England, Dawn, Lara Descartes, and Melissa Collier-Meek. "Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses." Sex Roles 64.7/8 (2011): 555-567. Print.
Disney’s classic depiction of females as princesses, also infers their submissiveness, inferiority, and fragility in comparison to men’s portrayals as socially, physically, and intellectually dominant. While these roles may change as social proximity to time and space does, these characterizations, split by binaries and marginalized by strict gender roles, maintain these classic depictions even today. This continuously imposes this 20th century ideology in present and modern day, while only accelerating and strengthening with time, as these women weaken and deteriorate in relevance and Disney …show more content…
This was displayed by King Triton’s aggressiveness towards Ariel to get her to succumb to his demanding orders that may also be argued as emotional abuse, although he was nevertheless praised for his parenting by the rest of the kingdom. However, when this same demeanor was displayed by Ursula, this woman’s empowerment was dubbed as evil and unattractive, sexualizing dominance in womanhood. Because Ariel was patronized for defying her destiny as a submissive women, she was finally reaffirmed once this resistance …show more content…
This type of recollection is dangerous because it changes the original message and moral of the tale, and more specifically, exploits the story to work as another muse to spread Disney’s ideas to its young consumers. Today, Disney is accounted as one of the leading influencers of contemporary society and a major benefactor within popular culture, however this simply means that the 21th century is continuing to adopt more fundamental values, versus left wing ones despite the enlightened times. This may be due to the fact that its viewers of today and yesterday have adopted these beliefs and are now implementing and promoting them onto others, as they grow and become the leaders of tomorrow. This article specifically discusses these troublesome dynamics within a different Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” but these themes are also relevant and expressive in The Little Mermaid, and only encourage the theory that these ideas are instilled within Disney’s values. In both films, the female character often dreams about an alternative life elsewhere, which highlights the problems within her current environment and the oppression she feels from it, although she is also always protected and supported by her animal sidekicks, although this too may also seem oppressive. However, this
Disney’s classic depiction of females as princesses, also infers their submissiveness, inferiority, and fragility in comparison to men’s portrayals as socially, physically, and intellectually dominant. While these roles may change as social proximity to time and space does, these characterizations, split by binaries and marginalized by strict gender roles, maintain these classic depictions even today. This continuously imposes this 20th century ideology in present and modern day, while only accelerating and strengthening with time, as these women weaken and deteriorate in relevance and Disney …show more content…
This was displayed by King Triton’s aggressiveness towards Ariel to get her to succumb to his demanding orders that may also be argued as emotional abuse, although he was nevertheless praised for his parenting by the rest of the kingdom. However, when this same demeanor was displayed by Ursula, this woman’s empowerment was dubbed as evil and unattractive, sexualizing dominance in womanhood. Because Ariel was patronized for defying her destiny as a submissive women, she was finally reaffirmed once this resistance …show more content…
This type of recollection is dangerous because it changes the original message and moral of the tale, and more specifically, exploits the story to work as another muse to spread Disney’s ideas to its young consumers. Today, Disney is accounted as one of the leading influencers of contemporary society and a major benefactor within popular culture, however this simply means that the 21th century is continuing to adopt more fundamental values, versus left wing ones despite the enlightened times. This may be due to the fact that its viewers of today and yesterday have adopted these beliefs and are now implementing and promoting them onto others, as they grow and become the leaders of tomorrow. This article specifically discusses these troublesome dynamics within a different Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” but these themes are also relevant and expressive in The Little Mermaid, and only encourage the theory that these ideas are instilled within Disney’s values. In both films, the female character often dreams about an alternative life elsewhere, which highlights the problems within her current environment and the oppression she feels from it, although she is also always protected and supported by her animal sidekicks, although this too may also seem oppressive. However, this