As sexism is a two-way street, I have decided this week to focus on what Hollywood, and in particular children's movies, are telling boys and men. Disney movies have been around for a long time, and are one of the most popular sources of movie entertainment for young children.
Forgetting that women are often times left feeling that their place is in the kitchen after a Disney film, as they now owe the love of their life after he heroically rescued them from imminent peril, Disney films may also affect how boys are growing up.
Almost all Disney movies revolve around a heterosexual love plot, and tell young boys how to interact with women- they should view them as objects of pleasure (even if not in a sexual way). The men are seen as strong, glorifying chiseled abs, a barrel chest and huge arms; a body image that is often hard to attain. The masculinity of the characters is defined by how strong they are, and unwillingness to fight is seen as pitiful.
This image, the video says, often leaves boys feeling physically inadequate and emotionally detached. They are told that strength, dominance, and sexism define who they are as masculine beings, but that leaves out the caring, compassion, and vulnerability that women are supposed to possess.
Having a movie define what children should grow up to be sort of takes away the positive self image and freedom to choose how to feel and behave in certain situations. It is as if Disney movies are telling boys that their only option is to grow up to be a soldier, an emotionless fighter who only cares about a woman because how else would the cooking and cleaning get done?
This image that we are passing on to our children needs to change, and that has to start with adults, as they are the ones creating the movies that show these negative gender portrayals that are shaping the future of children’s lives.
Kubik - BacaBerita dan Raih Pulsa
5 years ago
6 comments:
Disney at first glance is portrayed and plays off as the most wonderful thing in the world. We all have been exposed to their movies and quickly fall in love with them or with their characters. However we never question where the story plots or their characters are coming from or why they were designed in such manner. Even though everything that was said in the video is true there are many that do not want to see Disney as “the bad guy”. We all have been socially constructed to see Disney as a place where dreams come true therefore it is hard to admit to their flaws. I remember I loved Aladdin and The Lion King when I was growing up but now I see the characters we were exposed to reaffirmed a stereotype.
I agree very much with what you are saying in this post. Because of the way Disney is portrayed as a children's company and has "the happiest place on earth" as their theme park not to many people want to go pointing their fingers at them. Not only do Disney movies have an extreme amount of sexism but also racism in their films. The many different accents they give their animated creatures to the very politically not correct sayings and portrayals. I find your entire blog to be very interesting and in my own blog I focused one post on women in Hollywood, I think with more research and media coverage this could be a very interesting and big deal.
Classic Disney is much worse than it is these days. All the classic tales have these hyper masculine, muscular, booming-voice men portrayed as the hero saving the princess. In this aspect, women are shown as always needing the help of men and not being able to do anything themselves. Men have to be strong and masculine in Disney's view, and these children who watch this feel that they need to become like these "heroes." After all, Disney movies are not targeted at college students.
I have never thought of Disney movies in this way, and it was kind of surprising to see, especially in the newer Disney films. I just watched Beauty and the Beast about a week ago, and I remember that I commented on how this Gaston's neck is. After watching that YouTube video, I realized how many other things in Beauty and the Beast and in other Disney movies follow that same sort of thing. It bothers me because kids watch these movies, and therefore learn from them.
You gotta love Disney films because they teach gender, heterosexism and sexism at an early age! I loved Disney movies when I was younger. I can remember how my younger brother wanted to be John Smith and Hercules a long time ago because of how they were portrayed as masculine males. I wonder if Disney would ever do a reversal of sex and gender roles to one of their movies. Maybe not
very interesting video you posted. I look back at the Disney movies I have enjoyed as a kid and like you and many others I see exactly what your talking about. Men in Disney movies have the main roles, the stories are mostly about the male characters and their struggles. Ever so often we see some Disney films where women are the focused of the story but are always portrayed as helpless creatures in need of rescuing by a knight in shinning armor. Women are to often portrayed as a conquest for the male characters within their films and these images that are given to our kids are most often not taken seriously mostly because its Disney. Its almost like if you don't Disney or speak out against Disney in any fashion your viewed as an outsider and you don't like freedom or something like that. Its odd...
Chris Selix
Post a Comment