Disney Princess and Feminism - Coursework Example

Disney Princess and Feminism The Walt Disney Company is the undisputed leader in the children’s entertainment industry at present. Disney’s animated heroines were introduced in the 1930s when silver screen started to catch the attention of the people all over the world. The first full length animated film of Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 and it was a big success. Since then, Disney has started to introduce many animated films, targeting the children. The major character of Disney’s animated films were females who were dressed up in good appearance. Even though the primary target of Disney was children, people of all age ranges started to love Disney’s animated films because of the beauty and aesthetic appearance of Disney’s heroines. Young girls were the major admirers of Disney’s animated films since the major character in these films were beautiful young girls. For example, in the animated films, Sleeping beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Pocahontas, Disney was able to portray young female heroines in the lead roles (Yzaguirre). In most of these films, the dreams of some lovely princess come true at the end of the film. While studying the character and appearances of Walt Disney’s heroines from 1937 to present, one can easily understand that the heroines of present are drastically different from the heroines of 1930s and 40s. In other words, Disney has made many changes while creating lead characters for his animated films for the viewers of the modern era. Many people believe that the influence of growing technology as well as the changing life principles has affected the creation of Disney heroines of the recent past. There are many controversies regarding the portrayal of Disney’s heroines at the moment. Even though Disney’s heroines in the past were constructed mainly for entertainment, many people of the modern era believe that Disney has some hidden agenda while creating the heroines in the recent past. It is believed that Disney wants to spread feminist principles more and more rather than entertainment with the help of his heroines now. The significance of Disney princesses extends far beyond their entertainment value now. As stories created for children, and often intended to teach a lesson or impart specific morals, these films serve as mirrors that reflect our culture’s shifting values. Specifically, they demonstrate women’s perceived importance and purpose in society at specific periods in time. When analyzed parallel to the feminist movements of the 20th and early 21st centuries, they highlight intriguing – and sometimes disturbing – truths about the world in which we live (Ebersol). It is argued that technological growth played a pivotal role in forcing Disney to make drastic changes in the character and portrayal of his animated film heroines. According to Turkle increased influence of computers and internet has changed the way of the thinking patterns of the people, especially the children. In his opinion, the brain structure has changed dramatically in recent times which forced the changes in the thinking patterns. Modern thinking pattern is more of opinion based, tentative and psychological rather than fact based. All these changes in thinking patterns forced Disney to make serious changes in the character of his heroines. This paper argues that technological growth and the growing influence of feminism have forced Disney to make changes portrayal of his heroines. How technology influences the way we think and Disney thinks? As per the views of Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan, digital technologies are capable of changing the way we live and communicate while making profound changes in our brains. In their opinion, daily exposure to high technology—computers, smart phones, video games, search engines such stimulates brain cell alteration and neurotransmitter release, gradually strengthening new neural pathways in our brains while weakening old ones. It should be noted that modern generation has a lot of access to sophisticated technologies and hence their thinking and communication platforms have been changed a lot. Even from the elementary schools, students start using email, word processing, computer simulations, virtual communities and PowerPoint software (Turkle). As a result of that, it is impossible for modern generation to think like a generation a couple of decades before. According to Baudrillard (p.166), “abstraction today is no longer that of the map, the double, the mirror or the concept. Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being or a substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal”. In other words, modern generation is living in a virtual world whereas the past generation lived in a real world. For example, businesses were taking place in the real world until the introduction of computers and internet. However, a substantial portion of businesses are taking place in the virtual world now because of the rapid progress in computer and internet related digital technologies. Same way, life styles in the real world are slowly giving way for life styles suitable for a virtual world. That is why many life style changes are taking place in this world at present. For example, same sex marriages were not a myth but a fact in the present world. It was unimaginable a couple of decades before. There are a lot of lesbians and gays who have no problems in leading a normal life in the present society. In short, technology has changed the way we think and the way we live. Walt Disney is not free from the influence of technology. His thinking patterns are definitely influenced by the technological growth. Being a person with immense creativity and talents, it is logical to assume that Disney might have explored the ways of exploiting the opportunities provided by technology. Since many of Disney’s heroines were constructed based on the realities in social life, it is impossible for Disney to stay away from evolving principles such as feminism, especially when considering the fact that Disney’s lead characters were always females. In the first three princess movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959)), Disney