Gender roles in Disney’s Cinderella are different than today. Women in the mid-1900s were traditionally a stay-at-home mom or a homemaker …show more content…
Since most women stayed at home to raise kids or do chores, they were reliant on their husbands to provide them stability. This is shown in Cinderella because she is dependent on the prince to take her away from the instability of working in servitude of her step mother. She is capable to leave her predicament but decides to stay. Cinderella does not have a lot of independence because her step mother tells her what she can and cannot do. Her step mother says that she can only go to the ball if she finishes all her chores and wears a nice dress. Even after doing all that, Cinderella could not go because her step mother left without her after the step sisters ruined Cinderella’s dress. This shows that her step mother is in charge, and she does not want Cinderella to go to the ball even if Cinderella wants to go. After that scene, Cinderella must depend on her fairy godmother to go to the ball. When the magic wore out, she reverts into servitude. This shows that despite after all that help, she is nothing more than a servant until the prince comes and “rescues” her. As the years passed, women became more independent, and this is evident in a modern Disney movie …show more content…
Usually in most fairy tales, it is usually a man that rules the land such as the King in Cinderella or Lord Farquaad in Shrek. This is not the case in Frozen. Elsa rules the Arendelle independently and without a king. In modern society, more women are running for powerful leadership positions such as Hillary Clinton. In the sequence where Elsa “Let it go”, one interpretation is that she is letting go of her responsibilities as a queen and becoming more independent. Also, Elsa symbolizes this by throwing away her crown during that sequence. As for Anna, she is independent because she has an adventurous and carefree attitude. She demonstrates her independency by chasing after Elsa on her horse on her own. Even though Hans offers to go with her, Anna insists that she goes alone. Even when Anna meets Kristoff, Anna is still in charge, and this shows the changing gender roles in Disney movies and in