Monday, March 12, 2018

Disney Princesses and the Portrayal of Women Public Syllabus


Exigence:

The portrayal of women in Disney Princess movies has evolved over time. From the damsel-in-distress Snow White, warrior Mulan, to hero Moana, Disney Princesses have changed drastically over the years. This class revolves around the portrayal of women in Disney Princess movies. We will cover most of the Princesses starting from Snow White and Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Elsa, and ending with the latest addition, Moana. It is important that Disney changes their perception of women with each movie. Viewers of these movies relate themselves to the protagonist. Young and older girls will be watching with wide eyes, wanting to be exactly like the princesses they see on the big screen. As Disney moves forward into the 21st century, their perception of women becomes more realistic with current views. The princesses young girls see on the screen will be worthy role models. Disney has recently started a campaign called, Dream Big Princess, to inspire girls to follow their dreams and realize their potential. Women’s roles in Disney Princess movies has evolved over the last eighty years from women cooking, cleaning and waiting to be saved, to women taking leadership and saving themselves as well as the ones they care about.

This class can is also an interesting way to teach about history pertaining to females and their images and their roles in society and how different it was for women back when the older movies were being released. Classic Disney movies such as Cinderella and Snow White show the female role as a caregiver of the household. Women in society were expected to stay home and take care of everything in the house and to care for their children and husband. However in later years, Disney has released Mulan and Moana, targeting problems such as women serving in combat for their countries military and women’s rights showing the female characters as heros instead of the princes. Women and their roles in terms of familial and societal setting have undeniably changed drastically since the 1930’s. This progression of independence has lead more women to positions of power in the business and political world today, and social media influences are without question powerful for the upcoming generations. So the princess on the screen saving the day all by herself has beyond any doubt shown children today that you can be your own hero no matter what gender you are, and with societies gender norms changing, its never been easier.

Besides the increase of feminist qualities and the display of gender roles, the family dynamic for each princess and the relationships that they carry are quite interesting. Throughout a significant amount of Disney movies, the writers and directors follow two particular themes that seem to fluctuate over time. Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel are examples of princesses from different time periods where the family bond is weak and abuse and manipulation

Although this class focuses on women specifically, boys and men would benefit from such a class as well. The issues we chose to focus on in class are just a portion of the issues that happen on a day to day basis regarding women. Most of the time, from a young age, boys are taught that women are the weaker gender. Thus, these views towards women are negative behaviors that need to be changed. Men would understand the stereotypes that are placed upon women and hopefully realize that women in this day and age need to be treated better and not portrayed as below them. Women can learn a sense of self-esteem, identity, and confidence. Ultimately, this class primarily results in the knowledge of equality. Someone taking this class may be majoring in the field of women and gender studies, psychology, economics, film studies and many more.
Topics to focus on when analyzing sources:
  • Breaking stereotypes
  • Feminism/equality or equity
  • Independence of women
  • Family/friend relationships
  • Real life events/attitudes during time of movie release

Week One: Intro/Overview



Primary Source:

  • Maity, Nandini. “Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender Roles in Disney Princess Films.” IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), vol. 19, no. 10, Oct. 2014, pp. 28–31., https://people.ucsc.edu/~cjgoldma/E0191032831.pdf.  

Secondary Sources:



Week Two: Snow White (1937) and Cinderella (1950) First Disney Princesses Ever

(Is Princess Culture Bad For Children?)



Primary sources:

  • Disney, Walt, et al. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Distributed by Buena Vista Film Distribution Co., 1937.
  • Peed, William, et al. Cinderella. Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 1949.
  • Kinberg, Simon, et al. Cinderella. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2015.
Secondary sources:

Week Three: Ariel (1989) Young Rebellious Teenager


Primary source:

  • “The Little Mermaid.” Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc, 1989.

