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Rationale

This task is linked to Part 2 of the Course: Language and Mass Communication,

and specifically refers to the gender stereotypes that are induced by media. I

chose to write a speech with the purpose of exposing how the hidden female

stereotypes behind many Disney Movies such as Cinderella and The Little

Mermaid can cause strongly negative impacts on all the girls who do not fit

within these.

A personal experience on how this can lead to low self-esteem, depression and

discontent on who we truly are will be shared with the purpose of demonstrating

that it is a real issue and that it actually happens. It is also shared to show all

the girls who are going through the same struggle that they are not alone. Two

main Disney Movies will be analyzed displaying concrete examples on how they

managed to create stereotypes in such a discrete way that they were able to

change people’s ideals and perspectives about how things should be.

As the target audience of this speech is mainly young teen-age girls, it has

been written in an informal language so that the audience will be more

engaged. The use of techniques such as persuasive language, sarcasm and

rhetorical questions aim to emphasize the message transmitted to the girls who

have grown up idolizing Disney Princesses.

This task reflects the understanding on how almost everything that is presented

in media is biased, and the aim of demonstrating that appearances are not all

that matters and that inner beauty is more important will hopefully be achieved.
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The Fantasy World creates Real Life Problems

Female stereotypes behind Disney Movies
Fascinating, precious, incredible Disney movies: I dedicate this to you. Thank you, really, I loved the

way you made me reject myself – physically and emotionally – because I wasn’t as pretty as

Cinderella, Ariel or Rapunzel. I mean… big blue eyes, long hair, tiny waist, and tiny nose… Who

doesn’t want that right?

I grew up surrounded by Disney Princesses, movies, costumes, dolls, accessories and all. I had

every single crown of every single princess. I wanted to be like them, act like them, and most

importantly, I wanted to look like them; but you know, I was just a kid… The funny thing is, it

turned out that that desire followed me until I became a teenager. Not the ‘I want to be a princess’

desire, but the physical resemblance desire. I felt as if I wasn’t good enough. I had dark eyes, dark

hair and wasn’t exactly the thinnest of all. I constantly went to the hairdresser to dye my hair a

lighter color. I went through very hard times trying to reduce my body mass so that I could be

‘prettier’ and cried all the time trying to convince my mother to let me undergo cosmetic surgery so

that I could make my nose smaller, being petrified that because of my physical appearance I would

be incapable of finding my ‘happily ever after’. The worst part is… I strongly identified with

Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, thinking that I was going to end up like them as I kind of looked like

them. Or at least that’s what Disney made my think.

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Fortunately, my mother noticed this right on time and fought every single day to try and

teach me that I should love myself for who I truly am. She always said that no fake, artificial

version of me was ever going to outshine who I really was. Back then, I did not believe her, but

today I thank her. Because of her, I am here today, bravely and proudly speaking to you.

I am sharing my experience with you because I would hate it if this were happening to someone else.

Disney has made the dreadful mistake of thinking that all the sexist subliminal messages in their

movies will have no harmful effect upon its audience; From portraying the female sex as the

weaker one to showing that beauty is almost all that matters, Disney has been imposing

horrendous stereotypes on all young girls.

I want to talk about my favorite movies, the ones that had the greater impact on my low self-

esteem and insecurity. Possibly, some of them have also been your favorite movies too; some

of you might even have noticed what I am about to say.

The ones that I believe had the greatest influence on me were Cinderella and The Little

Mermaid. Both movies taught me that a makeover could change your life, to find the perfect

prince charming and live happily ever after, you had to change the way you looked so that the

one you loved would love you back. It all started with Cinderella. Poor Cinderella. Trapped in an

abusive home, with her stepmother and ‘ugly’ stepsisters, treated as if she was nothing.

Worthless. Useless. She only had the chance to change her life when her fairy godmother gave

her an incredible dress so that she could go to the ball and dance with the prince1. In other

words, only if she looked prettier, she would get the prince’s attention... Remember how the

stepsisters were both rejected by the prince? They were both short, had big “non-feminine”

1
Courtney Enlow, The Biggest Lessons Disney Movies Taught Us, accessed May 28, 2016,
http://www.vh1.com/news/2994/sexist-disney-movie-lessons/
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hands, dark eyes, big nose, curly dark hair, no chest… but on the other hand, Cinderella

was tall, blue eyes, blond hair, perfect nose…. How on earth was I supposed to love myself, if I

physically resembled the evil stepsisters of my favorite princess? Never thought of that, right

Disney? Just for you to know, only two percent of the total population – male and female –

are naturally blond2, so yeah basically the other ninety-eight percent that have watched this

movie might have thought they weren’t good enough or pretty enough.

We then move on to The Little Mermaid, the story of the princess that sold her voice to evil

so that she could completely change her appearance for the man she loved. This not only

emphasizes the fact that women should change the way they look for a man, but also the fact

that you simply need to be pretty to make a man fall in love with you, there is no need for
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conversation or to truly get to know each other . Just as Ariel, you simply need to sit there

and be pretty.

Many other movies show how superficial Disney Princesses actually are, and how they always

rely on a man and their beauty for their happiness. We also have Snow White, which conveys

the message that we should kill or eliminate the one girl prettier than ourselves.

Clearly, Disney has not done a good job of showing young girls what really matters, and

although many of them might not even notice these things, there are always the ones that do -

Just like me! It took me a lot of time to finally realize that my mother was right, and that

physical appearances did not matter as much as the personality and who you were on the

2
Random History, 40 Flaxen Facts About Blond Hair, accessed May 28, 2016,
http://facts.randomhistory.com/blonde-hair-facts.html
3
Veronica Agard, 6 Disney Films That Are Undeniably Racist and Sexist, accessed May 28
https://mic.com/articles/68219/6-disney-films-that-are-undeniably-racist-and-sexist#.JmU88IYgY
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inside. It also took time to comprehend that all Disney Princesses were fake and that

those stories were fantasies, that real life wasn’t like that.

Ladies, feel proud of who you are, do not judge yourselves, do not compare yourselves, do

not be harsh on yourselves, and just remember that every single one of you is unique in your

own different way. Love yourselves, and within time, you will notice that everyone around

you will start looking at you differently.

Always remember: You define your own beauty.

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Bibliography

Agard, Veronica. 6 Disney Films That Are Undeniably Racist and Sexist.
Accessed May 28, 2016. https://mic.com/articles/68219/6-disney-films-that-are-
undeniably-racist-and-sexist#.JmU88IYgY

Enlow, Courtney. The Biggest Lessons Disney Movies Taught Us… That Are
Totally Sexist. Accessed May 28, 2016. http://www.vh1.com/news/2994/sexist-
disney-movie-lessons/

Random History. 40 Flaxen Facts About Blond Hair. Accessed May 28, 2016.
http://facts.randomhistory.com/blonde-hair-facts.html