Cinderella Ate My Daughter & Enlighted Sexism
HYPERLINKS
I decided to use hyperlinks to discuss the issues that both authors Peggy Orenstein and Susan J. Douglas raise in their readings:
In the reading "Cinderella Ate My Daughter", Orenstein argues that Disney Princess teaches children before their parents do, what it means to be a female or a male. Disney Princess's portray the passive, personality-free female who is swept off her feet by a prince, who is attracted to her beauty more than anything. In contrast, males are seen as adventurous and aggressive. These very same notions of gender are presented in the toys sold to young children everyday. This article explains a study that was done on 198 preschool-aged children and analyzed their attitudes about gender and body image. 96% of girls and 87% of boys were familiar with Disney Princess media. The study found that girls who consume Disney princess media are more likely to have generated stereotypes about the roles of girls and boys, including the old classic "Pink is for Girls, and Blue is for Boys". Consumption of Disney Princess media also showed negative effects on body image portraying the ideal "thin" Princess. Orenstein says this obsession with girls and princesses start between ages 2 and 6 and the researchers say ages three to four. For boys, Disney Princesses portray the need for a masculine superhero. The way parents talk to children also has an impact, as Orenstein explains herself that parents refuse to tell their children about these differences to prolong their innocence and avoid sexualization, which children are already being exposed to through press on nails and cosmetics for their dolls. In my opinion, children are going to grow up anyway and if they are not educated about "real life" things, then they will be naively surprised when faced with a situation in life. Our rooms are made up for us before we come home from the hospital at birth, pink or blue. Our toys are made up for us.. Do we see little boys toys of Doctors and teachers? No, their always ready for battle, whether a villain or a superhero.
In the reading "Enlightened Sexism" By Susan J. Douglas, she describes the scenario of a mother who makes pancakes for four eight year old girl, and hears the classic song by the Spice Girls "Wanna Be". 90's era = GIRLPOWER, is it still feminism? or another way to say "I have it all" referring to their thighs, lips. I chose the image above to portray these same ideas. My older sister and I were once obsessed with the spice girls, and I can see why these contradictions are drawn. These women are sexualized more than Barbies, and 8year old's are watching. This article describes the concerns people had with the Spice Girls. The all-girl group promoted Girl Power as well as promoting the hyper-sexualized women which produced real effects on young fans who admired them, thinking they were being fed a message of empowerment. There were Spice Girl dolls and designed back packs, I was personally a owner of both. When I was little, I thought of it as Girl Power, it was sort of inspiriting, but now looking at the Spice Girls, they were more sexualized than anything. This also explains the hyper-passive & sexualized female compared to the hyper- masculine male. These women were in a way purposely meant to attract attention, which portrays females in a negative way and fulfill to the "needs" of a man.
Things to talk about in class:
- The Disney Princess reflects the way we see teenagers, passive, hormone driven, and naïve.
Are there any princesses you can think of that portray the exact opposite?
Comments
Post a Comment