Gender stereotypes in children's movies

This is a movie about how Disney portrays gender in the films Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan and Lion King.
The stereotypes portrayed in these movies are obvious to see, but have been depicted further than the eye first sees.
What messages do children take away when they watch these movies?
Classics like these, though enjoyable, can send out the wrong messages.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• gender stereotypes
• cinderella
• snow white
• lion king
• peter pan
• beaty and the beast
• disney
• identity

[remixheaven]

Thanks for the constructive critisism from some. Others just being a bit rude. This was just a silly university assignment that took half an hour to do. It's not a serious believe that I have. And yes the modern ones would be best to pick apart. :)

[TellingItLikeItIsSJM]

Your analyses of Beauty & The Beast is way off. Belle was not unhappy on her own, and she wasn't looking for love. The Beast has to live with the fact that he made a rash, judgmental decision and it's consequences may affect him forever.

[remixheaven]

@TellingItLikeItIsSJM

Thanks for the feedback. It was actually a comment about the beast. Everyone interprets things differently.

[MyRawr911]

ok... when a kid watches this, they dont look at sexism and stuff. if u wanna make disney feel bad, then talk about "Hanna Montana", "Wizards of Waverly Place", "ANT Farm" and junk. those dont teach kids anything. all those shows teach is if your a white girl who sings, you will become famous, if u think you are "magical" you are a wizard, and a 10 yr old can go to high school and survive. >.< teen dramas r ridiculous, i miss the old disney, but this video discouraged me.

[FaerieReel]

@aryllia Have you had the chance to see the mini-sequel? One of the two stepsisters falls for a local baker, and she turns to Cinderella for help, because she thinks Cindrella is pretty, has lots of clothes, jewels 'n makeup that can make her desireable to a man, but Cinderella stresses to her that the thing she can do to really be beautiful is smile and be nice.

[nastik1987]

and btw, in Disney cartoons the main character is nearly always a female!

and despite her mild or tough temper, she goes through a lot of struggles to get her happiness in the end, whatever that might be.

So if you wan to blame media for sexism, Disney is the last thing you should.

How about you start with celebrity tabloids and male magazines, where girls of today dream to appear naked, cause they think, it makes them look like an independant accomplished woman!

yeah, as if!!!

[nastik1987]

If you look closely all of the female leads are very different. All the stories are different.

It actually teaches kids about good and bad. And depicts a lot of female types.

It says: "yes, you can be a shy, feminine girl, who awaits her prince, or you can take your destiny into your own hands, but don't forget - there are 'sins' you should never give in to - envy, arrogance, rage, revenge, etc."

[nastik1987]

i don't know where to start.... 1 why always focus on negative? why haven't u included Mulan. one of my favourites, about the brave girl who goes to war instead of her dad. Meg from Hercules, a witty strong girl with a spice? and btw, Belle, and lioness from Lion King were far from submissive and very outspoken.

2 - Cinderella, Snow white and Sleeping beauty are all made around 50's (if i am not mistaking). back then, women were in fact way less independant. times have changed.

[Hlvillaire]

p.s. I'm not sure if you realized this, but in the classic tale of Peter Pan it is made more obvious... did you ever notice how Peter doesn't have a back story? how he doesn't need pixie dust to fly? how his ears are pointed? ever wonder why he's in charge? he's not a human boy. He's a pixie. That's why he doesn't understand Wedy's feelings towards him, and yes, why he will never grow old.

[Hlvillaire]

people tend to forget a very important fact when considering all these older films: THEY WERE MADE 60+ YEARS AGO. Of course women are portrayed in an old fashioned manner. For one thing, these are based on old fairy tales that Disney only adjusted for a happier ending that didn't end in DEATH FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED. I don't mean to be rude. But just ask your grandmother how her mother brought her up; These films catered to pre-1960 America. That's the real role women played worldwide.

[BronzeTrinity]

I'm no fan of Disney but what is wrong with wanting to find a romantic partner? Most people don't want to be alone. Plenty of people wish and pray for things instead of doing things themselves, Disney didn't start that. Also, boys and girls have always disobeyed rules, tried to have fun, and gotten into trouble. These aspects are just echoing real life not encouraging people to act any differently from how they normally would. I dislike Disney because it makes kids want to buy their products.

[aryllia]

For goodness sake people, Cinderella couldn't even be arsed to dress herself. She had her animals dress her. All she did during those chores was laze around and sing while letting rodents run free (which in real life is a really BAD thing). No wonder her stepmother was pissed at her. She is probably the worst role model of the classic lot. Except possibly Sleeping Beauty who is even more useless.

[aryllia]

@angelvi But she DID just sit around and wait. The animals and the fairy godmother was the ones who got her out from her situation. What made her beautiful was the animators making her born with makeup. The premise of the story is her beauty and the sisters' ugliness. That's why the prince fell for her - he saw a hot chick, danced a few hours and then they wanted each other. He didn't even get her name so how much could he possibly have known about her?

[angelvi]

@aryllia What I got from Cinderella was, she didn't simply wait for her dreams to come true. She demonstrated patience and humbleness and remained positive despite her step family mistreating her. And that kind of attitude was what made her beautiful, cuz you could be Miss America attractive but have the most rotten soul. Besides, she had no plans of marrying the prince. She just wanted to go to a party for once. :)