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Angie Holt
Ms. Hull
English 2010
3 May 2014
Deeper Into Disney
\Disney vs Disney
The word Disney is well known both nationally and internationally. It may stir up some
old memories of princess movies or trips to Disneyland. Recently, a controversy has begun to
pop up on how Disney has been effecting development as children grow up. One side of the
argument says that Disney has negatively affected child development by pushing ideas of body
imaging and gender roles onto children. A second side says that Disney has positively affected
child development by guiding children through social situations and teaching them good values.
Another side says that Disney has no effect on child development and movies and trips to
Disneyland are just forms of entertainment.
There is definitely some concern seen throughout our community on the way children
seem to be growing up too fast. These children seem to be dieting too early on, wearing makeup
at young ages, and dating in their grade school years. These are all things that many would
consider to be activities for young adults and older. Stephanie Hanes, writer of the yahoo news,
says:
It only takes a glance at some recent studies to understand why parents are uneasy.
A University of Central Florida poll found that 50 percent of 3-6-year-old girls
worry that they are fat. One-quarter of 14-17 year-olds of both sexes polled by The
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Associated Press and MTV in 2009 reported either sending naked pictures of
themselves or receiving naked pictures of someone else. (Hanes, Par. 9)
The question is whether or not Disney contributes to these concerning factors. The truth of the
matter is that children are easily impressionable at young ages and Disney is a big part of our
culture. After some thought and analysis, it is clear that Disney does, in fact, have an effect on
child development. It actually negatively effects child development when distorting their
knowledge of what reality is by teaching unhealthy thoughts on body image, gender roles, and
romantic love.
Disney and Body Image
The first problem with Disney is that it negatively influences the thoughts children have
on body image. Disney movies depict beautiful princesses with skinny bodies, large eyes, and
perfect hair. They show heroes with giant muscles, square jaws, and tall figures. Children look
up to these characters and try to copy them, and why not? Each man seems to always become a
hero and each girl seems to always get her happily ever after. The problem with this is that the
body images depicted in Disney movies are insanely unrealistic. Those with healthy body
weights look obese in comparison. Because there is no way a person could obtain these
unrealistic body proportions, Disney shouldnt portray them as being normal.
Those with opposing opinion believe that Disney is only mirroring the men and women
of each decade rather than influencing the. Kathryn Brostowitz, graduate of Western Illinois
University with a Bachelor of Arts and Journalism, agrees with this when she says, It is clear
Disney does not support the oppression of women, but instead reflects images of women as they
are in each particular decade. As long as society keeps growing and changing in a positive way,
so will Disneys princesses (par. 12.). But how can this be true when the body proportions of
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Disney characters are so unrealistic and have remained the same throughout the years? Monika
Kothari, writer of the Huffington Post, states, The interesting thing about Disney princesses is
that no matter how diverse they supposedly are, they almost all have the same very thin body
type with doe eyes and tiny hands and feet (Par. 2). None of these things occur in real life, so
theres no way that Disney is only reflecting the men and women of the decade. How can we
expect the younger generation to feel good about their body image and keep healthy thoughts
when the role models we provide for them are all inhumanly skinny and beautiful?









Disney and Gender Roles
Disney also incorrectly teaches kids about the role they should be playing in their society.
The movies they come out with show characters with clear gender roles. But, what if not
everyone has the same idea on how a man and woman should act in society? A Disney movie
will tell a girl that she should be submissive, quiet, and sing pretty little songs. It will tell a goy
that he should be loud, proud, and never show his emotions. These are things that some may
attribute to the ideal way a man and woman should act, but this is no longer true of the majority
Image 1: Human proportions when compared to Disney Princess
proportions show just how unrealistic Disney character bodies are.
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in modern day society. It is now thought that girls need to be able to express themselves and feel
like they have the ability to do anything they want to. Men shouldnt have to feel like its normal
to suppress their feelings and should be able to participate in any activity that would have
previously been considered feminine.
Those of an opposing opinion believe that Disney became a helping hand to parents and
realistically showed children how they should act correctly in society. Nicholas Sammond,
English Professor at University of Toronto, is also of this opinion and states, Though [parents]
could create their children, they couldnt invest them with reality. To do that, they needed help, a
conscience to whisper at the child Walt Disney was that someone. Disney tells children what
should be the norm, but these are all just stereotypes, not reality. Monique Ward, professor of
gender and the media at the University of Michigan, says, Yet, research finds that the frequently
offered characterization presents a limited view of gender roles, relying heavily on stereotypes
and one dimensional characters. With only a limited range of roles, looks, and behaviors
presented and reward in media, might childrens beliefs about femininity and masculinity
become equally constrained? (965). Its not reality if there is only a limited range of roles. How
can a movie teach good values to children when the characters are based on gender roles and
stereotypes?






