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Women Empowerment Throughout Disney

        Disney productions have a special way of reaching various audiences. With creations and films ranging from action and adventure to tellings of fairy tales, Disney has the ability to create and portray significant morals. Throughout many of these film’s charming stories, their charm can take a serious turn when we acknowledge how they impact young minds. Within recent Disney productions, we have found threads of women empowerment. Each of the films we have chosen contrast the values presented in the typical princess narrative. Throughout these chosen movies, we discover that Disney continues to bring up themes of feminism that impacts everyone who views them immensely. These movies show the strength of women, how women can be independent, and the power within each of these female characters. Our movies we have selected are Disney’s Mulan, The Princess and the Frog, and Frozen, which all show a great deal of self-empowerment for women.    

        The points made in Disney’s Mulan show a different viewing on what people normally think of when they hear the word princess. It is a story about a girl named Mulan who lives in China, where patriarchy is huge and women are supposed to be a certain way. She carries strength and self-determination throughout the movie, breaking her cultures normal views of women, infringing the strict gender roles. Disney displays this powerful topic throughout Mulan on how a woman can be courageous, brave and basically do anything that men can do. By watching this Disney movie, it exposes girls at a young age to this inspiring and important subject. Overall, Mulan is a women figure who achieves respect breaking the gender roles placed on her, basically by saving her country, showing this image of self-empowerment for all who watch, especially young girls. The themes of being a woman with the characteristics of independency, bravery and determination also appear in other Disney films, one of them being Disney’s Princess and the Frog.

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog promotes the protagonist, Tiana, as an ambitious woman chasing and achieving her dreams. Throughout the course of the film, the evolvement of Tiana is displayed as she begins as a young girl with hopes and dreams of opening her own restaurant and grows to be a successful woman conquering and fulfilling those dreams. The many different stages of Tiana shown throughout the film creates a relatable context for a vast audience of women. There is no limit to the amount of women Tiana is able to inspire, but her inspiration is especially relatable and critical for young girls. As Tiana grows from a young, hopeful girl into a hard-working woman, we become aware of her constant struggle and what it will take for her to achieve her dream. She continuously works two jobs with the need for the amount of money it will take to open her own restaurant, depriving herself of any free time that does not pertain to achieving her goals in the future. With minor setbacks and obstacles shown throughout the film, such as being turned into a frog, we watch as Tiana struggles, but manages to overcome difficult times with determination, persistence, and passion. No matter the amount of times it seems impossible for Tiana to open her own, successful restaurant, she manages to succeed. The Princess and the Frog is a Disney film that consists of more than just a love story. Its deeper significance and purpose is to display a young, independent woman working to open her own business. The film teaches young girls, and women of all ages, that women are capable of following their dreams and working hard to achieve their own goals.

In addition to the films mentioned above, Disney’s Frozen takes a different viewpoint of princesses by focusing the film on the power of two sisters. Elsa and Anna, though completely different, each serve an important role in the film. Elsa breaks the “normal” princess stereotype, abandoning her kingdom and finding what it means to be free of gender roles, expectations, and obligations. She exemplifies how letting go of what holds you back can be liberating, but also can bring more responsibilities. Anna’s character on the other hand begins the movie rather naïve, and must learn what it means to be responsible and independent as she goes on the quest to bring Elsa back to Arendelle. Anna shows young children the importance of speaking up for yourself, putting your family first, and learning from your mistakes. In the end of the film both girls must learn just how powerful their love for each other is to save each other. Elsa must put aside her quarrels with her past to save her little sister from the ice in her heart, and bring spring back to the land. Because this ending is so different than the standard princess movie it brings forward prominent feminist themes such as female empowerment through sisterhood, matriarchal power versus the patriarchy, and breaking stereotypes. Both Anna and Elsa’s characters show how the love between sisters is more powerful than any man trying to make you a damsel in distress.

