It is a fact that American children spend up to 5000 hours watching television before they get to first grade (Tonn, 5). The impact of television viewing on the perceptions of these can, therefore, not be ignored since children are very impressionable and form an active audience (Sawyer, 3). The impressions are even more profound in their perceptions of love and life since children do not have another avenue to learn about them because their parents do not talk to them about these issues. The input of Disney movies is examined closely since they are specifically made with children in mind, and children have a lot of contact with them. Disney has other products like toys and dolls which children interact with thus increasing their contact time with the franchise. (Tonn, 5) These effects will be examined in the context of two short stories; Sandra Cisnero’s ‘Woman Hollering Creek’ and Maile Meloy’s ‘Ranch Girl’.
When growing up, every young girl dreams of meeting her prince charming, marrying him and living happily ever after. This notion of a happily ever after has been propagated by Disney movies and films where the leading female character always gets married to a handsome man, and they live in eternal bliss, Snow White marries the prince, and so does Ariel. In a study carried out by Tonn, all the participants reported that they believed in the notion of a happily ever after. (23) The same is reflected in Cisneros story Woman Hollering Creek where Cleophilas is looking for passion, not just any kind of passion, but “the kind books and songs and telenovelas describe when one finds, finally, the great love of one’s life”(6). In Ranch Girl, the narrator talks of Andy, ‘the one’ who makes her unable to have another serious boyfriend even after his death since he was the one in her head and, therefore, no one can replace him (1).
It is this perception of a happily ever after life that creates very high expectations in women about love and marriage and inevitably leads to their disappointment. Tonn reports that the perceptions of women change as they grow up mainly due to their own dating experiences (24). Cisneros brings this out when Cleophilas marriage goes sour due to physical abuse, alcoholism, poverty and possibly infidelity. She still views her life as the telenovela she had imagined it would be only that the episodes keep getting sadder, there are no commercial breaks, and there is no happily ever after in sight (5). The same happens to Carla in Ranch Girl who marries Dale with dreams of a happily ever after which are dashed after their marriage ends in divorce (1). These disappointments happen because Disney movies do not show how relationships are maintained, the girl and the boy meet, they fall in love and then that’s all. This leads women to believe that as long as they have love, they do not need anything else yet the reality is that love requires a lot of work for it to be successful. These movies make love seem very easy and yet it is a very complex matter.
In Disney movies, love occurs at first sight. This reinforces the notion that physical appearance is the most important aspect of a woman’s life. Snow white is banished by the wicked queen because she was the fairest of them all while in sleeping beauty; the first gift given to the infant princess is beauty (Tonn, 8). In Cisnero’s story, we see Cleophilas trying to look like Lucia Mendez, she even buys hair dye so as to have the same hair color as her, she also applies makeup and combs her hair like the girls in the movies(4). It is quite evident that Disney movies and other media promote a certain kind of beauty as being ideal, and this has greatly affected young girls because some of them have eating disorders and depression because they are trying to look like a Disney princess.
Disney movies show that a woman can only be complete if she has a man in her life, that marriage is the biggest achievement that a woman can have in her life. We see that sleeping beauty, Belle and Snow white all have romantic aspirations and that that is the only thing that can fully complete them (Sawyer, 8). In Cisnero’s story, Cleophilas is willing to stay in a violent and loveless marriage because she is afraid of what people will say about her if she returns to her father’s house, this will make her a failure in the eyes of society. Her neighbors Delores and Soledad are only described in terms of the men that have been in their lives and nothing much about themselves (4). In Ranch Girl, the narrator’s friend, Carla, wants to get married to Dale quickly because if she does not, someone else will. She quits college despite being good in biology because there can be no greater achievement in life than being married, not even being a vet. This notion curtails the career development of young women who grow up watching Disney films because it has already been ingrained in them that getting a man is the ultimate success. Even for the newer Disney films such as Belle that have ‘independent’ princesses, the ultimate prize is still a man (Sawyer, 9).
Disney films teach women that love is worth every sacrifice that needs to be made and that it is the duty of every good woman to make these sacrifices. Ariel has to lose her culture and her voice while Belle goes through a lot of trials and suffering so as to get love (Tonn, 20). Cleophilas describes the many weird characters of Juan Pedro, her husband, such as cutting nails in public, farting and belching and yet says that he is her husband, her master and her Lord until kingdom come. Even when he beats her up, she still soothes him as he sobs in repentance only for him to beat her up over and over again. In Ranch Girl, the narrator deliberately makes herself fail her exams so that she ends up in the same college as Andy, her one and only true love. Even after graduation, she passes up a research job at a university so as to be with her father during the cattle drive, she caters to everybody’s needs other than her own. These films create women whose primary goal is taking care of others. This, Tonn reports, “can lead to dependence on others for approval and self-esteem” which is a major cause of anxiety and depression (25).
Disney films and other media propagate misogynistic and patriarchal stereotypes on the roles that women have in the society. Women are depicted as being “affectionate, submissive, forgiving and fragile, but as having low amounts of self-confidence, ambition, dominance, and individualism” (Tonn, 30). Cleophilas has all the aforementioned characteristics and so does the narrator in Ranch Girl, these are women with no ambition whatsoever and all their decisions in life are based on the welfare of other people such as husbands and family members. Conversely, the men are portrayed as powerful, handsome, ambitious, hardworking and gallant. These are the men that women in real life look for, a perfect man who, of course, does not exist leading to disappointment among women.
Women are often depicted as powerless, damsels in distress, who require men to come and save them, Snow White is saved by the kiss of the prince (Tonn, 26). This creates women who are constantly looking up to men for everything that they need and are, therefore, not ambitious. Sawyer reports that femininity is portrayed as fragile, and women, therefore, come out as weak (12). This leads to the creation of real life princesses who depend on people to do everything for them.
Tonn, reports that power is seen as positive if it is the man who is being powerful, but when it is a woman, it becomes a negative thing (15). In Ranch Girl, the narrator does not have the guts to fight with Estrada who continuously spites her after the death of Andy. In Cisnero’s story, Cleophilas cannot stand up for herself and agrees to lie to the doctor that she fell if she is asked about the bruises on her body. This teaches women to be pacifiers and appeasers, that the perfect woman is one who does not cause any trouble. Tonn also notes that children as young as in 8th grade have already internalized these values and therefore strive to be nice and peaceful (24). Women then grow up always censoring themselves and putting their needs last.
Disney movies and the media in general frown upon women who are independent and have their own careers. They are portrayed as incomplete without a man even when they have excelled in academics or their careers. Sawyer notes that “Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Tiana from Princess and the Frog are admired for their appearance and intellect, but their intellects are ridiculed in the films for love of reading or owning a restaurant” (16). This is why the hardworking and ambitious girls are looked down upon in society while those who sit pretty and do nothing are praised.
Works Cited
Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek. New York; Random House. 1991. Print
Meloy, Maile. Half in Love: Stories (Ranch Girl) Scribner. 2003. Print
Tonn, Theresa. “Disney's Influence on Females Perception of Gender and Love”. University of Wisconsin-Stout. October,2008. Accessed 22 April 2014
Sawyer, Nicole. “Feminist Outlooks at Disney Princess‘s”. James Madison University. N. d . Accessed 22 April 2014
