Fractured Fairytales: Disney's Passive, Perfect Princesses
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By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Recently, I had the chance to cover a presentation entitled 鈥淭ossing the Tiara鈥� by author Jeanne Martinson. Martinson's workshop was courtesy of Cornerstone Family and Youth for members of CFY's Girls Group.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Martinson's most recent book-also called 鈥淭ossing the Tiara鈥�-examines fairytales, specifically the Disney versions of these traditional tales-and she says that often, the message they impart is one of setting up girls for lives of inaction and passivity.
听听听听听听听听听听听 As a hardened mother of two twentysomethings, I must confess that at this point in my life, I am so done with all things Disney- having escorted my offspring to many Disney films, not to mention the countless home viewings, Halloween costumes, and (well, this one was fun) even taking them to kiddie mecca itself-the Disneyland theme park.
听听听听听听听听听听听 But I digress. My Disney viewing probably ends somewhere around the Mulan era, and admittedly, I recall the animated princesses of the early 90s displaying a bit more spunk and personality than the wimpy cartoon royals from my childhood (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White...).听 However, the messages these films convey to tiny female fans are still worth examining, if only because听 Disney films of all eras (including my own ancient one) are still perennial favourites of little girls everywhere.
听听听听听听听听听听听 To clarify, Martinson is a happily-married, down-to-earth Saskatchewan native, who isn't calling for a boycott of Disney films. Far from it. But she says because fairytales-especially the heavily-marketed Disney versions of these stories- are so pervasive in our society, we would be wise to teach听 girls to watch them with a critical eye.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淔airytales are one of the earliest influences we have as children,鈥� she told the CFY workshop participants. 鈥淎nd they are one of the ways we're taught to think about ourselves, other girls, and guys. The stories have been around over 400 years and with Disney, especially, most young women have encountered them during their childhoods.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 In addition to the plethora of evil stepmoms in Disney films, Martinson also cites the passivity of Disney's Cinderella, in which a fairy godmother saves our heroine. In Sleeping Beauty, a prince is the rescuer. In Snow White, the prince is also a rescuer. Additionally, Snow White's beauty is viewed as downright dangerous to her and is also a source of homicidal jealousy for her aging stepmother. In Beauty and the Beast, it's Belle's job to change her fella from raging beast to prince-and most importantly, husband material.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Martinson says these messages are 鈥渁 really crippling influence, especially when it's combined with another pervasive Disney message-that we should be the perfect princess.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, the author says one of the most damaging effects of the Disney versions of fairytales are that these narratives continue-unchecked-through many women's lives.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚n the movie Pretty Woman-another Disney film- it's the same story. A wealthy guy rescues a gal and they live happily ever after. But the problem wth this message is that it teaches us not to take care of ourselves-especially economically.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Martinson says that if both women and men reach their full potential their lives-and the lives of their families-will be better.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 think that when women understand the power of fairytales and the power they have to change the narrative, they make better decisions for the future-and that's good news for everyone.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 I agree. And don't get me started on Pretty Woman...
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Our personalities dictate what we like, even when we鈥檙e young
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎 tale as old as time鈥︹�� well maybe not as old as time, but Beauty and the Beast was one of my absolute favourite Disney movies as a child, and to begin this column it seemed appropriate to use that quote.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 A topic of discussion for many, does media affect kids growing up, more specifically do Disney movies and other popular culture impact youth as they become adults.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 One of the common arguments is that it does, that by watching Cinderella and Snow White girls are taught that Prince Charming will save them. I grew up with Disney movies, our entire TV stand when I was little was lined with them, we must have had at least 20 different ones. Out of all of them my sister loved Cinderella and I loved Beauty and the Beast.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 My views on pop culture as a youngster might be skewed because although I loved Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Anastasia (a 20th Century Fox movie I always thought was a Disney movie)鈥� but on top of that I was also a huge Power Rangers fan.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I don鈥檛 believe that these princess films really impacted me, I feel like I gravitated towards them. I liked the more independent princesses, the ones that weren鈥檛 really waiting around to be saved, but could survive on their own. Belle was strong willed and showed the Beast kindness and treated him like she would anyone else, the Beast was reminded of what it meant to be human. Mulan defeated the Huns; she was tough and independent. In the cartoon, Anastasia had been raised as an orphan after being split from her family, but in the final battle with the bad guy, Rasputin, Anastasia鈥檚 love interest came to her rescue鈥� however, in a twist he is in peril and Anastasia saves him.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It was these movies that I was drawn to, while my sister was drawn to Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. We watched these movies together and I would have been exposed to the ones she liked early on because I鈥檓 younger than her by three years. But, despite watching those ones, I was drawn to the others, which makes me believe that whether we watch those movies at a young age or not, certain people will be drawn towards different things.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I was a stereotypical tomboy growing up, while my sister was tough, but was more interested in 鈥済irly鈥� things than I was. Was it because we grew up differently? No. We simply liked different things and those differences were evident at a very young age.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I recently rewatched the Power Ranger movie from the 90s and I noticed that the Green/White Ranger came to the rescue of the Pink Ranger quite often, but again, when I was little the Green/White Ranger was my favourite one. There were a total of six of them to choose from, but again I was drawn to the independent, leader type while my sister didn鈥檛 really like that show at all.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, I don鈥檛 think we can blame women being paid less than men on television shows and movies we watch when we鈥檙e little. I think we just blame society for not being equal in this day and age as it should be.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 There are a lot of strong women in the world who make less than their male equivalents, but what are those women going to do? Quit their jobs and go without, or attempt to outperform others and prove that women and men deserve to be paid the same. It鈥檚 the companies that are perpetuating the issue, not the movies and TV shows we watch, because it鈥檚 my honest opinion that we gravitate towards different ones just because we like them better.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 After all when I was about five-years-old my favourite movie was Terminator 2, in fact it鈥檚 still one of my favourites. So, we鈥檙e drawn to different things according to our personalities. The fact that women are paid less than men is actually just a remnant of earlier society that continues to change, pressing forward to equality.
