female representation in disney films

Female Representation in Disney Films

Sanny Hoskins

Stereotypes

• Men are often seen as the heroic ones who have to save the Disney Princesses.

• Women are often seen as the distressed ones who rely on men to save them.

Men and Women in Disney• The men and women are always seen as

perfect. They never have anything wrong with them appearance-wise. The men are seen as strong and good-looking and the women are seen as dainty, thin, and beautiful.

However…

• The women who aren't princesses are portrayed completely differently.

• The villains are not seen as beautiful at all but are shown in darker colours to represent the evil within them.

An Example of Unfair Representations

Jasmine

Jasmine (from Disney’s Aladdin) is not what you would expect a young girl from the Middle East to look like. She has her tummy and her shoulders showing which is considered distrustful in that culture. She also has a well proportioned body and her face seems to be perfectly symmetrical without a single spot or scar. She is being shown as a pretty character.

Aladdin

Whereas Aladdin is still shown in traditional clothes and headwear.

The Male Gaze

• When Aladdin does wear something more revealing he has muscles showing connoting that he is the strong one. He also has Jasmine next to him admiring him

Realism

• However, Disney has been progressing through the ages with their female characters. For example, in Disney's Frozen, Anna (who is still very thin and pretty) woke up and actually looked like normal people would in the mornings.

Overall

• Disney are showing their characters to be too unrealistic. It is not what women looked like when the films were set or in this modern time.

• I’ll be exploring different ways in which Disney portray female characters and seeing how it affects people’s views on women.