Introduction

When many of us were younger, the messages we received from Disney movies seemed innocent and wholesome. Taking a closer look at these same movies years later using our sociological imaginations, we discovered that Disney may have been teaching us more than we thought. We analyzed six different animated Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Oliver and Company, Dumbo, and Aladdin, and here is what we found.

Gender Roles Depicted in Disney Films

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is the story of a girl, Belle, who falls in love with an ugly beast because he has a good heart. The intended message from Disney is that one should never judge a book by its cover and that the inside is what counts. While this message may very well be true, it isn’t the only one conveyed. While Belle is getting to know the beast, he has her imprisoned in his castle against her will. Especially at the beginning, his words and actions are nearly if not entirely abusive. He yells at her often, uses harsh words, and comes close to physically harming her in a couple of scenes. This teaches and gives girls a perfect example of patriarchy, a system in which femininity is subordinate to masculinity. This is encouraged particularly when Belle retreats to her room after the beast yells at her and then isn’t allowed to eat dinner when she refuses to do as he wishes and eat with him.

       

Two other messages that this story conveys are the importance of beauty and hegemonic heterosexuality (the idea of the dominant and privileged being those who are heterosexual). At the very beginning of the story, the beast is first a handsome prince. He is transformed into an ugly beast as punishment for turning away an old hag (who is actually a beautiful enchantress) who comes to his door looking for shelter. The enchantress (from whom, by the way, the prince begs for forgiveness when he sees that she is actually beautiful) promises the prince that he will become handsome and human again when he learns how to love another and earn her love in return. This scenario essentially teaches kids that ugliness is a form of punishment and beauty is a reward. This scenario also encourages hegemonic heterosexuality because the beast is told that he will be rewarded only for loving and being loved by a girl. This is emphasized by supporting characters as they talk about “the girl who will break the spell” and help the beast charm Belle by giving him heterosexual dating advice. For example, one character, Cogsworth, suggests that the beast give Belle “flowers, chocolates, promises you don’t intend to keep...” because these are examples of “things” that society has turned into “objects” of romance that men give women.


The Little Mermaid
From Disney’s The Little Mermaid, young girls are indoctrinated with many preconceived notions about their traditional gender roles, which are “sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as male or female” (Conley 276). The film’s main character, Arial, falls in love with a prince and goes to major extremes to win his love. Because Arial left her close friends and family and underwent an extensive physical transformation, she ultimately is rewarded with Prince Eric’s love and affection. Arial’s actions send two discrete, yet profound, lessons. Firstly, that it is completely acceptable for a girl to abandon her family and overall lifestyle just to be with a man. Secondly, that a woman must be willing to drastically change her physical appearance in order for a man to love her. As a result of the diffusion of these messages, young women are taught that they are subordinate to men and should be willing to change themselves for someone, as if they are not already good enough.

In addition to the previously stated gender messages, the most blatantly obvious statements about expectations of the female gender are described in Ursula’s song, Poor Unfortunate Souls. In the song, the evil witch, Ursula, explains to Arial that it is fine for her to give up her voice because she is beautiful, specifically “You have your looks, your pretty face, and don’t underestimate the importance of body language.” This statement gives off a sentiment that in order to get what one wants, all a woman needs is to be beautiful. Furthermore, Ursula explains that what a woman’s intelligence and personality is irrelevant to her worth, stating, “On land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word” and “It’s she who holds her tongue who gets a man.” This argument for female subordination is a clear example of a patriarchal society, in which females are subordinate to males (Conley 276).

(see 3:15)

Cinderella
Cinderella is yet another Disney classic that enforces gender roles by portraying women in a negative light. It goes hand in hand with West and Zimmerman’s theory of “doing gender” and “contributes to, reaffirms, and reproduces masculine dominance and feminine submissiveness” (Conley 282). One of the main messages Cinderella sends to young girls is that getting a wealthy man to fall in love with you will result in true happiness. However, in order to get a man to fall in love with you, you have to be beautiful, and if you are not beautiful, men won’t pay attention to you. In the movie, Cinderella transforms from being a poor, mistreated maid to a glamorous princess. She gains the Prince’s attention with the help of a little magic to make her appear beautiful. In the end, Prince Charming fell in love with Cinderella’s beauty, not necessarily Cinderella herself.

In addition, this film portrays that females need to be “rescued” by a man. It teaches women to rely on other people to save them, particularly men. It expresses that without a male figure, women are weak and insignificant. The film also features the famous song “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” The lyrics to this song teach that by dreaming hard enough wishes will come true by a stroke of luck. Again, it reflects women as passive and unable to take action on their own to go after their dreams. Cinderella does absolutely nothing herself to get out of the situation she is in. Cinderella should have the confidence to stand up for herself and not wait around for her wishes to come true or for a man to come save her.

In conclusion, Cinderella portrays women to be weak, obedient, and passive. It also makes wealth and beauty a top priority and a gateway to happiness. Continuing to portray female characters in this way results in people “conform[ing] to dominate norms and conceptualizations, including those related to age and gender, even if we question or reject those norms” (Laz, 83). This type of conformity causes gender roles and stereotypes to remain present in our society.

