Gender representation in Children's movies
Let's go back to the movies we watched since we were toddlers, because these were the films that shaped our ideas about the big bad world outside of our little bubble. Disney movies were always my favorite, because lets face it, what little girl doesn't want to grow up to be like one of the Disney princesses? And this is where the problem lies because the concepts that children grow up learning from these movies if fundamental in shaping how they think of themselves and about society when they grow up. Unfortunately, these characters, which have become the role models for generations and generations of children, are reinforcing gender stereotypical behaviors. These movies send a myriad of fundamentally faulty messages to girls: you need to change for your man because a makeover will fix everything, you need to marry to live happily ever after, the prince charming will always come save you in the end.
Though quite a lot of people complain about how Disney princesses are so focused on finding true love, I would argue that the male characters as just as concerned about getting the girl as the females are about getting the boy, so I would not say Disney is sexist in this aspect, however, their representation of females is faulty. Jasmine was personally my idol growing up because I thought she was so brave, independent and unwilling to settle. To an extent she does possess all of these characteristics, however, despite all of this, in the true Disney fashion she still ends up being the typical damsel in distress who needs to be saved by the male hero and can only help herself by using seduction.
Though quite a lot of people complain about how Disney princesses are so focused on finding true love, I would argue that the male characters as just as concerned about getting the girl as the females are about getting the boy, so I would not say Disney is sexist in this aspect, however, their representation of females is faulty. Jasmine was personally my idol growing up because I thought she was so brave, independent and unwilling to settle. To an extent she does possess all of these characteristics, however, despite all of this, in the true Disney fashion she still ends up being the typical damsel in distress who needs to be saved by the male hero and can only help herself by using seduction.
But wait! Hallelujah! Finally there is a female lead that refuses to be the naive damsel in distress that we expect her to be. She presented as a clever, strong-willed, independent woman who is also beautiful and not in desperate need to find a husband. However, despite the deviation from the typical Disney princess character, she still portrays the stereotype of a seductive vixen with a perfectly unattainable figure who ends up being saved by the male hero in the end.
Ever notice the complete lack female protagonists in Pixar movies? Toy Story, Cars, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille are all fantastic movies but all have male leads with maybe one or two female supporting characters. The story always focuses on the trials that a male protagonist faces with maybe a side story of the supporting female character. The most bothersome part about this is that no one really notices the lack of leading female characters in these movies, it's simply a norm. However, if a film came out with a female protagonist and only had one male character, I'm sure it would catch people's attention. However, there is hope yet. Pixar did finally come out with a film with a female protagonist, Brave, but the fact that it took this long for female characters in children's movies to start behaving more like modern day females is still concerning.
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