Literature Review/Theory

Why is it important to study gender stereotypes?

In society today, we are bombarded with images that exemplify what is believed to be the ideal version of beauty. We are scrutinized and pressured to conform into this mold that the mainstream media has instilled within us from an early age. Young girls are presented with images of stick thin, beautiful, damsel-in-distress princesses.

Impact of Media

It is important to look the impact of television viewing, not just in terms of Disney Princess films. According to Lin (2001), once children own videos, they watch them repeatedly and with the same frequency as television. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation Report  (1999), children watch an average of 2.5 to 3 hours of television per day, or nearly 20 hours per week. Preschool children spend more time watching videos than do adolescents (Bryant, 2001; Mares, 1998). 

The Social Learning Theory that states behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. According to noted scholar Paula Papalia, Social learning theory, and imitation of models is the most important element in how children learn gender appropriate behavior (Papalia, Gross, & Feldman, 2003). And in light of the extensive literature revealing social modeling as a powerful influence of children's concepts and behavior it would seem important to closely examine media produced for the use of children, especially regarding Disney films.

Themes/Messages in Disney Movies
Time Period: 1930s-1990s

1)      Marriage/Love is the goal of Disney Heroines

Kathi Maio , a Boston Journalist, wrote an article called, “Disney Dolls” on Disney gender roles for the online Magazine, New Internationalist.  Maio recounts Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disneys first princess film. Maio believes Snow White set the stage for future princesses to come describing Snow White as “young, virginal, pretty, sweet-natured and obedient. Domestic drudgery doesn’t faze her since she is sure that a handsome owning-class chap will, someday soon, come and save her.”

Disney films do not show the process of falling in love. For them it is a very instant reaction that means it will be lasting love. Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman, and Lund (2010) found that ―the idea that love is ―easy and requires no work is most clearly illustrated in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Snow White manages to fall in love while sleeping on her choked apple. Sleeping Beauty also manages to wake up and instantly be in love. Her prince awoke her with true loves kiss and then they managed to live happily ever after
before even speaking.

In “Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length Animated Films,” Mia Adessa Towbin and her colleagues from Colorado State University discuss the portrayals of numerous stereotypical roles in Disney films and the various conventional images being exposed to children. They state, “Men are depicted as physically aggressive, non-expressive, and as heroic saviors, particularly of women. Women are portrayed as beautiful, dependent on men, and engaged in domestic responsibilities” (Towbin et al. 35). 

Cinderella has limited amount of time to find her Prince Charming or she is stuck in her misery povershed life wearing rags and dealing with evil stepsisters.

2) Silencing of women

Ariel’s voice is taken from her, and she must rely on just her looks to win over the man and ultimately achieve what she wants.

2) Beauty as a goal  

In Sleeping Beauty, the first gift given to the baby princess is beauty. 

3) Women are saved only through men

The majority of Disney princes save the princess from the villains (i.e. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White,

etc.), and in the case of Cinderella and The Little Mermaid their cast of male friends do most of

the work; they rescue Cinderella from the tower or beat the evil sea witch and gain the prince for

Ariel. Hence, the Disney heroine survives to find happiness thanks solely to the heroism and

sacrifice of male characters and without experiencing personal growth or self-empowerment

(O'Brien, 1996).

Themes/Messages Modern Day
Time Period: 2009-2012

While Disney‘s animated films have adapted to cultural changes, their continued representation of traditional gender roles indicates that the films do more to reproduce than change existing social structures.

4) Body Image

While we see a more independent version of this princess, she still is projecting the idea of a skinny waistline to children. 


Tangled: Rapunzel 

Similarly, while Elsa may shift from a buttoned up-repressed princess to ruling the land; visually Disney has not changed. Blonde hair, big blue eyes, batting eyelashes, and stick thin. 

Children and adolescents who are exposed to these images Disney has created display social cognitive theory in that it shapes and molds their perception of what it is to be "feminine."