Beyond the Prince: Race and Gender Role Portrayal in Disney Princess Films

The Disney Corporation made their first princess film in 1937 and has continued producing these movies. Over the years, Disney has received criticism for their gender interpretations and lack of racial diversity. This study will examine princess films from the 1990’s and 2000’s and decide whether race or time has an effect on the gender role portrayal of each character. By using a content analysis, this study identified the changes with each princess. The findings do suggest the princess characters exhibited more egalitarian behaviors over time. 1 The Disney Princess franchise began in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and continues with the most recent film was Tangled (Rapunzel) in 2011. In past years, Disney film makers were criticized by the public audience for lack of ethnic diversity. In 1995, Disney introduced Pocahontas and three years later Mulan emerged creating racial diversity to the collection. Eleven years later, Disney released The Princess and the Frog (2009). The ongoing question is whether diverse princesses maintain the same qualities as their European counterparts. Walt Disney’s legacy lives on, but viewers are still curious about the all white princess collection which did not gain racial counterparts until 58 years later. It is important to recognize the role the Disney Corporation plays in today’s society. The company has several princesses’ films with matching merchandise. Parents purchase the items for their children and through film and merchandise, children are receiving messages such as how a woman ought to act, think or dress. Gender construction in Disney princess films remains important because of the messages it sends to children. We need to know whether gender roles presented in the films downplay the intellect of a woman in a modern society or whether Disney princesses are constricted to the female gender roles such as submissiveness and nurturing. In addition, we need to consider whether the messages are different for diverse princesses. The purpose of the study is to investigate the changes in gender construction in Disney princess characters related to the race of the character. This research also examines how gender construction of Disney princess characters changed from the 1900’s to 2000’s. A comparative content analysis will analyze gender role differences between women of color and white princesses. In particular, the study will ask whether race does matter in the gender roles revealed among each female character. By using social construction perspectives, Disney princesses of color were more masculine, but the most recent films became more egalitarian. 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Women in Disney film Davis (2006) examined women in Disney animated films by creating three categories: The Classic Years, The Middle Era, and The Eisner Era. The Classic Years, 19371967 were described as the beginning of Disney. During this period, women were rarely featured alone in films, but held central roles in the mid-1930s (Davis 2006:84). Three princess films were released and the characters carried out traditional feminine roles such as domestic work and passivity. Davis (2006) argued the princesses during The Classic Era were the least active and dynamic. The Middle Era, 1967-1988, led to a downward spiral for the company after the deaths of Walt and Roy Disney. The company faced increased amounts of debt and only eight Disney films were produced. The representation of women remained largely static (Davis 2006:137). The Eisner Era, 1989-2005, represented a revitalization of Disney with the release of 12 films with leading female roles. Based on the eras, Davis argued there was a shift after Walt Disney’s death which allowed more women in leading roles and released them from traditional gender roles. Independence was a new theme in this era allowing women to be selfsufficient unlike women in The Classic Era who relied on male heroines. Gender Role Portrayal in films England, Descartes, and Meek (2011) examined the Disney princess films and challenged the ideal of traditional gender roles among the prince and princess characters. The study consisted of all nine princess films divided into three categories based on their debut: early, middle and most current. The researchers tested three hypotheses: 1) gender roles among males and female characters would differ, 2) males would rescue or attempt to rescue the princess, and 3) characters would display more egalitarian behaviors over time (England, et al. 2011:557-58). The researchers coded traits as masculine and feminine. They concluded that princesses 3 displayed a mixture of masculine and feminine characteristics. These behaviors implied women are androgynous beings. For example, princesses portrayed bravery almost twice as much as princes (England, et al. 2011). The findings also showed males rescued women more and that women were rarely shown as rescuers. Overall, the data indicated Disney princess films had changed over time as women exhibited more masculine behaviors in more recent films. Choueiti, Granados, Pieper, and Smith (2010) conducted a content analysis regarding gender roles in top grossing Grated films. The researchers considered the following questions: 1) What is the male to female ratio? 2) Is gender related to the presentation of the character demographics such as role, type, or age? and 3) Is gender related to the presentation of character’s likeability, and the equal distribution of male and females from 1990-2005(Choueiti et al. 2010:776-77). The researchers concluded that there were more male characters suggesting the films were patriarchal. However, there was no correlation with demographics of the character and males being viewed as more likeable. Lastly, female representation has slightly decreased from 214 characters or 30.1% in 1990-94 to 281 characters or 29.4% in 2000-2004 (Choueiti et al. 2010:783). From examining gender role portrayals, females have become androgynous while maintaining minimal roles in animated film.