Racism Depicted in Disney Films

Oliver and Company

Oliver and Company is the story of a kitten that is taken in by a gang of dogs that survive the streets by stealing and causing mischief. The main theme of Oliver and Company is the importance of friendship and loyalty, but through one character in particular another story is told. Tito is a Latino Chihuahua whose main role in the movie is comical. He says one-liners and is the center of many funny scenes, but some of his lines are supposed to be funny not because of what he says but because of how he says them. His Latino accent is overdramatized and used for humor, which suggests that a Latino accent is humorous and therefore beneath the dominant accent and race in New York City (where the story takes place), which are American and Caucasian. This belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits is racism.

Another way by which racism towards Latinos is conveyed in this film is in Tito’s actions and the reactions that others give him. His “job” within the gang is to steal cars. This suggests that because his character is Latino, this is the role he is expected to fill. His inequality in a white world (or ethnocentrism) is emphasized more when he meets Georgette, a snobby and presumably “white” poodle who lives with a wealthy family near Central Park. He introduces himself to her (and does so by saying all five of his Latino names, which only emphasizes his race) and she literally says, “Get away from me you little bug-eyed creep!”, as if he is the scum of the earth.

Dumbo
Racism continued to be a prominent feature of Disney films in Dumbo. In one of the opening scenes, faceless black men are setting up circus tents. The fact that they have no face completely strips them of their individual identities, thus portraying them as a group of laborers rather than real individuals. While they are working, they sing a song that is shockingly representative of the ethnocentrism shared by the Caucasian writers and producers of this film. In the song, the African American workers chant verses such as, “We work all day, we work all night, we never learned to read or write. We work all night, we work all day, and can’t wait to spend our pay away” and “We slave until we’re almost dead; we’re happy-hearted roustabouts.” This portrayal of African Americans as illiterate and accepting of their inferior social status is a dangerous message to send to young children of all ethnicities. These racist messages reinforce negative racial stereotypes and increase the possibility that the next generation of youth will grow up to be prejudiced and discriminatory like their predecessors. This potential for children to be influenced into racism by the media was explained by Robert Merton, who stated that this negative portrayal of different ethnicities can promote young children to become “active bigots,” “timid bigots,” “fair-weather liberal,” or “all-weather liberal” (Conley 344). All of these personas but the last are detrimental to society, in that they involve at least one of the two principles of racism, which are prejudice and discrimination.

Aladdin
Racism is subtly present throughout many Disney films. Most people do not even realize racism is present in these movies until it is brought to their attention. This mind set goes to show how the “majority of whites do not see the United States as a nation that has a problem of serious and widespread racial discrimination” (Feagin 349).  Racism is largely present in Aladdin, a very popular children’s movie.

One of the most controversial parts of Aladdin is the opening song, “Arabian Nights.” In the original song, the Arabian culture is portrayed as one of violence by describing it as a place “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey it’s home.” This specific lyric caused controversy in the Arab population and was eventually changed. Another example where the film depicts Arabians as violent is in a particular scene where Princess Jasmine gives an apple to a poor child without paying for it. The merchant catches her, starts yelling at her, and threatens to cut off her hand for trying to steal the apple. According to Dr. Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs, out of the entire Middle Eastern area, Saudi Arabia is the only country that takes these drastic measures, but it is after an individual’s third violation. Therefore, since behavior like that is very rare, depicting Arabians as violent and barbaric is simply inaccurate and racist. 

The character plot of this movie is very basic. There is a “good” guy, Aladdin, a “bad” guy, Jafar, and a beautiful princess, Jasmine. All of these characters are Arabians.  However, upon closer examination, Aladdin and Jasmine have a lighter skin tone than all the other characters almost appearing to be Caucasian.  On the other hand, Jafar has very dark, Arabian skin along with a thick accent. The movie depicts “good” people as being American, and “bad” people as being Arabian.

According to Dalton Conley, author of You May Ask Yourself, “widespread misunderstandings about Middle Easterners derive, in part, from their negative stereotyping in the mainstream media” (328). Aladdin and other forms of media oftentimes inaccurately portray Arabians as violent, barbaric, and evil.  Therefore, many people in the United States view Arabians in that way which results in a division in our society.  As a nation, it is our responsibility to discern the truth about other races and treat each other equally.

Other Videos on Racism and Gender Roles in Disney Films

References

References

Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2011. Print.

Feagin, Joe R. "Racism." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 348-61. Print.

Laz, Cheryl. "Act Your Age." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 82-91. Print.

Nelson, Alyssa. "4 Aladdin." Web blog post. Disney Movies and Racism. 7 May 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://disneyandmovies.pbworks.com/w/page/17905678/4 Aladdin>.

Ng, Annie. "Female Gender Roles in Fairy Tales." Web blog post. Yahoo! Voices. Yahoo!, 26 Oct. 2006. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://voices.yahoo.com/female-gender-roles-fairy-tales-99811.html?cat=38>.

Russo, Juniper. "Disney's Most Racist Films and Characters." Web log post. Yahoo! Voices. Yahoo!, 29 Dec. 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://voices.yahoo.com/disneys-most-racist-films-characters-2389307.html?cat=25>.