Hello. I'm doing a project at school for my A2 media studies course. My question is "Discuss how and why the representation of women in Disney Films have changed over time".
I was wondering if anyone would be so kind as to share a few of their personal opinions on this matter?
You generally see female characters as strong women in disney films. but majorly are not represented any different from other films with women in them. (if that makes any sence) are you looking at any particular disney films? x
I think Disney has done a phenomenal job of keeping the female role as a caring, loving, and understanding character. However I have notice that today the role is becoming more independent and even dare daring as oppose to the past.
The best women in Disney movies are the Villainesses - Cruella deVille in 101 Dalmations,Medusa in The Rescuers, The Wicked Queen in Snow White,the witch in Sleeping Beauty and the witch in The Sword In The Stone.
Disney heroines are usually bland and boring. Mary Poppins was a wonderfully stern,strong willed character but generally Disney sticks to traditional gender stereotypes like both Snow White and Cinderella dancing about in the forest dreaming of when Prince Charming will come and sweep them off their feet.
Mulan was probably Disneys attempt to kill two birds with one stone by portraying a heroine who was both strong and non-white but in the end,after she's displayed her skill and courage as a warrior,she gives it all up to fall in love with a handsome man and "normality" is restored.
The closest we really come to good strong women in Disney films,apart from Mary Poppins, is in the anthropomorphic animal characters like Peg in Lady And The Tramp and Bianca,a female mouse in The Rescuers, Big Mamma (although a racial 'Mammy' stereotype) in Fox and The Hound or 'Magical' women like the fairies in Sleeping Beauty or the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella although these 'Magical' women are also maternal figures and are thus gender stereotypes.
I would say that the women in Disney films have evolved with time .. back in the day, characters such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty needed men to ultimately make their stories into fairytale endings .. but with recent characters such as Mulan, we see a daring woman who goes out to find her own happiness and "fairytale" ending .. she doesn't rely on a man to save her from distress, and actually saves an entire kingdom from destruction.
well i think that people like cindrella are potrayed as loving and caring, and when they meet the man of their dreams they will live happily eva afta, whereas mulan manages to save an entire kingdom and she still gets a man, which is pretty nifty.
Originally posted by xHolliex: mulan manages to save an entire kingdom and she still gets a man, which is pretty nifty.
Mulan tastes freedom only to give it up. She breaks from the conventional role of women in her society but in the end she conforms - this is the typical fate of rebellious heroines in many patriarchal stories, for example the comedies of Shakespeare. In classical and renaissance comedies, gender confusion usually symbolised chaos and a return to conventional gender roles symbolised the restoration of the "natural" order and Mulan conforms to these literary conventions.
Originally posted by mistershow: ^Interesting; I never really realized that.
I would say that the women in Disney films have evolved with time .. back in the day, characters such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty needed men to ultimately make their stories into fairytale endings .. but with recent characters such as Mulan, we see a daring woman who goes out to find her own happiness and "fairytale" ending .. she doesn't rely on a man to save her from distress, and actually saves an entire kingdom from destruction.
Hm .. makes me in the mood to watch "Mulan"
Yeah but Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are classics... Mulan (what kind of title is that!), Finding Nemo and Shreck etc are rubbish... not least because they are created by chinless wonders on Apple Macs instead of artistically gifted people with pens, there is no sole in CGI. Not only that but there’s all weird creatures in the new films; it was much better when they featured a beautiful princess and some kind of truly evil spirit. It represented light and dark, what you see and what is really there. You get the impression that these new releases are made more with the intention of being able to cash in on merchandise, than they are to be enjoyable films.
I prefer manga films to disney ones, hey mr anthony prehaps you should look at how women are portrayed in animated films in general because there are quite a few manga films with strong female characters like Ghost in a Shell.
Like a fat a guy at an all you can eat buffet life got in my way.
I forgot to add that the films I am mainly focussing on are: 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937) and 'Sleeping Beauty' (1959) and comparing them to: 'Mulan' (1998) and 'Beauty and The Beast' (1991)
Any more opinions with this in mind would be greatly apprechiated
Disney films have definately grown up somewhat from to fit in with the modern day film industry. Older films such as snow white portray a main female character who is innocent and feminine whereas more modern disney film like mulan, have resorted to a more action-packed main character style. This is typical of modern disney films as the way characters operate within film are changing drastically.
I think that one must look at the films within their time period. If you go through the main animated classics, you'll see that they do reflect attitudes in society at the time.
"Snow White" (1937) as well as "Cinderella" (1950) and "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) seem to reflect the conservative values of pre-1960s America, with their beautiful heroines acting like good, reserved characters who have no control over their lives. In "Peter Pan" (1953), the main female character, Tinker Bell, is not a passive victim, but rather a feisty character who is fuelled by sexual jealousy, and nearly destroys those around her, arguably implying that a good tempered yet traditional character like Cinderella is a better person to be than a sexually-charged independent woman (then again, you could argue that J.M. Barrie might have made up this moral). The fact that the stepsisters and their obnoxious mother in "Cinderella" and the Queen in "Snow White" also create their own downfalls due to their jealousy also promotes such an idea. One could also argue that the Blue Fairy in "Pinocchio" (1940), who is one of the only nice characters in the whole film, praises the image of a well-behaved woman who promotes virtue as a good thing to be like.
However, in the more recent (aka past 20 years or so) Disney films, whilst often using similar fairy-tale source material to their 30s, 40s and 50s counterparts (which does lead to some aspects of the past being left around in them), the climate of modern society is reflected in the films. Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) is a self-motivated character who refuses to conform to society for valid reasons (annoying potential husband in the form of Gaston) and is willing to make tough decisions (allowing herself to be held hostage by a freaky creature so as to save her father), and for this is eventually rewarded for this (she ends up with a kindly and handsome Prince). Similar things could be said for the title character of "Mulan" (1998). Even Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" (1989) and Princess Jasmine, the love interest of the title character in "Aladdin" (1992), despite being passive victims at times in their films, also show senses of maturity like Belle, Mulan and Pocahontas.
I forgot all about Alice In Wonderland. It's not one of Disney's best but the heroine in it is independent and is not saved by a prince. Alice is an explorer and unlike Dorothy in the Wizard Of Oz she has no one to help her except the Cheshire Cat who is more of a mischeivous puck like figure than a genuine helper.
