The portrayal of women in Disney Princess movies has evolved over time. From the damsel-in-distress Snow White, warrior Mulan, to hero Moana, Disney Princesses have changed drastically over the years. This class revolves around the portrayal of women in Disney Princess movies. We will cover most of the Princesses starting from Snow White and Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Elsa, and ending with the latest addition, Moana. It is important that Disney changes their perception of women with each movie. Viewers of these movies relate themselves to the protagonist. Young and older girls will be watching with wide eyes, wanting to be exactly like the princesses they see on the big screen. As Disney moves forward into the 21st century, their perception of women becomes more realistic with current views. The princesses young girls see on the screen will be worthy role models. Disney has recently started a campaign called, Dream Big Princess, to inspire girls to follow their dreams and realize their potential. Women’s roles in Disney Princess movies has evolved over the last eighty years from women cooking, cleaning and waiting to be saved, to women taking leadership and saving themselves as well as the ones they care about.
This class can is also an interesting way to teach about history pertaining to females and their images and their roles in society and how different it was for women back when the older movies were being released. Classic Disney movies such as Cinderella and Snow White show the female role as a caregiver of the household. Women in society were expected to stay home and take care of everything in the house and to care for their children and husband. However in later years, Disney has released Mulan and Moana, targeting problems such as women serving in combat for their countries military and women’s rights showing the female characters as heros instead of the princes. Women and their roles in terms of familial and societal setting have undeniably changed drastically since the 1930’s. This progression of independence has lead more women to positions of power in the business and political world today, and social media influences are without question powerful for the upcoming generations. So the princess on the screen saving the day all by herself has beyond any doubt shown children today that you can be your own hero no matter what gender you are, and with societies gender norms changing, its never been easier.
Besides the increase of feminist qualities and the display of gender roles, the family dynamic for each princess and the relationships that they carry are quite interesting. Through the chosen Disney movies, the writers and directors follow three themes that seem to hold a particular pattern based on time period. However, this pattern is broken due to one outlier: Rapunzel. Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Rapunzel (2010) are examples of princesses from different time periods where the family bond is weak and abuse and manipulation are the center of their inner circle, while Ariel (1989), Belle (1991), and Jasmine (1992) have decent family support, where most of it comes from their father. The third theme observed is a strong family dynamic where Mulan (1998), Elsa (2013), and Moana (2016) all have supportive families and have more than just one family member behind them. Could the stronger family qualities over time depict anything about families in America? Does the strong family dynamic go hand-in-hand with the rise of feminism (especially if the majority of supportive family members are mothers and grandmothers)? Or has the media finally realized that what they release matters, and they want to inspire children and parents to adopt that loving atmosphere into their households?
Although this class focuses on women specifically, boys and men would benefit from such a class as well. The issues we chose to focus on in class are just a portion of the issues that happen on a day to day basis regarding women. Most of the time, from a young age, boys are taught that women are the weaker gender. Thus, these views towards women are negative behaviors that need to be changed. Men would understand the stereotypes that are placed upon women and hopefully realize that women in this day and age need to be treated better and not portrayed as below them. Women can learn a sense of self-esteem, identity, and confidence. Ultimately, this class primarily results in the knowledge of equality. Someone taking this class may be majoring in the field of women and gender studies, psychology, economics, film studies and many more.
| Week One: Intro/Overview
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| Week Two: Snow White (1937) and Cinderella (1950) First Disney Princesses Ever
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| Week Three: Ariel (1989) Young Rebellious Teenager
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| Week Four: Belle (1991) Women and Education
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| Week Five: Jasmine (1992) Arranged Marriages vs Marriage for Love
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| Week Six: Mulan (1998) Women’s Roles in the Military
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| Week Seven: Tiana (2009) First African American Princess
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| Week Eight: Rapunzel (2010) Growing up Without Real Parents
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| Week Nine: Elsa (2013) Saved by Sister Not Prince Charming
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| Week Ten: Moana (2016) First Disney Princess Without a Love Interest
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Assignments:
1). Whether or not you identify as female, women are all around us. We can each relate to them, either personally, through our loved ones, or merely through society today. Taking the princesses’ stories and histories into consideration, write a response indicating which princess you connect with or look up to the most and explain why. Your response should be at least 2-3 paragraphs long and in MLA format.
2). Write an essay contrasting two different princesses from any time period and explain their portrayal of women. You may also discuss the differences of the importance of their stories, the relationships that they have, and/or the potential real-life history that existed during the time of their creations. Your essay should be 5 paragraphs, MLA style.
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