The Portrayal of Women in Disney Films

An introduction into Disney Films

Disney films have changed and adapted hugely in recent decades, now straying away from labeling the female characters as the damsel in distress, and magnifying the unrealistic beauty standards and body proportions.

Now Disney is focusing on further inclusion and eradicating the stereotypes around gender roles and how women look. 

Disney's stereotypes

Disney films portray women to look a certain way, with female characters having unrealistic body standards, for example, Disney princesses are seen with extremely small waists, big eyes, and thin wrists. These physical features are extraordinarily unrealistic, misleading, and damaging, especially when marketing these films to young children. Not only could young girls potentially feel they have to look similar to their favourite princesses, but they could also begin to lose confidence due to this. 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

A key example of this is the film snow white and the seven dwarfs. Snow white is seen caring for seven male dwarfs, however, has to get a man to save her. This sexism against women is apparent in many films, however, now we are beginning to see a change in the way women are represented. Other films highlight the key themes throughout many films, with this being that the princesses play the role of the damsel in distress, for example, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. 

‌Disney and the Damsel in Distress

The ‘first golden age’ was kickstarted by Snow White with its release in the year 1937. Back in its time, it was coined a groundbreaking animation due to its technicolour, soundtrack, and multiplane camera work. Although unsurprising due to the year in which it was released, Snow White has received an immense amount of backlash due to the main message it portrays. The ‘damsel in distress’ waiting for her prince to save her is very typical for Disney princess movies of this timeframe, and almost the only storyline they seem to use as snow white isn't the only Disney princess movie this is seen in. Being constantly shown influential female characters that are constantly needing to be saved by powerful men creates extreme tunnel vision for young girls. Instead of being shown how to build strength, confidence and self-love, a message of heavily relying on men for all three of these is forced into the minds of young girls, but also young boys - which could potentially affect their perception of how women are meant to be treated.

There are also elements of understanding consent that some Disney movies within this era struggle to get right. As mentioned before, With MeToo, Snow White has been a prime example on the subject of consent—a princess deep in sleep is kissed by a prince as “true love’s kiss”, without checking with her if that’s okay, sending the wrong message to children. (Fernando, 2022).

Disney's 'Third Golden Age'

We are currently living to watch and experience Disney’s ‘third golden age’ unfold before us as viewers. And the differences in messages between this and the ‘first golden age, are like night and day. Movies like Moana and Frozen, have completely different and more inclusive storylines in comparison to Snow White as both are not solely focused on unfolding a love story about a princess who needs to be saved. When focusing on Moana it’s noted to have superficial connections to prior Disney princesses, there are plenty of deliberate breaks from that tradition that make her stand out—especially in the movie’s depiction of Pacific Islander culture and the complete absence of a love interest. (Harris, 2016).