Media and Communication Texts - Disney Princess Franchise: From "Sleeping Beauty" to &quot

From a humble cartoon studio in the 1920s to the current preeminent conglomerate in the entertainment industry today, Disney has carried its legacy of delivering world-class stories and experiences that have profoundly influenced many generations of children in the world (Walt Disney Company, 2018). One of its most leading productions is the Disney Princesses franchise, in which feature female protagonists as the main characters. Since Disney launched its Princess brand in the 2000s, Disney princesses have become ubiquitous, represented in virtually every product category that is marketed towards young girls (Hains, 2016). However, the representation of women in the Disney movies, evidently illustrated in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Frozen', has come a long way from traditional stereotypes to novel exemplary models. This essay shall compare, contrast the representation of women, as illustrated by Disney princesses in this case, and discuss how these representations relate to broader ideological perspectives.

In fact, ideology, a system of ideas that shapes and constrains every individual’s beliefs and behaviours, profoundly influence on the way that he or she perceives the world (Sternberg, 2018). As suggested in Ott & Mack (2010), limitation, normalization, privileging, and interpellation are four ways that ideology structures our world. As proposed by Louis Althusser in his concept of interpellation, individuals, far from being unique beings, are fused into one general identity (Ott & Mack, 2010). Before one has the ability to choose his or her gender, social norms, partly shaped by the contemporary media, already define or constitute one. This process of forming identity exhibits the range of identity expressions and ascribes certain expectations to individuals. In fact, ideologies not only speak to us, but they also create “the us” (Ott & Mack, 2010, p. 140). Therefore, ideologies constructed in media texts can have effects on viewers and make them believe in what media texts portray.

Particularly, the research conducted by Sarah Coyne and her team indicated the pervasive effects of the Disney Princess marketing brand on children. Their findings reinforced the statement that the frequency of girls exposed to princess culture proportionally resonated with how they behaved in more stereotypically feminine ways. By doing so, these young girls allowed these stereotypical images to represent them, and potentially affect their behaviours, perspectives, and actions (Hains, 2016). Undeniably, the way that Disney’s princesses are depicted in the media presents some complicated implications. However, the representation of the Disney Princess franchise has evolved over time, from Disney’s princess version in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in the 1930s to Disney’s modern version of princesses in ‘Frozen’ in 2013.

On the one hand, the troublesome representation of women in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ can be served as a stark example to illustrate how women used to be stereotyped in the media. Evidently, the majority of Disney movies that were produced from the 1900s and 2000s held the unspoken stereotype that women were the less capable sex. During this time, Disney approached its princesses in a rather “damsel-in-distress” way, which failed to present the audience with a strong female protagonist (Hains, 2016). In the first place, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ defined its princess in a rather stereotypical way regarding her gender. First, the storyline portrayed a princess called Aurora who was under an eternal curse. She could only be freed by a true love’s kiss from a prince. This portrayal of Princess Aurora characterised her as a helpless individual, who failed to hold responsible for herself and needed the assistance of a male figure. In doing so, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ indicated the stereotype of women as the weaker sex. Second, the juxtaposition of Princess Aurora’s femininity and the prince’s masculinity created a binary opposition between male and female, which defined the differences of two sexes from clothes, behaviours, and ways of thinking (Gripsrud, 2006). ‘Sleeping Beauty’ built a feminine figure of the princess long blonde hair, slim waist, and soft way of talking, which was the indication of stereotypical representation of young women. Meanwhile, the prince charming was depicted through his glamorous armour, tall figure, and gentleman-like actions. Besides femininity, this portrayal of appearance in this text identified masculinity as a social norm, through the stark contradictions between masculinity and femininity. Masculinity, the standard in which gender is measured against, entails the collection of practices and images that constitute the dominance of masculinity over femininity. Masculinity puts emphasis on the physical abilities and mental power behind men (Sternberg, 2018b). In doing so, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ enlarged a bigger rift between women and men. Moreover, as masculinity represented a privileged cultural position, this text helped to build hegemonic masculinity in the viewers' minds. Thus, this incorporation of the binary oppositions indicated that while men should act accordingly to their masculine standards, women should be feminine. Indeed, this seemingly deceptive element can affect negatively in how the media consumers behave, think, and act in the long term (Sternberg, 2018b). According to Singletary (2017), the representation of gender stereotyping in the contemporary media can also condone the belief that women need to be saved by men, and owe them “more than just gratitude”.

Not only did ‘Sleeping Beauty’ reinforce gender stereotyping, the movie also suggested inappropriate ideas about the objectification of women. Objectification can be defined as the practice of viewing, using, and/or valuing a person as an object (Karsay, Knoll, & Matthes, 2017). First, in the end of the movie, the prince was hailed for saving the princess; however, Aurora as the protagonist, gained nothing except love. The princess got married to him and this objectified her as a trophy in return for the prince’s courageous act. Second, the angle that ‘Sleeping Beauty’ filmed the unconscious Aurora closing her lips indicated the male gaze. As the camera was characterised as male, it looked upon the princess Aurora as the object of its gaze (Sternberg, 2018b). Third, the non-consensual kiss, without the consent of the princess in this movie, could promote the notions of women being impassive in love and having no control over her own body. In fact, as theorists suggested that incessant exposure to sexualising media had a tendency to self-objectification among individuals, this non-consensual kiss still remained controversial as there were indications of the objectification of women (Karsay, Knoll, & Matthes, 2017).

