Essay Example on Stereotypical gender roles that were accepted

When somebody says Disney princess most think of damsels in distress with singing animals laying their clothes out for them What about today in age Maybe Cinderella had birds brushing her hair for her however princesses such as Merida and Rapunzel certainly do not need such assistance and are off escaping towers and using a bow and arrow The princesses have evolved into empowering females to look up to and they no longer portray the stereotypical gender roles From the 1940s to today the evolution of the Disney princesses is astonishing To start off from the beginning the first era of the Disney princesses is called the Classic era Cinderella Snow White and Aurora sleeping beauty are all classic princesses All of these characters portrayed stereotypical gender roles that were accepted in the 40s and the 50s Traditional features for beauty were portrayed through the princesses with their flawless hair and complexion Snow White was a typical housewife cooking cleaning and doing household chores for the cottage Princesses in the classic era were looked at as objects and have a complete lack of independence These princesses always needed a man to save them and to be satisfied They were so dependant on a man that Cinderella even sang someday my prince will come Never once did they figure out their own ways to solve their problems and waited for everything to be served to them on a silver platter She would weep about her whereabouts of being stuck home and held up instead of figuring out a way to get to the ball 

There was no value in the female s hopes or dreams for herself therefore comes the lack of independence Darlena Cunha makes an excellent point saying that the princesses in the classic era were victimized stereotyped and posed as a damsel in distress Fast forward a few decades and we meet the next era of the princesses the Renaissance era Mulan Ariel Belle and Jasmine make up this middle group of princesses All of them have traditional beautiful hair and complexion however two of these princesses are of different races which is an evolvement Mulan is the first Asian princess and Jasmine the first Arabian princess Independance was something these second generation princesses were finally starting to have The stereotypical gender roles were no longer portrayed These princesses had much much more respect for themselves and even had dreams of their own that did not involve desperately needing a prince However these dreams the princesses possessed were often shadowed and pushed aside Jasmine was always trying to stand up to her father about marriage but nobody listened to her Belle was in love with reading but she was put down for being somebody against typical standards The evolution of their independence is very noticeable even though they were given a tough time for it Mulan disguised herself as a man to go fight in war Belle did not care what people thought about her or her books A huge step was definitely taken for these princesses and the image of the princesses in the Renaissance era Finally the last era of princesses has been reached which is the most recent princesses the biggest evolvement of all the Modern era Merida Tiana and Rapunzel are the ring leaders of the amazing empowerment on the modern era Tiana is even the first ever African American princess 

These princesses are independant strong confident and on top of the world Their dreams don't consist of finding their prince but they do consist of where their life will take them how they are going to succeed and what they want to do with themselves all without a man These girls are respected by not only themselves but by the world around them for their accomplishments and empowerment instead of their pretty faces They value themselves and do not pose as damsels in distress anymore Rapunzel is the first princess with an eye for rebellion and a bit of a wild side Instead of singing about when her prince will come she sings about adventures and when her life will begin She expresses that she has her OWN ideas and values to her life Merida is intelligent feisty and knows what she wants She defies the political pressure of marriage and shoots her bow and arrow like nobody's watching She does not care what others think and she goes against every stereotypical role set out for women in these films Princess Tiana is not forced to follow a path with anybody pushing her in any specific directions other than her own Her dream is to have her very own restaurant and that's exactly what she strives for and achieves Tiana held her own ground and followed her dreams 

She was not saved by anybody other than herself It is very obvious that since the 1940s the Disney princesses have gone from a damsel in distress to being on top of the world The evolution of the princesses is not to go unrecognized Works Cited Cunha Darlena The Point of a Disney Princess Isn't Her Talking Time Time com 27 Jan 2016 p 1 MasterFILE Premier EBSCOhost search ebscohost com login aspx direct true AuthType ip cpid custid cjrlc155 db f5h AN 113543372 site ehost live Accessed 18 Dec 2017 Stephens Jena Disney s Darlings An Analysis of The Princess and the Frog Tangled Brave and The Changing Characterization of the Princess Archetype Interdisciplinary Humanities vol 31 no 3 2014 pp 95 107 Academic Search Premier EBSCOhost search ebscohost com login aspx direct true AuthType ip cpid custid cjrlc155 db aph AN 101481692 site ehost live Accessed 18 Dec 2017 Coyne Sarah M et al Pretty as a Princess Longitudinal Effects of Engagement With Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes Body Esteem and Prosocial Behavior in Children Child Development vol 87 no 6 Nov 2016 pp 1909 1925 Academic Search Premier EBSCOhost doi 10 1111 cdev 12569 Accessed 15 Dec 2017