How has Disney shaped and transformed the cultures understanding of

gender norms in the 20th and 21st century?

Do you know how really Disney is influencing children? How this has been creating
a stereotype for women and man that unconsciously we have been following?
Probably no. Disney is a negative influence, that only creates characters to tell
children’s how they should act around society. Disney princess are the most
famous movies around the world, all little girl dreams of being a princess and find
her prince charming, but really this has taught us that women depend of a man to
live and be happy, that women only depend on their beauty and always if there is a
problem a man should saved them. Almost all Disney princess movies reinforces
this stereotype, as we can see on the movies of Snow White, Cinderella and the
Little Mermaid. These three movies are a clear example of how gender stereotypes
is being taught to children.

Snow White is one of the most recognized movies that people have seen, if we
analyze in detail we can observe that basically it all relies on women beauty. The
evil queen is fighting with Snow White because she is more pretty than her and
because of this she does a lot of things to cause Snow White´s death. What this is
teaching to us is that women only depend on their beauty, that people will only
focus on how pretty you are for someone to love you and you can be appreciated.
We can compare this to our daily life, women are always worry of how they are
looking if their makeup is correct. As well beauty pageants because women are
competing for the one who is more beautiful. Also women are the ones who care
about their appearance. We also can see that Snow White is saved by the prince,
because she needed a true love kiss to revive, and is shown how she is being
protected by the dwarfs all day. What this is really showing is that women depend
on men, because are telling that women can’t fend by herself that they always
need the help of man. This express that women are inferior because they don’t
have the capability as man does. So this is really teaching that women needs a
man to be saved and happy.

Cinderella is another example of how this stereotype is being represent. Cinderella

is a maid that can’t go to the dance because of her stepmother doesn’t let her go.
Because of that the fairy godmother gives her a very pretty dress and al the
resources to go. This is focusing practically in beauty and appearance of
Cinderella. As we now the fairy godmother gives her a very pretty dress and the
glass heels, so what this is transmitting is that women only depends on how they
are looking, what types of clothes they have etc. This matches the stereotype of
now days’ women because most of them are only worry about her type of clothing
they are wearing. Also all is based on the prince, all this happens because
everyone wanted to meet the prince and being her future wife. All women wanted
to be with the prince because of all her fortunes. So its basically again showing
how women needs a man to have all what she wants and how is showing that man
are superior than women.
Little Mermaid, it also expresses how beauty is being the central idea of how
women is represented. When Little mermaid goes to Ursula, she gave her legs with
the condition that she gives her voice to her. Little Mermaid only had few days to
catch the prince attention, and she dint have her voice, what this communicating is
that women doesn’t need anything else but their beauty, with having a pretty face
you will get what you want and you will have the man that you want. This is
encouraging mostly women that they should only care about how they look, that
they shouldn’t care about anything else. So this are one of the reasons that we see
women always worried about their appearance, because this is what society have
taught to us.

Although these movies are representing these about women, Disney has created
new movies and characters that change the perspective of how he was seeing
women. A clear example of these is the movie of Brave, this shows how a woman
doesn’t care to much, about her appearance and how she doesn’t need a man to
be happy because she can do all the things by herself. So this is changing totally
the stereotype that was build of women in which the beauty and the good looking is
what matters. This is changing how people see gender in now days and how
women can have the same ability of man and they don’t need them to be save and
happy. Women can be in charged of taking care of her own.

To conclude, Disney movies is a big influence of gender stereotypes, is a way in

which people can determine the appropriate behavior of each gender. Even if we
haven’t analyzed our behavior we can see that we are doing many things that had
teach us that movies of how should we be and how it is supposed to be. There is
always the stereotype in which men are more than women. But if these haven’t
been teaching to us it will really be like these? The movies are only one part of how
we learn things and how this is really affecting with gender, its been sharped
throughout the years for us to thinks that is correct.