Throughout each of these Disney films we are able to link themes of feminism, such as women empowerment, confidence in identity, and liberation from gender roles. Women empowerment shown through popular media is encouraging to those who watch, and the Disney films that we chose portray this inspiring image for those who view them. It is important for these topics of feminism to be shown to all audiences because it truly affects how we interact in our world. Not only does it affect how we interact with the world, it affects the young audiences that the films generally are focused on.The points made in these newer Disney Films open the eyes of younger generations, showing them that there are different lenses to view the world through. These new ideas of feminism that these Disney characters portray, can help build children up into independent thinkers because of the different characters they see in media. This allows children to aspire to be more than a princess that is motivated by a male influence. This is different than older Disney films because of the independent nature of the characters, and the self-empowerment they embody. With all these themes in mind, Disney makes it possible for children to understand mature themes of feminism through the storylines, animation, and characters in which they see.

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Women Empowerment Throughout Disney: The Princess and the Frog

           Almost every fairy tale tells the same story: man and woman fall in love, become prince and princess, and live happily ever after. Conventionally, fairy tales have the connotation of depicting women as weak and vulnerable, or at least that’s how fairy tales began to resonate with me. My view was not shifted until recent Disney fairy tales offered a new twist to the women of fairy tales within their films and stories; freeing female characters of oppression by advocating women empowerment. It is a twist I favorably admire and appreciate for its ability to inspire women of all ages, especially young girls. Encouraging young girls to take control and create their own success stories, these Disney films embody women who fight for what they want, accomplish success, and become princesses while staying true to themselves. Disney portrays these empowering female narratives in multiple ways, but one Disney princess I specifically admire for her ambitious demeanor and independent success is Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

The Princess and the Frog (2009) offers this twist from start to finish within the determined and persistent actions and achievements of Tiana. From the start of the animation, Tiana loves to cook and not in a stereotypical-women-must-cook manner. I sense from her excitement and anticipation from her father taste-testing her “gumbo” that she has a strong passion for cooking. It’s within this moment we become aware of Tiana’s dreams. Her father encourages her to follow her dreams by saying, “You wish and you dream with all your little heart, but you remember Tiana, that old star can only take you part of the way. You gotta help along with some hard work of your own and then you can do anything you set your mind to.” Just within this quote, Disney is renovating the way in which a girl can dream. Instead of dismissing his daughter’s abilities to follow her dreams and open up her own restaurant simply because she’s a female, her father motivates her to accomplish her goals. Admiring the fact that there is no sugarcoating involved, Tiana’s father acknowledges that along with following dreams, achieving them will be difficult, but he never underestimates his daughter’s ability to pursue them. Due to the animated story being set in New Orleans in the 1920s, I find it inspiring hearing a father encouraging his daughter in that manner. It was within this time that women were just receiving their right to vote, let alone contemplating opening up their own businesses, but meanwhile, Disney displayed Tiana’s father showing no signs of fear in his daughter’s ability to be independent and successful. Just within the first fifteen minutes of the film, young girls everywhere are being presented with the mindset that they can do anything to which they set their minds, supporting the notion that women have the ability to be independent and successful simply with the effects of their own hard work.

           Straying away from the typical fairy tale, Tiana puts herself and her goals before any man and remains true to herself throughout her journey. As Tiana reaches her young adult years, she works two jobs with the objective being to acquire the amount of money she will need to open her own restaurant. When Tiana’s mother confesses her wishes for Tiana to “meet her Prince Charming and dance into her happily ever after,” Tiana replies with the song, “Almost There.” Within this song, she explains how she doesn’t have time for dancing because she’s “almost there,” inferring her closeness to reaching her goals. Young girls listening closely will sing along to the song feeling empowered by Tiana’s determination and achievements. While listening to Tiana’s assuring voice, I myself feel a great sense of encouragement to continue striving for success. Depriving herself of any free time that does not pertain to achieving her goals in the future, Tiana makes it known that she does not need a man in her life. Although The Princess and the Frog eventually offers a love story between Tiana and a Prince Naveen, it’s only due to the circumstances Tiana was placed under involving voodoo magic that transformed her into a frog along with Prince Naveen. With this minor setback to her career, Tiana embarks on a journey, all while staying true to herself. When Prince Naveen admits his use of voodoo magic with the hopes of becoming rich was what put himself and Tiana in this predicament, Tiana scolds him with her ongoing belief, “The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work.” No matter how tough the times became, Tiana remained faithful to herself and her beliefs. She projected her beliefs upon others, encouraging honorable and effective approaches to life. Throughout the film, Disney conveys Tiana’s character showing consistency within her stance on how to achieve success with the intentions of having her behavior perceived and imitated by their young audience.

