For this assignment, we were tasked with picking from any of the fairy tales that we’ve read for class. Unlike the Exploratory Essay, we will be arguing a position in this essay. Please use at least five sources to substantiate our claims. This paper is an opportunity for us to formulate our own questions and be critical of the topic, and we are required to state an opinion or take a side on an issue and explain your thoughts
Researched Critical Analysis :
The Disney Princess movies are some of the most famous movies of all time. Almost everyone has heard of them, or at least the stories of each of the girls. But are they actually good role models?
Little kids love to dress up as princesses and can even have Disney Princess themed birthday parties. But over time, a lot of speculation has arisen about whether the Disney Princesses are good role models for young children. Their stories often emphasize patriarchal values that society is hoping to move away from. Because so many children look up to Disney Princesses, it is important for people to begin recognizing how there are a lot of underlying ideals that the movies encourage and how the Disney princesses are actually terrible role model for the young generation.
In the book “The complete fairy tales Perrault, Charles, 1628-1703, author.” “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods” Aurora is the Sleeping Beauty of the title, and she comes across as one of the most passive of the princesses. She has surprisingly little screen time in her movie considering she is the title character, and a significant chunk of the film has her in a cursed coma. Interestingly, she has no lines both shortly before and entirely after she falls victim to the sleeping curse. While she is on-screen, Aurora is the standard beautiful 16-year-old girl who sings with her animal friends and dances barefoot through the forest. She also bursts into tears upon learning from her fairy caretakers that she will not be able to see the boy she knew for ten minutes because she is actually a princess and already betrothed. Incidentally, the boy she met turns out to be the man she’s betrothed to, so that is a very useful coincidence. From the article “From the Sleeping Princess to the World-Saving Daughter of the Chief: Examining Young Children’s Perceptions of ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Disney Princess Characters by Benjamin Hine” it states “Aurora falls under Davis (2006) ‘Classic Years Women’ categorization, with female characters of this era predominantly typified by passivity. This is exemplified through a plot which places Aurora at the whim of actions taken beyond her control, including by Prince Philip, who rescues Aurora with a kiss after she falls into a deathly sleep. Aurora’s inaction and nonparticipation forms part of a wider behavioral profile which is overwhelmingly feminine in nature (88% of behavior coded as feminine, England et al. 2011)”.
Scenarios from the stone text that directly supports my claim are : In page 43 of Things Walt Disney Never Told us by Kay Stones says that “Sleeping Beauty (AT 4-10) and Snow White (AT 709) are so passive that they have to be reawakened to life by a man” and In the same page he says “The passivity of these heroines is magnified by the fact that their stories jump from twenty percent in the original Grimm collection to as much as seventy-five percent in many children’s books.” In page 44 he also says “the Grimm heroines are, for the most part,uninspiring, those of Walt Disney seem barely alive.” The point “uninspiring” was made in this part and that supports my claim because in almost all of “inspiring” fairy tales the main characters have a pretty active trait that makes them “unique” or “inspirational” and there is nothing “inspiring” about sleeping for most of the story.The second point in the stone critical article that provides evidence to support the logic of my claim is : In page 44 he says “ the popularized heroines of the Grimms and Disney are not only passive and pretty, but also unusually patient, obedient, industrious, and quiet. A woman who failed to be any of these could not become a heroine.” In this quote he made the point “Quiet” which again supports my claim. Most fairy tale stories, the main characters are usually standing up to something or protesting against something. But being “Quiet” for most of the story you are not being the “Ideal” main character of a fairy tale. In fact, you are being unproductive and not using the gifts you were given.
From the CCNY library “Not simply a case of princely male genius and passive Cinderellas’ Jan Marsh on the Pre-Raphaelite women” and “From the Sleeping Princess to the World-Saving Daughter of the Chief: Examining Young Children’s Perceptions of ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Disney Princess Characters by Benjamin Hine” also supports my claim. The articles state “It is therefore assumed, at least by those praising the recent trend by Disney and others towards producing more androgynous media, that children would do so with newer princess characters, and that the resulting behavior would be a reflection of the more positive character profiles outlined above. Indeed, it seems the general assumption of parents, teachers, and society more broadly, is that with models more representative of the current socio-political landscape, children will no longer have to adapt the outdated narratives of passive, hapless, helpless princesses (Wohlwend 2009), but rather, utilize ready-made storylines representative of increasing female empowerment.” This suggests that viewing a more modern princess character is not enough to influence the conceptualizations of ‘princess’ that many young girls aspire to and hold dear, at least as evidenced in their play and conceptions of princesses. Another article also suggests that “When it came to writing, however, the book flowed easily, being one of those of which authors say ‘it wrote itself. This was due simply to viewing the materials through a new lens, revealing a different narrative to that of princely male genius and passive Cinderellas. Seen from the perspective and experience of the latter group, a much more interesting story will emerge” These sources support my claim that Disney princesses are quite literally the definition of passive and need to stand up and empower their feminine sides.