Image 2: Womens
gender roles as
taught by Disney
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Disney and Love
Another view warped by Disney is the view on romantic love. Most Disney movies seem
to have the same kind of endings. The princess waits, and waits, and waits, and then finally gets
her prince! But, is this something that actually happens in real life? Maybe to the lucky few, but
definitely not to the whole of society. Finding love is something much more complex than what
the Disney movies depict. Our society is one that values hard work. The same goes to finding
love. Disney shouldnt be showing children unrealistic way of how they will find love. Lauren
Gissell, graduate of Georgia Gwinnett College with a Bachelors Degree in English, states,
Unfortunately, what girls subconsciously learn as child carries on well in to adulthood. As
children, girls have a misunderstanding of what it means to be in love and find that they have
problems with relationships later on.
Those with opposing views might say that Disney only teaches good things to children.
Carmen Lugo-Lugo and Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo, Professors of Critical Culture, Gender, and
Race Studies at Washington State University, share similar opinions in this. They believe that,
In a basic sense, the narratives embedded within these recent stories provide children (their
primary target audience), and even adults, with audio-visual reinforcement of ideologies
concerning gender roles, the importance of conquering ones fears, the rewards of hard work, or
the benefits of team effort, making these stories powerful agents of socialization (166-167).
Disney does teach some valuable lessons, but fails with some very big concepts like romantic
love. The problem is that Disney does not teach us why we should love somebody romantically.
In most Disney movies, the princesss love interest in a prince thats reason enough. The prince
doesnt seem to do much more than be rich, good looking, or even just be a prince Disney cant
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teach good, realistic lessons to children on how to love romantically when many of the
princesses swoon over the only fact that a man is charming, or Dreamy.



Now What?
So what can Disney do in order to change all this? We dont necessarily have to cancel
Disney or remove it entirely from our lives. There is a definite concern as to how Disney is
negatively affecting child development, but there are a few things that Disney can do in order to
change this. Disney can use characters with more realistic body proportions, provide
development of characters that are more relatable and actually teach good social lessons, and
depict love stories that occur in reality.
There are many successful cartoons out there that show characters with more normal
body weights. These characters are thin, but not inhumanly thin. The waists are fuller, the eyes
are smaller, and the feet are bigger. These more normal images of typical, healthy people are not
Image 3: The picture depicts the only things that the Disney princes
seem to have to do in order to capture the princess hearts.
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necessarily less attractive, just more real. Disney should include princesses like these so that
younger girls who try to copy their Disney idols will know whether or not they really are at a
healthy weight or not. They wont try so hard to look like something they can never look like.
Disney needs to make sure that they promote healthy ideas on body image.
Disney can also include characters that are more complex and less stereotyped. Disney
has already started to go down this path with movies like The Princess and The Frog, but they
need to go much further. They should have shows in which males participate in roles that were
previously considered womens roles. They should have girls that become heroes and are able to
rise to the top, doing things that are typically portrayed as male only.
Another thing Disney can do to promote realistic thinking is to depict realistic love
stories. Disney should have stories where princesss fall in love with princes because of their
amazing personalities and their capability. They should deal with more realistic events and
problems that could actually occur in reality. Disney doesnt have to be totally cut out of our
lives, ti just needs to change a bit so that the younger generations of today can have Disney role
models that teach them beneficial, healthy lessons about reality.








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Works Cited

Hanes, Stephanie. Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect. Yahoo News.
Yahoo News, 24 Sept. 2011. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
Sammond, Nicholas. Manufacturing The American Child: Child-Rearing and The Rise Of Walt
Disney. Continuum: Journal Of Media and Cultural Studies 13.1 (1999): 29. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
Lugo-Lugo, Carmen R., and Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo. Look Out New World, Here We
Come? Race, Racialization, And Sexuality In Four Childrens Animated Films By
Disney, Pixar, And Dreamworks. Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies 9.2 (2009):
166-178. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Feb. 2014
Brostowiz, Kathryn. Disney movies affect feminism in society. The Western Courier. Western
Illinois University Campus, 19 Oct. 2011. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
Kothari, Monika. Why Is Disney Still Making Female Characters With Such Cartoon-9sh
Bodies? Huffington post. Huffington Post, 9 January. 2014. Web. 4 March. 2014.
Ward, L. Monique. Children, Adolescents, And The Media: The Molding Of Minds, Bodies,
And Deeds. New Directions For Child and Adolescent Development 2005. 109 (2005):
63-71. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
Gissell, Laruen. The Disney Princess Impact. Weebly. Web. 4 March. 2014.