While most fairy tales display a young woman aspiring for marriage with a “Prince Charming,” The Princess and the Frog shows Tiana as a woman whose only aspiration is to make her dreams a reality. For generations and even in today’s culture, young girls are taught that they must aspire to marriage and start their own family. Tiana pushes boundaries on this ideal image of a woman’s purpose. Towards the climax of the film, when it becomes evident that Prince Naveen is about to propose to Tiana, she is still blinded by her dreams of opening her restaurant. Within this moment, young girls watching are taught that their dreams and goals are able to be their number one priority. It is not until Tiana overhears Prince Naveen’s plans to propose to her that she realizes his love for her. Her oblivion to love due to her concentration on her goals completely opposes any other plot of any other fairy tale. These fairy tales contrasting the story of The Princess and the Frog display a narrative with a love story as the only subject. Disney’s classic Sleeping Beauty (1959), for example, illustrates a narrative of a sleeping woman who’s only purpose is to be awoken by a true love’s kiss. The Princess and the Frog offers more to the average love story providing the audience with a new perspective on a woman’s purpose. It depicts a narrative of a girl growing into the woman to which she aspires and putting the idea of marriage second behind her goals. As the storyline progresses to an ending, Prince Naveen and Tiana get married, beat the voodoo magic, and are transformed back into humans. Tiana becomes Princess Tiana and is able to get right back to where she was before being turned into a frog. No amount of struggle could hold Tiana back from conquering her dreams. With the money she worked for all her life, she finally accomplishes her goals and opens up her own restaurant naming it “Tiana’s Palace.” The film accentuates the theme that women need not to rely on men and have the freedom to choose how they want to live their lives. Disney portrays Princess Tiana to young girls watching all over as an ambitious individual, unafraid of making her dreams her priority.

           With newly portrayed ideas such as supporting a woman-owned business, encouragement to follow passions, and the importance of individuality, Disney displays their desire to empower the vast, female audience. If I am ever lucky enough to have a daughter of my own, The Princess and the Frog is one of the first Disney movies I will show to her. Throughout childhood, the stories read to children and the movies watched by children play a crucial role in influencing their own beliefs, actions, and character. In an attempt to guide children towards their fullest potential, I find it essential to choose what they listen to and watch wisely and with caution. Disney exhibits an understanding of this theory when placing reputable characteristics upon Princess Tiana. They exemplify Princess Tiana as an epitome of a successful woman. The life Tiana leads throughout the film and the measures she takes to overcome struggle and achieve her success is encouragement to all women and young girls to work towards diminishing the effects of oppression casted upon women. After having viewed Tiana’s journey, a young girl will feel a sense of empowerment and will work to achieve a confidence and work ethic similar to Tiana’s as she prospers into a young woman. Women of all ages will aspire to have characteristics similar to Tiana. The Princess and the Frog, along with other recent Disney films, is in the process of shaping a better future for all generations of women including generations to come with the morals and qualities found within their well-written narratives and respectable characters.

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Showing Women Empowerment through Disney’s “Mulan”

     Growing up I always looked up to all the Disney princesses. I aspired to be everything that they offered; bravery, beauty, confidence, grace, strength, love and much more. As a child I did not realize how much these princesses were helping to shape me, but as I am getting older and looking back I can see how Disney impacted my character. One princess that always stood out to me and even up to this day shows me this sense of empowerment, is Disney’s Mulan.