All in all, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ portrayed its Princess Aurora particularly, and women generally, by defining women with gender stereotyping and objectifying women. Considering broader ideological perspectives, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ failed to embrace the unique identity of woman in the society; therefore, exerted a limited representation of women through feminine appearance and their passive characteristics in the media. However, the representation of women in ‘Frozen’ - another Disney Princess franchise movie - has challenged the conventional representation of women by displaying progressive characters, who were more active, stronger, and more heroic.

On the other hand, Frozen, published in 2013, could be best illustrated by princesses Elsa and Anna in ‘Frozen’, who showcased the modern rendition to the traditional Disney Princess. (Robehmed, 2015). It proves to be one of the most female-empowered films that Disney has ever produced. The most evident element that made ‘Frozen’ being one of the most progressive movies ever that portrayed women, is that Frozen’s princesses - Elsa and Anna - did not fit neatly into the well-defined stereotypical gender roles. Nevertheless, like any Disney Princess movies, particularly ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Frozen’ displayed some conspicuous traces of gender roles being stereotyped. For example, they were illustrated in the scenes where Elsa’s hyper emotions were hidden within the castle as woman’s outrageous emotions should be concealed or Anna wanted to marry the prince charming she only met once. These indicated that women were easily affected by emotional forces and easily swayed by the platonic love at first sight. These scenes bore some subtle resemblance to what ‘Sleeping Beauty’ portrayed of its princess (Chan, 2016). However, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ highlighted the romantic relationship between men and women while ‘Frozen’ accentuated the long-lasting bond between two sisters throughout the storyline. This could be seen as an evolving movement from the representation of women as it further implies that besides from the traditional prince charming that any women dream of, sisterhood or family should be also of women’s top priority and they can contribute as equal as the romantic relationship does to women’s happiness.

Notwithstanding, the majority of the film displayed progressive characters of Elsa and Anna. First, the princesses in ‘Frozen’ showcased character development along the movie. First, from the commencement of the film, Elsa, with inherent magic powers, was a position of control over her kingdom (Chan, 2016). Elsa's capabilities to reign her kingdom challenged the conventional gender roles in which women did not usually have power and predesignated masculine qualities which were usually associated with men. At first, Elsa could not control her overwhelming magic powers and had to hide them from her citizens. However, gradually, she learned to moderate and embrace her powers as part of herself. Over time, she became mentally stronger, without having to shun from social norms. Evidently, her character development throughout the movie challenged gender stereotyping of women. Also, as the film progressed, Elsa’s sister, Anna, transformed into a more assertive individual who decided to find her sister Elsa by herself. If the prince in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was the one who saved the princess, the princess Anna in this film was the one who initiated to find and save her sister, without calling for any help from her then-fiancé, Prince Hans. Therefore, even with the company of Kristoff, who was introduced as Anna’s guide, Anna’s presence still overshadowed that of Kristoff. While Kristoff’s character growth remained untraceable throughout the movie, Anna gradually evolved into a more empowering character. In fact, while the masculinity of men in ‘Frozen’ was rather ambiguously portrayed in Kristoff, the presence of Elsa and Anna being unconfined to any gender stereotyping of women was portrayed with a profound impact (Chan, 2016).

In general, ‘Frozen’’s princesses were fearless, self-empowering individuals who could go to any lengths within their power to protect their family and loved ones. They were seen as the female action heroes as they did not conform to any sexualised, stereotypical idea that forced women’s existence to please men visually and sexually (Sternberg, 2018b). ‘Frozen’ did a good job of showing the character development of its princesses throughout the movie as more capable individuals.

Nevertheless, some similarities and differences are noteworthy in how women were portrayed in these two media texts Disney Princess franchise movies. Both movies showcased some traces of gender stereotyping. First, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ represented its princess Aurora in light of her predesignated femininity against the masculinity of prince charming through their appearance and their behaviours. On the other hand, while ‘Frozen’ also indicated some minor signs of gender stereotyping through Anna’s desire to marry someone only at first sight and Elsa’s conceal of her overwhelming emotion, the movie mostly did not focus on the femininity and masculinity of its characters. Besides, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ depicted its princess in a rather objectified way as illustrated in the way of the prince “winning” the princess as a trophy, the male-gaze through the camera lens, and the non-consensual kiss. In contrast, ‘Frozen’ showcased its characters’ gradual development throughout the movie as Elsa became more capable of controlling her magic power and reigning her kingdom and Anna became more confident in doing her own thing without the help of any man. Over time, these princesses obliterated the mold of traditional expectations that were shaped by their predecessors (Singletary, 2017).

In conclusion., this essay has compared, contrasted the representation of women, as illustrated by Princess Aurora in ‘Sleeping Beauty’, princesses Elsa and Anna in ‘Frozen’, and has discussed how these representations relate to broader ideological perspectives. Indeed, the Disney Princess franchise has definitely evolved over time, from the illustration of Princess Aurora as the weaker sex to the empowered, leading ladies like Elsa and Anna.