Secondary sources:
Week Four: Belle (1991) Women and Education



Primary sources:

  • Trousdale, Gary and Kirk Wise, directors. Beauty and the Beast. Walt Disney Pictures, 1991.
  • Chbosky, Stephen, and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Beauty and the Beast. Walt Disney Pictures, 2017.
Secondary sources:

Week Five: Jasmine (1992) Arranged Marriages vs Marriage for Love


Primary source:

  • Clements, Ron and John Musker, directors. Aladdin. Walt Disney Pictures, 1992.
Secondary sources:
  • Layng, J. M. (2001). The animated woman: The powerless beauty of Disney heroines from Snow White to Jasmine. The American Journal of Semiotics. 17(3), 197-215. http://0-search.proquest.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/docview/213749805?accountid=14578
  • O'Brien, Daniel. Why Everyone in Aladdin is Awful - Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder. YouTube, 27 June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hql_vPWmDKg. Accessed 11 Mar. 2018.
  • Thomas, Rhiannon. “Aladdin”. Feminist Fiction. August 1, 2014. Retrieved 11 Mar. 2018.


Week Six: Mulan (1998) Women’s Roles in the Military



Primary source:

  • Cook, Barry and Tony Bancroft, directors. Mulan. Walt Disney Pictures, 1998
Secondary sources:

Week Seven: Tiana (2009) First African American Princess


Primary sources:

  • Clements, Ron and John Musker, directors. The Princess and the Frog. Walt Disney Pictures, 2009.
Secondary sources

Week Eight: Rapunzel (2010) Growing up Without Real Parents


Primary sources:

  • Greno, Nathan and Byron Howard, directors. Tangled. Walt Disney Pictures, 2010.
  • Howard, Byron and Nathan Greno, directors. Tangled: Ever After. Walt Disney Pictures, 2012.
Secondary sources:
  • Team, MAKERS. “Disney Has Done It Again: Princess Rapunzel Rejects Marriage Proposal, Breaking Stereotypes.” MAKERS, MAKERS, 15 May 2017,www.makers.com/blog/disney-princess-rapunzel-rejects-marriage-proposal-breaking-stereotypes.
  • DelRosso, J. (2015). De-tangling Motherhood: Adoption Narratives in Disney's Tangled. The Journal of Popular Culture. 48(3), 520-533. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12281
  • Kapurch, K. (2016). Something else besides a daughter?: maternal melodrama meets postfeminist girlhood in Tangled and Brave. The Lion and the Unicorn. 40(1), 39-61. http://0-search.proquest.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/docview/1810882501?accountid=1457
Week Nine: Elsa (2013) Saved by Sister Not Prince Charming


Primary source:

  • Buck, Chris and Jennifer Lee, directors. Frozen. Walt Disney Pictures, 2014.
Secondary sources:
  • Rudloff, M. (2016). (Post)feminist paradoxes: the sensibilities of gender representation in Disney's Frozen. Outskirts. 35, 1-20. http://0-search.proquest.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/docview/1881309345?accountid=14578
  • Ali, Nadia. "What Disney’s ‘Frozen’ can teach us about mental illness." The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/05/13/what-disneys-frozen-teach-us-about-mental-illness/?utm_term=.a57996fd94f3. Accessed 12 Mar. 2018.
  • Law, Michelle. “SISTERS DOIN' IT FOR THEMSELVES: Frozen and the Evolution of the Disney Heroine.” ProQuest, 2014, search.proquest.com/docview/1652692471?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14578.

Week Ten: Moana (2016) First Disney Princess Without a Love Interest


Primary source:

  • Clements, Ron and John Musker, directors. Moana. Walt Disney Pictures, 2016.
Secondary sources:
Assignments:

1). Whether or not you identify as female, women are all around us. We can each relate to them, either personally, through our loved ones, or merely through society today. Taking the princesses’ stories and histories into consideration, write a response indicating which princess you connect with or look up to the most and explain why. Your response should be at least 2-3 paragraphs long and in MLA format.

2). Write an essay contrasting two different princesses from any time period and explain their portrayal of women. You may also discuss the differences of the importance of

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