During my past two years at Brock University I have come across the phrase, “can I be a Disney Princess already?” many times. Usually this would be said at times of stress when we all would rather be a “princess” and not have to go to school than deal with our responsibilities. During this day and age we often joke about wanting to be a princess, not taking into account that we are playing into societal roles. I don’t believe that we as young adults, take into account how Disney Princess movies influenced us and still do in children’s lives these days.
In my Child and Youth course I am taking, we discussed gender socialization. How we are born into this world having to learn the norms of society. This made me think about Disney princesses and how children internalize gender roles. If Disney was a big part of your childhood like it was mine, it implemented gender roles much more than you noticed at a young age. Growing up I have noticed the stereotypes portrayed in movies more and more but had never really realized the specifics until recently.
We notice a domestic trend in these Disney movies. This can be seen in the first Disney princess movie Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), when she comes to the Dwarfs house and sees a mess, her response is, “you’d think their mother would clean”, teaching that mothers are like “maids” of the house. In Cinderella (1950) when the fairy godmother shows up to get her ready for the ball, the male mice offer to help but the female mice are saying “ leave the sewing to the women”. In Mulan (1998), a soldier sings, “ I could care less what she’ll wear or what she looks like. It all depends on what she cooks like”. These movies are demonstrating “norms” that girls should retain domestic skills and that is how they play a role in society.
Other than the lifestyle that is portrayed for women, the physical image of women themselves seem to be embedded in girls minds that Disney Princesses are what every girl should look like. The long hair (with the exception of Snow White), the thin waste with a bustier chest, tall thing legs, and big eyes with the “perfect” bone structure. For me the appearance has not influenced myself to change my body to what society thinks how every girl should look like. Sadly there are some women who are influenced strongly by societal norms of how gender is defined and portrayed. Relating to Disney Princess movies, there is this one specific case that shocked me, her name is Sarah Ingle. Sarah seems to have the “princess look” already but she went and spent $14,000 on custom princess gowns making a career of dressing like a princess. She has all the wigs and she uses coloured contacts depending on the princess. Her goal is to one day be a “real princess”.
What I have discussed demonstrates how influential Disney is to girls. It implements stereotypes and gender norms into movies to persuade young girls to want to be something they are not. Sure it might be nice to not have responsibilities all the time but we need to understand the opportunity women have these days to prove their worth and have more than just a domestic role in life.
Although Disney Princess movies have the main audience of females, they portray the societal roles and stereotypes of men as well. They are demonstrating how men should know women’s place in society and what their place is as well. In Beauty and the Beast (1991), Gaston says to Belle “It’s about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things. Like me”. Demonstrating to both boys and girls that girls do not need an education and they just need to find a man to provide for them. Male main characters in these movies are the masculine “ pretty boy” princes who are to “rescue” the vulnerable princesses and then they live happily ever after. These movies portray the societal roles of how women need to find a man to rescue them and for the man to provide them with a better life.
As much as I love Disney, there is much controversy over the messages the Disney Princess movies give off. I think we have come a long way with gender equality and gender roles, but will society ever move away from the expected “gender norms” and stereotypes?
Gender Norms Portrayed in Disney Princess Movies 