In one of the other secondary outside sources the writer straight up calls the Disney princesses “terrible” role models. In the article “Why Disney princesses are terrible role models by Syeda Afrin Tarannum” she states “Starting with the obsession with finding the apparent ‘true love’ to the expectation that a boy will swoop in and save the day, Disney’s got it all wrong with roles girls should expect men to play in their lives. Such depictions impose a wrong idea with impressionable girls that they need to be damsels in distress and wait for a knight in shining armor to fight the monster instead of putting on the armor themselves and fight it off. Not only that, they go far enough to show that women require men to achieve good things, for example, Jasmine was set to marry a suitor at the age of 16 if she were to make queen, as if her own merit and capabilities had no part to play whatsoever. One of the worst is the representation of the idea that a man will come into the princess’ life and all her hardships and problems will just vanish.” Moreover If not waiting for a prince to come save her with his boyish good looks, these princesses will literally fall back on anything that is absolutely absurd. They would rather cry out for help in the middle of a forest and sink to ground bawling their eyes out, leaving their fate to the obviously unreliable scope for magic and talking animals that pull unimaginable stunts, instead of actually making sound decisions and helping themselves. The list probably goes on, but this should be enough to explain why this isn’t the greatest takeaway for children who are more prone to replicating the observations they make through such movies.
In “Is ‘Disney Princess culture’ a bad influence on young girls? By Bazian” states some interesting facts about why Disney movies might be “Body Shaming” young girls. The article states “princess culture” could lead to body esteem issues in young girls, as Disney Princesses tend to be slim, pretty, and often with an improbably small waist. Researchers talked to both parents and children to assess what types of influences exposure to princess culture may have. They found a link between young girls watching more princess media, identifying with princesses, and playing with princess toys over a year, and higher levels of female gender stereotypical behavior. One of the ways this manifested was in a preference for playing with dolls and tea sets over action figures and tool sets. Despite media reports, princess exposure was not associated with poor body image in girls. But it did affect boys, who had higher self-esteem, as they apparently identified with the various dashing young male leads.It may be a good idea to show your daughters that there are alternative role models and other things they can aspire to – such as being a doctor, scientist, engineer, pilot or astronaut, to name a few” This study shows an association between young girls watching more princess media, identifying with princesses and playing with princess toys over a year, and higher levels of female gender-stereotypical behavior.
Overall, the disney princesses are certainly not playing as a “good” role model. They are mostly passive throughout the entire film expecting some prince charming to save the day and take them away on their magical horse and they live happily ever after which makes young generations think that they can also expect that someday their “Prince Charming” will come and that would be it. Which in my opinion, is absurd to think about. The young generations might influence them to think that life would be easy. Moreover, certain aspects of the Disney fairy tales also show the kids that their body is dysfunctional or abnormal which will harm their mental states as they grow. So, if you still think that these Disney idols are emblems of charm and womanhood, you’re sorely mistaken. They are flawed. And not flawed in the way that every woman is. They are seriously messed up. Their behavior is one-sided and it seems like they have some obvious problems. Now, you might think about that the next time before watching one of these movies.
Source List :
1. The Complete Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault
https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ZTAwMHhuYV9fMzAyMzc3X19BTg2?sid=6429327e-5bed-4fbb-b968-44e1684415ab@sessionmgr4007&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1
2. Things Walt Disney Never Told Us by Kay Stone
https://www.jstor.org/stable/539184?seq=1
3. CCNY Library Source 1 By Benjamin Hine
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/9/161/htm
4. CCNY Library Source 2 By Apollo
https://go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE|A607387797&v=2.1&it=
5. Why Disney Princesses Are Terrible Role Models By Syeda Afrin Tarannum
https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/life/news/why-disney-princesses-are-terrible-role-models-1691863
6. Is ‘Disney Princess culture’ a bad influence on young girls? By Bazian
https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/is-disney-princess-culture-a-bad-influence-on-young-girls/
Note* : It needs to be noted that these three films were very much a product of their time. All were adapted from very old fairy tales and were created in the years before the feminist movement of the 1960s. While they contain passive females that fulfill a number of old stereotypes, these movies and characters were highly successful when they were released. Also, they continue to make Disney a great deal of money in merchandise. While the girls themselves are rather flat and helpless, they still remain popular today because of the groundbreaking nature of their movies.