    In China, it is important that young girls like Mulan to find the perfect match, a husband, to bring honor to their families. In the movie, Mulan’s parents push a lot of pressure on Mulan to be this “perfect” women so she is able to find a spouse. In the scene of the song “Honor to Us All”, Mulan goes to meet with the matchmaker, if she finds a great soul mate, she can bring great honor to her family. This pressure to bring honor to her family by being a great match to someone is thrown onto Mulan. Also, the very specific gender roles play an important part in this movie. In this culture, women are very proper, or “lady-like,” delicate. None of those things are wrong, but Mulan simply does not have those characteristics. In multiple scenes, you can see Mulan being clumsy, or not following the more proper ways of a women. For instance, instead of practicing a speech for the matchmaker, Mulan writes her answers onto her wrist, showing this sense of being a rebel and not following the rules. You see that throughout the movie Mulan is different than what the people around her pressure her to be, and this stood out to me as a kid.

      As a child, while viewing the scene of Mulan going to see the matchmaker I was able to connect with her attitude, I saw myself having many similarities. I am clumsy and I am not so proper. Although, different from Mulan, I never had the pressure of my parents to be a certain way, but I was surrounded in an area where my friends had these particular views on how a woman, or girl, should be. Being a young girl who acted differently than her peers, and had different viewpoints, Mulan inspired me in many ways. It showed that women do not have to be the “stereotypical” viewpoints and pressures that so many people put on them. Now watching this scene of Mulan going to meet the matchmaker while I am older, I almost get sad. The fact that Mulan is so torn down because she does not fit these certain standards that her culture and parents hold on her breaks my heart. Mulan soon after this scene goes into the famous well known Mulan song, “Reflection”. She says in the song, “Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?” here she is questioning herself, wondering who she is. Later on in the song Mulan sings, “I am now, in a world where I have to hide my heart, and what I believe in” showing how she is under this sense of restriction. Mulan ends the song with the main line and repeated lyric saying, “When will my reflection show, who I am inside?”, this part of the lyrics shows that Mulan is searching for a way to be herself and to show it to the world, rather than wearing this fake identity that her parents and culture force onto her.

       Later on in the movie, the Chinese emperor sends out a message saying that one man from each family needs to recruit to war, and go to the army. Mulan an only child, knowing her father is old and not fit to go to war, leaves in the middle of the night posing as a male to take her father’s place. For the majority of the rest of the movie Mulan is pretending to be a man, changing her name to “Ping”. Mulan (Ping) continues to fight for her father and mother, and for China. By being this character and breaking the normal gender roles in her culture, Mulan shows so much strength and bravery. This shows so much power, and by doing this Mulan is showing the young girls who view this movie, and other women, that they too can break the norm and certain structures into which they are placed.

         Another very strong point that Disney’s Mulan shows, is that Mulan does not need a man to do any of these things. Throughout the movie Mulan shows agency in herself, proving that women do not need to count on men to rescue them on certain situations. One part in the movie that stands out is when all the war members are giving a task by the army leader Li Shang to climb to the top of a tall wooden pillar while holding weights to retrieve an arrow. None of the men could do it, but Mulan ends up accomplishing the task herself. In the matter of fact throughout the whole movie Mulan continues to put herself in situations where she alone is rescuing men and other people. Mulan actually ends up rescuing everyone and winning the war at the end of the movie, basically all by herself. This act of independency that Disney’s Mulan shows through this female character Mulan is very powerful. When a young girl sees this, it helps them develop a sense of courage and maybe even self-esteem. Li Shang and Mulan do end up falling in love after Shang figures out Ping is actually Mulan. Although this romance is not the main focus of the movie, like the standard princess fairytale. Throughout the movie Mulan is individually showing strength and power through herself by saving her people, rather than through a male character coming to rescue her.

