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Shannon Horan 11/9/15

Essay #2 Revision Pennesi

“Beneath the smiles, flowers and singing woodland creatures of the classic Disney oeuvre

from our youth lies a host of stereotypes that shaped our generation” states editor, Michelle

Juergen (9 harmful stereotypes). Young females grow up learning to look and act like a princess.

How do such young girls know what qualities even make them a “princess”? Disney Pixar films

have engraved the image of a perfect female woman into the brains of our youth. Society today

needs to be more conscious of the level of harm these categorizations induce on children. Ken

Gilliam and Shannon R. Wooden highlight large stereotypes most viewers never noticed when

watching Disney Pixar movies. With the help of Mahzarin R. Benaji and Anthony G. Greenwald

and their piece, “On Stereotypes”, readers are able to understand where changes need to be

made.

Gillam and Wooden reference several stereotypical Disney Pixar movies throughout their

essay, “Post Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/ Pixar”, that promote the

dominance of men in a male, female relationship. Their main focus is on how male characters are

portrayed as heroic models while female characters are repeatedly damsels in distress. Beginning

with the movie Cars, the two analyze the main character, Lightning McQueen’s name, insisting

that he actually is “Lighting the Queen” (Gillam 470). This would not be of importance if his

rival was not named “Chick” Hicks, indicating acceptance with more “feminine” aspects (Gillam

470). With this comes a plethora of stereotypes. Another example the two give is, Beauty and the

Beast, as the petite Belle interacts with a large and aggressive beast. Most men in these Disney

films are two dimensional, with both a kind and powerful side. With this example, Gaston is the
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caring personality, while the beast is the aggressive personality. The female role on the other

hand, has one personality and one appearance. Belle is thin, beautiful, kind, and obedient

throughout the entire movie (Gillam 471). In both of these examples, the male figure is both

handsome and strong. It does not stop there. Gillam and Wooden give another example using the

film, The Incredibles. During this movie, Mr. Incredible confines his family to a bus, informing

Elastigirl that “he works alone” (Gillam 479). The whole point Gillam and Wooden are getting

at, is in majority of Disney movies, the females characters are pushed to the side while the men

“get the work done”. This leaves females believing that they are helpless, but in reality, females

do more than their share to take care of men.

This common theme of male dominance is present throughout all the Disney princess

movies as well. Disney princess movies basically inform young girls that in order to be loved,

they must be gorgeous on the outside, change their personality, and be weaker than the prince.

For starters, Cinderella’s prince falls for her outward beauty having no indication of her

personality traits, leaving viewers with the idea that attractiveness leads to happiness (9 harmful

stereotypes). Ariel on the other hand, changes her entire personality in order to please Prince

Eric. At the beginning of the movie, she is a brave, curious, independent mermaid. However, by

the end of the story she gave up all that she knew. She became a submissive young woman, who

walked around on feet, following at Prince Eric’s beck and call (9 harmful stereotypes). The

male characters are saving the female characters in almost all Disney movies. Juergen states, “In

Tangled, Rapunzel is saved from a life of sequestered boredom by a charming bandit; Ariel is

saved by Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid; Aurora is saved by Prince Phillip in Sleeping

Beauty; Wendy and her brothers are saved from growing up in Peter Pan; Snow White is saved

by a nameless prince” (9 harmful stereotypes). Each of these stories reiterates to women that they
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should sit around waiting to be rescued by their prince. The life lessons that are being taught to

the young girls today through these Disney films are not only sexist but unrealistic.

Generation after generation is poorly affected by these “ideal princess traits”. Dating

back fifteen years ago to my toddler years, I was Miss Princess twenty four-seven. No one ever

classified me as a “girly-girl”, however, when it came to dress up, I always went straight for the

tiara. There was something about the way the gems sparkled in the light that made me feel of

more importance. The extra half inch in plastic heels made me feel above those around me.

Lastly, that poofy princess gown, made me feel more beautiful. These by no means, are

acceptable ways to compare yourself to others. However, in the mind of three year old, there is

nothing wrong with seeming prettier and more worshipped. In later years, once my brothers were

born, I took the princess look to a whole new level, but not for me. I attempted multiple times to

dress my two younger brothers up in tiaras and dresses. I tried to change them from male to

female, in order for three princesses to live in the Horan household. However, my dress was

always the fanciest, and my heels were always the tallest, believing that those were the

accessories I needed to be beautiful. The disney princesses invaded my mind as a child and are

taking over the minds still of children today.

There was a news story released recently regarding the negative outcomes these Disney

stereotypes have on the younger generations. The story was of a young girl refusing the

nickname of “Princess”. The little girl’s name is JoJo. A video was recorded of her calmly

explaining to her father that she is not a princess. Her reasoning behind it, is that she does not

have a crown or sparkly bracelets. She also tells her father she does not have a “dress-up dress”,

making her unworthy of the princess title (Little Girl Explains). JoJo is stealing the hearts of

many with her rationality. She believes that in order to be labeled a princess, she must look like
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one. I believe this directly correlates to the Disney Princess movies. For example, Cinderella was

not considered a princess until she was bippity bobbity boo’ed. Due to films like this, girls like

JoJo all over the world may feel that they are not acceptable the way they are.

Theses categorizations are easily recognized in society as damaging. After analyzing the

various Disney movies, Benaji and Greenwald’s, “On Stereotypes” gives readers insight on the

formation of these labels. The truly relatable example is of the anonymous American lottery

winner. My imagined person was just as Binaji and Greenwald expected, white, male, and adult.

During class discussion many of us also agreed that the anonymous lottery winner was white,

male, and adult, in addition to being American. Benaji and Greenwald describe these

characteristics as default values (617). The reason most people believe the anonymous lottery

winner to have these characteristics is because the white male adult is who we see, hear, and read

about in newspapers, on the radio, and on television most frequently (Benaji 617). It is not any

different with the Disney Princesses. The default characteristics are thin, white, and beautiful (9

harmful stereotypes). These are the basic traits used to classify all people and objects. Labels are

simply something our brains are wired to do in order to make decisions. However, in the case of

Disney movies, these labels do have a negative effect on female viewers.

With stereotypes playing such a big role in society today, we need to attempt to be more

conscious of the judgements we are making. As far as Disney Pixar goes, the company has made

strides toward eliminating stereotypes in their movies. For example, in the recent “Frozen”, Ana

is more capable of taking care of herself, while Prince Hans, is a little less macho and a little

more clumsy. It is definitely hard to please everyone when creating a film, however, making the

characters roles equal is possible.

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Works Cited

"9 Harmful Stereotypes We Never Realized Our Favorite Disney Movies Taught Us."

Mic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

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"Little Girl Explains Why She's Not a Princess, Dad Doesn't Get It." Shine. N.p., 14 Sept.

2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.

Benaji, Mahzarin R., and Anthony G. Greenwald. "On Stereotypes." From Inquiry to

Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. By Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Web.

Gillam, Ken, and Shannon R. Wooden. "Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man

in Disney/Pixar." From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. By Stuart Greene and

April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. N. pag. Web.