Feminist view on disney?
I just learned that feminist claims disney classic movies is sexist and and degrading to woman and can harm your children… (seriously??)
I was lucky growing up watching these classics such as lion king, cinderella, aladdin, beauty and the beast, little mermaid… ranging to to Pocahontas, tarzan, toy story, mulan.. and when I read what those feminist wrote about them.. its just made me sad and angry because i really loved watching them.
What makes me very pissed is that most of the girls I know all loved watching them as child and those feminist claims are just a huge insult to them.
How do they affect?
It will poison thier minds (thinking in a negetive way) about those movies and they will feel bad and guilty about themselves (most of them) for ever loving watching these disney classics.
Who does this cause problem to?
everyone
Before this everyone was just fine and did not complain much about this issue.. then comes the modern feminist and ruined it for everyone.
So disney nowadays makes crap like honnah montana,camp rock,high school musical that wont offend feminist. Then disney decided to make a sequel to the classic toy story which everyone loved(besides feminist) and here we go again….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1290222/Toy-Story-3-carelessly-sexist-claims-feminist-magazine.html
The impact is that these feminist groups have real influence over government and policy making.
I grew up with my sister watching these movies and she loved it and still does. No harm done to either of us and she is a doctor now.
http://thefbomb.org/2009/09/sexism-strength-and-dominance-masculinity-in-disney-films/
http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/sexism-at-disney
@j00r
How did you feel before you watched the documentary compared to after? more harm or good?
@rebelgirl
Its a big deal because it affects the society and society affects the people around me and the people around me affects me and those I care.
So your cousin wont play with a girl unless she dresses up like a princess? ok sure…
@j00r
thanks for your reply,
“bad guys” not “bad girls” usually only exist in these movies but there will also be a “good guy” and “good girl” and I dont think that should be an issue unless the show itself is entertaining and inspiring.
In every show there has to be a bad character.. you cant expect a show to be all flowers and rainbows. As for the religious view.. so assuming aladdin is an islamic culture(most probably) they also displayed the good side of islamic as well.. aladdin? jasmine? sultan? along with all the other good characters?
what i got from watching aladdin is that life is full of challenge, you cant always get what you want unless you fight for it.
“showing off your body can help you get what you want”
You really think this is because of those classic disney’s?
prince charming is not always ugly either
@sarah
why is that creepy.. i get nostalgic when I watch them @_@ perfectly normal.. i think..
anyways.. i agree with most of what you said. I mostly loved watching those early 90′s also.. the ones before that were sexist..snow white,beauty and the beast and all but in their defence, It was potrayed during the time where that was actually how woman standards were back then. So instead of viewing it in a negetaive way, why cant it be viewed as educational? why does it only has to be offensive?
Thanks for your reply btw.
I watched a documentary yesterday on how horribly feminist and racist the Disney movies are. And although I suppose you could have some base in your claim that they’re slightly biased, I think the entire affair is blown way out of proportion. I don’t feel discriminated against watching them.
Edit: I’m glad I watched the video, because it did open my eyes to a few things. Disney had a habit of making the “bad guys” having the stereotypical voices of ethnic minorities. Also, every single one of their main female characters all have very sexual bodies.
However, some things in the video were simply ridiculous. I don’t think Aladdin was supposed to comment on how barbaric Islam is (seeing as how it’s not). It showed a scene where Jasmine gives a little boy food from a market vendor. The vendor grabs her hand and threatens to cut it off. The movie said this was completely unacceptable, and that in the most savage instances of Islam, people get at least three chances before getting their hand cut off. What I got from the movie as a child is that the market was a rough place and Jasmine was trying to do the right thing. Not that Islam is the spawned religion of Satan (and I don’t think Disney was trying to say that, either).
It is true Disney has no “ugly” female princesses. But this is simply how society works. No main character who is female is going to be completely awful looking, unless it’s for comedic reasons. That’s the entire media, not just Disney. The movie made the claim that Disney was teaching young girls to tolerate and endure abuse (Beauty and the Beast) and that showing off your body can help you get what you want. Although I think the latter part is true for women in some circumstances, that’s not what I walked away thinking about as a child.
I may be wrong here, but I never saw Snow White clean house or cook for the seven men she lived with.
I grew up watching them, and my children grew up watching them… They’re movies, they’re entertainment, they’re not a basis or guideline for real life.
I mean here’s the thing, if you grew up with Disney and whatever then you learned about feminism no harm done right… I mean it’s no big deal anymore for you right? Well now that you know do you feel okay with raising your kids up on these Disney princess stereotypes? Mind you the first black Disney princess was in 2009 with princess and the frog.
The reason I find it so repulsive is that I’ve watched my cousins who are girls grow up with this mcdonalds and Disney culture and it’s so sad cos this little cutey pie super smart and hilarious little girl all of a sudden is wearing ridiculous plastic heels and dragging around a huge purse that is half of her size, she is super interested in make up and bracelets and jewelry and I mean I think that’s fine and cute for her to see other females and want to imitate them but unfortunately there is no balance, so she identifies with the beauty queen princess side of things instead of just being a regular person, and really age 4 is way to young to decide not to climb a tree because you might ruin your dress or that you can’t run because you wouldn’t be able to haul a purse that is almost as big as you.
This kind of girl programming has been around for way too long and it’s clearly repressive and harmful to young girls and boys because those same girls believe that guys have to be prince charming and save them from whatever catastrophe befalls them. I’m not saying my cousin will be like this but that is the danger in hyper genderized media that we feed our kids. Growing up should be about exploring possibilities not trying to fit in to some adulterated version of what a female is.
Now my cousin gets bratty about anyone else dressing up as her favorite Disney princess (snow white) and doesn’t want to play with girls unless the girls also act like Disney princesses.
I <3 disney
Disney Movies are a huge “insult to them”? Ha…They obviously
haven’t met ME…….I’m at my very best, when I can “Piss Off”
a Feminist…… Glad ya asked your question. Ya “made my day”. THANKS !
I don’t buy it. I have 3 siblings. We grew up on this stuff. My sisters aren’t girlie girls at all, though they may have imitated it a little as children.
And my brother and I certainly aren’t programmed to be the hero and find some damsel in distress to rescue.
Well I have to be honest, I love these Disney classics; as in whenever I’m sad I watch a marathon of them (ok sounds creepy, but whatever, I like them so shut up
lol). However, the classic (as in the ones done before the 1990s) were extremely sexist; the women always needed to be SAVED. Stuck somewhere, only the male prince can come and save the beautiful, vulnerable princess. It takes away all the independence of women; sends a message to young girls that to become a good woman you need to find a man who’ll take care of you, because in no way can you take care of yourself. However, you look at modern movies where the characters are more equal like Mulan (totally kicked butts) or even Pocahantas (…), both the male and female characters have independent qualities and eventually fall in love, bla bla bla. I mean, I’m all for the true love thing, but why does it mean that the girl has to be all vulnerable to find it, which is why the newer versions of Disney are more accurate.
However, one has to consider that the older movies were done in a time when women were not pushed to be independent. In the 40′s, women were starting to gain their rights so its kind of normal for those movies to portray that time frame, which in turn explains why these movies are the way they are.
Its good that there are newer role models for these young boys and girls to learn from; and there’s nothing wrong with telling your kids that being independent and fighting for what you believe in is good. I know that’ll be one of the first things I’ll teach my kids when they’re old enough to understand.