Films based on fairy tale characters have evolved over generations to reflect the roles of females in society. This evolution has also impacted young viewer’s ideas of femininity and changed their dialogue about the subject. Disney, the foremost company in producing these types of films, has noticed that audiences want characters that are relatable and this mean changes over time. I believe that these types of character have evolved since the 1960’s and as a result has affect children’s linguistics. By comparing and contrasting popular Disney movies with “princess” type characters, I endeavor to explore this topic in depth.
In earlier Disney films, such as “Snow White” or “Sleeping Beauty” the tone takes on gender roles that are pre-feminist movement. The character preform more traditionally feminine roles, such as cooking, cleaning, and care giving. Both character when met with ill fate did little to remedy the situation, instead staying hid away until a male figure could come to their rescue. This sense of helplessness in relation to feminism was a reflection of societies’ view that women were “less than” men. While it is true that there are some females with power, such as the evil queen, they only got their role through “womanly deceit”. The women with power are portrayed as the villains of the story (Project MUSE). Typically the males hold more power, their duties was to protect the female characters and provide for her needs. This sets up children for some very negative views of females as helpless, simple, or deceitful creatures. The language in the films are often demeaning towards the female characters, such as “evil queens/ stepmothers/ witches”, “ugly stepsisters” and helpless girls doomed forever to cooking and cleaning until their prince comes for them where they are most likely going to live out the rest of their life performing the same stereotypical gender roles(“language and gender”).
The characters in the earlier films were typically soft spoken and meek. They seemed to feel uncomfortable talking to others and typically only spoken when spoken to first. It seemed their most freeing form of speech was singing. Singing was used to convey emotion that the characters had a difficult time expressing through their speech.
This is in stark contrast to more modern Disney movies, with gender role reversals such as “Brave” or “Mulan”. Both of these characters are not feminine girls, early in life they both learned to rely on their strengths instead of conforming to feminine standards. Mulan takes on a more traditional masculine role as a warrior, while Merida defies rules and goes on an adventure that was denied her because of her gender. Both also express a disdain for marriage, child rearing, household work, and traditional female activities in favor of more boyish activities. These characters bend traditional gender roles, allowing for an open dialogue in children about choices (“grimm language”). The characters also typically speak more than their previous counterparts. Singing is still used in these films, but speaking takes a more prominent role. These females are more willing to express their thoughts through words and confront their peers head on. This tougher, edgier type of female is expressed through their speech patterns and body language. Outspoken and open minded, they do not hide behind songs. Females now have a much wider range of options available to them and children are more open minded to the idea of not conforming to gender roles (Green).
Films have also become more cultural diverse to represent the changing demographics of society. All of these present positive messages to children. While description in previous films were as “evil”, “ugly”, “helpless”, or a “beauty”, descriptive words in more modern films include “honorable”, “brave”, or “ordinary” (Green) . While ordinary might not seem like a huge compliment, it is much more relatable and obtainable to children than a princess who is valued only for her looks or social standing (COLFA). The vocabulary used in today’s films are much more modern and incorporates modern slang and phrases that are not really in keeping with more traditional tales. The previous films stuck much closer to their origins in terms of dialogue and vocabulary.
In conclusion, when comparing and contrasting princess type characters in Disney films, it would seem that this evolution of feminism and linguistics provides a much more positive outlook for children.
Works Cited:
COLFA. "Language and Ethnicity in Disney." COLFA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
Green, L. "Sociolinguistics." BU. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
Green, L. "The Linguistics of Disney." Digital library. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
"Language and Gender in the Fairy Tale Tradition : Palgrave Connect." Home : Palgrave Connect. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
Penny, L. (2012): n. page. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Project MUSE - Language and Gender in the Fairy Tale Tradition: A Linguistic Analysis of Old and New Story Telling (review)." Project MUSE. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.