       Mulan, the main female role in Disney’s Mulan, is a young girl who lives in China, under very strict patriarchy authority. Mulan’s parents see her as their precious girl, wanting her to fit in to the normal and specific roles women have in this culture. In the movie, Mulan breaks through this gender role norm, showing her strength and determination. She is an empowering figure who demonstrates bravery, courage, independency. This agency that Mulan shows as a woman, gives hope to the viewers of this movie. Young girls who see this bravery are then inspired to be who they desire. Disney’s Mulan inspires young girls, and woman, that breaking the normal gender roles and structures that their culture and society places on them, is showing bravery and strength, and empowers them to do break free of this restriction.

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Disney’s “Frozen” Correlated with Feminism

While it is considered a children’s movie and targets a young age group, the underlying themes in this film are unprecedented. The themes in “Frozen” set it apart from previous Disney movies because the film advocates for sisterly love, independence, and matriarchal power. Though many would not like to admit it, this movie has strong Feminist themes, such as women empowered by their identity, and working to free women from the domineering grasp of overbearing men. “Frozen” uses these themes not only to show the importance of strong women, but to show that men do not always play a hand in the success of a woman. “Frozen” depicts independent outspoken women, to teach young girls that they are enough, with or without a male figure in their lives.  

“Frozen” is one of the first Disney movies in years to accurately represent strong female characters, and is the first to show this power through sisterhood. Representation of powerful female characters who are not motivated by men and/or are not looking for male approval, is important when shaping young minds. It is equally important for young girls and boys, because both must understand there is nothing wrong with a powerful, outspoken woman. Too often in our popular culture young girls are taught to be soft in ways that harm them. This means we are taught as women from a young age not to be intimidating, not to be loud, not to be “bossy”, and especially not to be overly masculine. Boys are also forced into boxes at a young age, being taught to be overly masculine, not to show emotion, and not to “act like a girl” or let a girl be better than them. “Frozen” challenges this, showing children of any gender not to be afraid or intimidated by powerful women. It presents a new way of thinking to children, that princesses are not always dependent on princes, and that a woman can be happy and successful without male influence. Throughout the movie Anna puts Christoph in his place. She often follows her own agenda and becomes the captain of her own fate while trying to find her sister. Elsa’s character follows similar themes, never really finding a love interest, and abandoning her kingdom which is unusual for the typical Disney princess narrative.

Though this may seem a bit over young children’s heads, they are able to recognize the eternal sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna and the happiness that it creates. This can be seen in the ending scenes of the film, when Anna is frozen and Elsa save’s her with the love in her tears. My sister was only four years old when she viewed the movie for the first time with my parents and I. She was completely capable of understanding what was going on, and could recognize the significance in Elsa and Anna’s bond.  She was aware that though Anna had made Christoph her friend, she was not dependent on him, and she certainly did not take orders from him. Children all over the world were able to love Elsa despite her being depicted as an untraditional Princess. The song “Let it go” which freed Elsa from her royal obligations, and the identity she once held, became one of the most popular Disney songs to date.

We may not like to admit it as adults, but children absorb the messages being conveyed to them through the media more easily than we anticipate. That is why it is so important to recognize the need for feminist themes in media, and representation of all genders, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds. Though Disney is not consistent nor perfect with how they depict women, the films they have been creating have all involved strong female leads who are not influenced or motivated by their male counterparts. “Moana” which was released in 2016 also continues to push forward many of the themes presented in “Frozen”. The significance of this film is untimely because it is able to show both children and adults how characters can challenge societal norms through an animated children’s film. 

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To close out International Women’s Day…

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All of these speak to me SO MUCH

Find the rest here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jobarrow/these-stunning-illustrations-contain-powerful-messages-for-w?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp#2nfpw1h

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Source: https://m.facebook.com/carolrossettidesign/photos/pb.562486247204256.-2207520000.1411929704./657764337676446/?type=1&source=42

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When Maite had her first girlfriend at 16, many thought she was just experimenting. It may as well have been the case, but Maite can’t recall ever hearing that her sister was simply going through a phase when she had her first boyfriend… Artist: Carol Rossetti

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Carol Rossetti drawings.

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new print in my shops ! ❤ s6 // rb

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