had given more importance to cultural values and beliefs. All these three films “share the same basic plot formula: a beautiful woman suffers because of circumstances out of her control and ultimately finds salvation in the love of a powerful man” (Ebersol). In other words, Disney has accepted the cultural belief that a woman requires the protection of a man while making his old animated films. Male-female equality was not at all a theme in his old films. His old heroines such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora never tried to question the authority of men. Instead of muscle power or strength, these characters caught the attention of the public because of their kind and gentle and always pleasant look and appearances. In other words, Disney was concentrated more on the beauty of woman rather than muscle power or intellectual abilities while creating his old princess. It should be noted that feminist movements were not so popular in the 30s or 40s. That is why Disney stayed away from themes such as feminism during this period. “However, the publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan in 1963, which challenged the concept that women could only find fulfilment as wives and mothers, set off a second wave of feminism that lasted until the late 1980s and radically altered society’s treatment of women” (Ebersol). If the first wave of feminism gave more importance to the beauty and aesthetics of women, the second wave of feminism gave more importance to women’s civil rights and their legal and social equality. The second wave feminism challenged the idea that women should limit their work only in the homemaking and childrearing. They challenged the notion that women are the sex toys of men and are incapable of doing professional works. Issues such as rape, abortion, and birth control started to get more importance in the society because of the second wave feminism. The 1990s witnessed the evolution of third wave feminism which specifically discussed the issues related to feminine sexuality. “The third wave began destabilizing former constructs of body, gender, and sexuality and encouraged every woman to define femininity, beauty, and orientation for herself, apart from the expectations of the patriarchy” (Ebersol). Taking inspirations from the second and third wave of feminism, Disney has developed his next generation princes in his films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1998). All these films question the traditional social views about who women are and how they should act (Ebersol). Instead of keeping a unique personality, Disney tried to develop these heroines with distinct personalities. “These women are nuanced and flawed: Ariel is fiery and headstrong, Belle is intellectual and fiercely independent, Pocahontas is wise and strong, and Mulan is awkward but incredibly brave” (Ebersol). In other words, Disney tried to give more importance to different qualities of women while developing his princess in the 80s and 90s. The princess developed by Disney in the 80s and 90s have questioned many of the social evils prevailing against women during that period. Dissatisfied with the sea, Ariel collects human artifacts and dreams of living on land. Belle fantasizes about a more exciting life, far from her dull, provincial town, and persists in reading and learning despite the disapproval of her neighbours. Pocahontas resists marrying a man selected by her father, and Mulan joins the army in her father’s place (and fights better than many of her fellow soldiers). And, significantly, the stories of non-white princesses like Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan reinforce the third wave’s emphasis on the empowerment of racially- and culturally-diverse women (Ebersol). Racial discrimination was hyper active in the 80s and 90s in America. Yet, Disney was able to create non-white princesses like Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan still able to achieve immense popularity to these princesses during this period. It is evident that the messages conveyed through these princesses by Disney were extremely important and interesting to the public. For example, Pocahontas resists marrying a man selected by her father. Traditional beliefs and customs in American social life in the 90s were such that marriages are fixed by the parents rather than the couples. In other words, love marriages had not much role in American social life in the 80s and 90s. Women in the 80s and 90s forced to marry a man who was selected by her father. Disney was able to question this notion and argued that women should be given the freedom to select their partners. Mulan was portrayed as fighting better than many of her fellow soldiers. Disney tries to spread the message that women soldiers are not behind men soldiers in fighting abilities. He wanted to spread the message that women are as intelligent and powerful as men and there is no point in reserving some works or jobs only for men. It should be noted that the traditional beliefs in the 90s were such that women are incapable of participating in hard labour oriented or risky jobs such as a soldier. Disney has questioned this belief and argued that women are capable matching men in every segment of human life. In short, Disney was able to question many of the social evils that prevailed in the American society in the 80s and 90s with the help of his princesses. In his latest animation films, Disney gives more importance to human relationships. The relationships in American family life are extremely weakened in recent times. Morality and ethics have no role in American social life at the moment. That is why many of the parents in America forced to take shelter in Cheshire homes and rescue homes during the latter parts of their life. Taking these facts into the account, Disney tried to give more importance to relationship while developing his new heroines. Romance has been given only secondary importance in the latest Disney films. It should be noted that romance has lost its charm and attraction in the contemporary society. Instead of heterosexual relationships, homosexual relationships are growing now. In other words, the meaning of traditional