Comments on: Disney Princesses, Deconstructed

By: Ancora sulle principesse Disney « Il Ragno

Ancora sulle principesse Disney « Il Ragno — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:48:02 +0000

[...] interessante riproporre. Quello che si riscontra dai commenti nelle discussioni, per esempio su Sociological Images, è che i film trasmettono molti messaggi positivi, per esempio relativi all’altruismo, [...]

By: Feminism and Porn: A rant « Skeptopia

Feminism and Porn: A rant « Skeptopia — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:24:46 +0000

[...] the matter is that women are told from an early age that their only value is their sexuality. From Disney Princesses, to Purity Rings, to Pretty Woman. Treating sexuality as a commodity to be tightly controlled leads [...]

By: yunnan

yunnan — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:15:00 +0000

I think the first Shrek film has a great message at the end – the same kind of Disney romance ending, but with a great moral message that completely twists the traditional paragon. I don’t have any kids, but it would be interesting to see what little girls do make of that ending.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:23:00 +0000

The Middle East is not the Orient. Not sure why people confuse these areas so much. Someone earlier on this thread wrote about Jasmine living in India. This story is from 1001 Arabian nights. ARABIAN.

By: Unasked For: Haikus for Kanye and Kim « hiphopocracy

Unasked For: Haikus for Kanye and Kim « hiphopocracy — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:44:00 +0000

[...] Disney would never make that. [...]

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Here, here. Take them hiking. Take them to museums. Enroll them in sports. Have them join the Girl Scouts or American Heritage Girls. Get them involved in community-based projects. Make sure they have their own adventures. Show them ”Anne of Green Gables,” “Jane and the Dragon,” “The Secret Garden,” “The Little Princess” (ironically enough) and Studio Ghibli’s films. Then, even if they’re exposed to the odd Disney princess film, they’ll have a more balanced outlook.

A confession: I love some of the Disney Princesses (Belle and Arielle, for instance), but recently saw a youtube video of Disney’s ”crowning” of Rapunzel as the next Disney princess in London at Kensington Palace. Actual women played the Disney princesses, and they all had the same affect: high, childish voices, hands that waved in the air in fluttering distraction, and continually startled expressions on their faces (very much like the Amy Adams character in “Enchanted”). They were not women ready to live in the world, but coseted chidren requiring guardianship. That I found disturbing.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Anonymous, are you a shill (and, a bad one at that) for the Disney Corporation’s marketing department?

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Belle was not a pretty face? Uh huh. Belle was a “real thinker”? Please. Okay, she read books, but she wasn’t about to compare and contrast the economic theories of Adam Smith with those of Marx, was she? :)

Actually, I love the Disney princesses, especially Belle and Ariel. I love the music. I love the good feelings the movies bring. But, I do find them problematic at best. I don’t have a little girl, but, if I did, I’d hesitate to intoduce her to this world (although, how can you avoid it?) for fear that she would come to believe that a woman without beauty is a woman without worth. Most of us honor beauty; but, if beauty becomes idolization and is consistently valued above all other attributes, we’re in a lot of trouble.

Could Disney make a movie starring an unattractive young princess, brave, noble, and funny, who finds true love? if Disney made it, would our little girls want to watch it? I don’t know, but I’d sure like a chance to find out.

By: Jessica Baxter-Lloyd

Jessica Baxter-Lloyd — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:45:00 +0000

I would just like to fight a little for Sleeping Beauty. I don’t like Cinderella and Snow White, nothing to do with the women being quite as pathetic as they are, but more because the man wins her without even really doing anything. A kiss and a perfect-shoe match (It’s actually not the Disney version of Cinderella that is most annoying, but others where he doesn’t even do the search himself- lazy bugger.) At least in Sleeping Beauty we know why he kisses her! Prince Philip actually fought for Aurora, a dragon no less…if that’s not love what is? AND when he finally does kiss her, it is because he is told to do so by the Fairies to break the curse! He kissed her to save her, beauty or no. Completely agree with Kati for everything else. Belle is my absolute favourite, a bookworm and a brunette! Although Mulan, Megera, Tiana and the kick-ass-with-a-saucepan Rapunzal are close seconds. Like Kati said in Beauty and the Beast, good looks are almost shown as a bad thing. Belle is chased by the hideous-on-the-inside Gaston who only cares about her looks, and Beast only became such because he cared more about looks than actually caring for others (remember the old crone that he turned away because she was ugly?) and it is only by seeing the inner-beauty in each other, aka not caring about looks, that they both find happiness and the curse is broken! Belle rocks. And the comment on the men picture that ‘promise of charm and good looks to come later’ is wrong, my memory may fail me, but I don’t recall anyone actually ever telling Belle that the Beast is anything other than that, no mention of him being cursed, or her kiss being the thing to break it. The whole point is that she’s supposed to love him for him, not for his money or good looks. Although showing her his impressive and drool-worthy library probably didn’t hurt the situation hehe ;)

By: Tigerpower27

Tigerpower27 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:49:00 +0000

no, she’s fourteen. they just aged her a little to look like sixteen

By: The Militarization of Femininity: Revisited « Fonder of Riddles

The Militarization of Femininity: Revisited « Fonder of Riddles — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:50:05 +0000

[...] of these princesses as an infection to young minds (for examples of this phenomenon, see here and here). What’s that you say, Internet? But Aurora, Ariel, and Belle are my favorites! Why [...]

By: ljane

ljane — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:23:00 +0000

I know right! Me too =)

By: Jimmymai78

Jimmymai78 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:49:00 +0000

I think he has a few great points, but other points are balogna. For instance belle, yes belle is beautiful but she’s also obedient, hard working and kind. Even though the beast seems hideous, but she’s still kind to him and looked at his heart instead of his appearance. Isn’t that what is lacking in the world?

By: Rebecca Budd Emmons

Rebecca Budd Emmons — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:46:00 +0000

Absolutely, Kati! Rock on! I was going to say what you said about Belle – my favorite Disney character. Her romance with the Beast/prince was predicated on her maturity and ability to see past the surface. Tiana is also a great example. And, physical attraction is more primal than most people want to admit. It’s a sign of maturity for people to not let that interfere with how we treat people, but obviously what attracts anyone’s attention is first, physical beauty. Ariel was attracted to Prince Eric because of it.

By: pl

pl — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000

I think a lot of people are missing that this is from a “deconstructionist” point of view. This insures that a different perspective will be used to analyze the characters. In this case, the perspective is that they are only valued for their sexuality. There are some valid points to this, but they do not detract from the characters’ other personality traits (hard working, intelligent, kind, generous and even “revolutionary” as someone commented).