-empowerment.

Below are two pictures of girls dressed as Princess Tiana (“Princess and the Frog”) and Cinderella:

Girls as Princess Tiana

                          

Girl as Cinderella 

The movie “The Princes and the Frog” displays more female independence than in the movie “Cinderella”, a princess whom is very reliant on her prince.  Girls who view themselves in the role of Princess Tiana are breaking away from the mold of male dependence that Cinderella creates.  These pictures help illustrate the progression of the female self that “Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the Disney Heroine” explores.

“Gender Roles in Disney Films: Analyzing Behaviors from Snow White to Simba” analyzes the “gendered world” the exists in some animated Disney movies.  This article in particular compares the differences between male and female characters.  The presence of a male comparison shows the gender stereotypes more readily than the other articles. 

“The Mask of Beauty: Masquerade Theory and Disney's Beauty and the Beast” is a detailed essay that presents the issue that Disney movies, “the Beauty and the Beast” in particular, mark certain patriarchal values.  Examples of this concealment include Belle being portrayed initially as a strong female character but her actions “reaffirm patriarchal code” by pursuing the Beast in a romantic relationship. 

These four articles, along with the pictures, depict the idea that certain Disney movies convey sexist lessons to young children.  An excellent link to a collection of Disney clips summarizing this phenomenon is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8O8p0Ac1Rg.  The compiled video uses a variety of clips and narration to convey the same points, such as hidden male dominance, as the articles listed above.  All in all, the articles, movie, and pictures paint a picture for you as the listener to how Disney fairytales corrupt the minds of young girls in today’s society.     

This blog explores the question of how has the progression of gender roles portrayed in Disney Fairytales over the past 60 years influenced the way adolescent girls view their future role in society.  This question needs to be addressed because movies such as “Snow White” and “Cinderella” seem to give the impression to little girls that to be a woman in society she must be dependent on her “Prince Charming”.  The question also raises the idea that over the years the princesses in the movies have grown.  This thought is seen more recently with movies such as “The Princess and the Frog”.  Throughout this blog gender roles in the various Disney Princess movies are examined.