relationship has changed a lot in the recent past because of the growing influence of technology on human life. That is why Disney decided to give more importance to relationships rather than romance while presenting his heroines for the twenty first century. The 2012 film Brave and 2014 film Frozen are examples of Disney’s changing views about relationships. In Brave, the princess Merida flat-out refuses to marry a prince from another clan, claiming she will vie “for [her] own hand” in marriage. Instead, the plot concentrates on Merida’s broken relationship with her mother, as she learns the importance of respecting and appreciating her even when she doesn’t agree with her. In the end, Merida saves her mother’s life by apologizing for her part in their rift. Similarly, Frozen tells the story of how a magical curse comes between two sisters, and how they work to repair their relationship; Anna sacrifices her life to save Elsa, and through that act of “true love,” she breaks the curse and reconciles with her sister (Ebersol). It is evident from the above discussion that Disney’s thinking patterns have changed dramatically over the last few years. His support for feminism started slowly and attained big proportions at the moment. Technology should have played a lead role in shaping Disney’s thinking patterns in favor of feminism. The traditional belief about brain function is such that brain may not change much with the changes in the surroundings or environment. However, many studies have proved that surroundings or the environment can affect brain functions in one way or another. Greenfield, a neurologist by profession, mentioned that brain goes on developing, and changing and it is also substantially shaped by what we do to it and by the experience of daily life. “At a microcellular level, the infinitely complex network of nerve cells that make up the constituent parts of the brain actually change in response to certain experiences and stimuli” (Greenfield). It is evident from the findings of Greenfield that surroundings play a vital role in the shaping of brain development. It should be noted that the surroundings of Disney has changed drastically for the last five or six decades. The influence of technology on all life segments is evident now. Therefore, it is logical to assume that Disney’s thinking patterns might have changed over the course of last few decades. That is why his princesses are becoming increasingly feminists in nature. Fetzer pointed out that technology has influence on writing mechanisms. In his opinion, “the basic mechanism of writing may stay the same, but new tools have led to new relations between authors and the words they use” (Fetzer). Even though Disney’s strong support for feminism is evident in most of his films, there are many counter arguments against these claims. For example, Lisa Kaye believes that it is illogical to label Disney films as feminist films since majority of the princes in Disney films are saved by a man in the end. She has pointed out that the heroines of Disney films such as the Snow White (Snow White, 1937), Cinderella (Cinderella, 1950), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, 1959), Ariel (The Little Mermaid, 1989), Belle (Beauty and the Beast, 1991), Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992), Tiana (The Princess and the Frog, 2009), and Rapunzel (Tangled, 2010) (Kaye) were saved by men at some stages of the film. If Disney had intention to spread feminism, he could have used the service of another female for saving the life of his princess. However, Disney went ahead creating his films with male characters as the rescuers of his princesses. It is evident that Disney accepts the fact that the companionship of a male is inevitable for a female not only for psychological reasons, but also for physical reasons. Sonia Saria has questioned the arguments of Kaye and argued that feminism was growing in Disney films from since its introduction in 1937. She was able to rank Disney films in terms of growing feminism. She has ranked Disney’s princesses from least to most feminist. In her opinion, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, (Snow White) and Cinderella, (Cinderella) were the least feminist princesses whereas Mulan (Mulan), Pocahontas (Pocahontas) and Tiana (The Princess and the Frog) were the most feminists. Mulan is the film in which feminism is most prolific. “Mulan rescues pretty much everybody, repeatedly, including several men — her father, the emperor, and the toughest guy in the army. The movies feminist bent is seen best in its most famous song, "Ill Make A Man Out Of You" — a clever line, because of course, Mulan is not ever going to be a man” (Saria). Conclusions In conclusion, Technology definitely has an effect on the writing of Walt Disney. Even though he has used feminist characters more often in his animated films, those characters were not so feminine in nature at the beginning. However, Disney’s support for feminism started to increase along with the growth of technology. His thinking patterns changed from a moderate or average feminist to a hard core feminist later because of the influence of technology. Works Cited Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulations. Publisher: The University of Michigan Press (31 December 1994). Print Ebersol, Kaitlin. H”ow Fourth-Wave Feminism is Changing Disney’s Princesses”. Web. 07 May 2015. Fetzer, Dean. “How Technology Affects the Way We Write”, 2014. Web. 07 May 2015. Greenfield, Susan. “Modern Technology is Changing the Way Our Brains Work, Says Neuroscientist. Web. 07 May 2015. Kaye, Lisa. “The Truth About Feminism and Disney Princesses”. 2014. Web. 07 May 2015. Neyfakh, Leon. “The Future of Getting Arrested”. Web. 07 May 2015. Small, Gary and Vorgan, Gigi. “Your iBrain: How Technology Changes the Way We Think”. Web. 07 May 2015. Saria, Sonia. “Ranked: Disney Princesses From Least To Most Feminist”. Web. 07 May 2015 Turkle, Sherry, “How Computers Change the Way We Think.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 50.21. 2004. Print Yzaguirre, Christine M. “A Whole New World? The Evolution of Disney Animated Heroines from Snow White to Mulan”. 2006. Web. 07 May 2015 Read More