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Pendulum or Not: A Critical Analysis of Disney's Anti-stereotyping Practices
Pendulum or Not: A Critical Analysis of Disney's Anti-stereotyping Practices is a research paper by Lidan Ma from New York University Shanghai. It attacks some of the criticism received by Disney's recent movie and demonstrates how Walt Disney Company breaks gender stereotypes effectively. Also, it illustrates how Disney diversifies female characters’ persuasions into more dimensions, leaving significant social impact upon community's new interpretation of female image.

Stereotypes and Gender Stereotypes
Stereotypes, as sociological terms, are defined as “cognitive structures that provide knowledge, beliefs and expectations about individuals based on their social group membership”. In the context of gender, stereotypes are specifically “organized around the importance of the agency of men and the communality of women”. This emphasizes how gender stereotypes can be reshaped and challenged under the changing roles between men and women.

20th-Century Movie
Throughout Disney’s history, it has long been criticized by the perpetuation of gender stereotypes in movies like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. In these movies, the roles of female characters usually revolved around male characters and such dependency on men even became their approach to achieve self-fulfillment.

In 1950's movie Cinderella created by Walt Disney Company, female character depended largely on male characters and pursues for love. During the movie, Cinderella escaped the castle to attend the dancing party and meet the prince. She showed great bravery and wisdom while fighting against injustice. However, all these narratives revolved around the male character “prince” and Cinderella’s eagerness to obtain love. All her effort to pursue freedom and justice was transformed into the pursuit of male-female relationships, which perpetuated the gender stereotype that women’s ultimate fulfillment comes from romantic love.

In another Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, the objective of the narrative was also improperly transformed into Belle’s romantic relationship with the Beast. Initially, Belle showed great bravery to fight against the beast to save her father who is accidentally tracked in the castle. However, at the end of the movie, when the Beast saved Belle’s life, Belle was so moved that she surprisingly fell in love with him. Such transition from the love upon her father to the prince perpetuates the gender stereotypes that female characters' lives are always closely bonded with a male, whether father or husband, and women depend on men in the pursuit of a happy, fulfilling life.

Criticism Around Gender Stereotypes
These improper choice of narrative objectives led to plenty of criticism and discontent. According to Cummins, “it encourages young viewers to believe that true happiness for women exists only in the arms of a prince and that their most important quest is finding that prince”. This leaves negative impacts on audiences especially young girls that they may build misguided relation between fulfillment and dependency. Apart from the immutable relationship with a male character, female protagonists are also rigidly bound to concepts like dutifulness, self-sacrifice, and a yearning for and subservience to males. These Disney princesses are not only passive and pretty, but also uncommonly patient, obedient, industrious, and quiet. For instance, in Cinderella, women are so intensely domestic that they hold the responsibility to clean the house and they need to take an enchanted dress to please men. Therefore, early Disney movies not only reinforce the notion that a woman’s ultimate goal is romantic love, which is often at the expense of her own identity and aspirations, but also impacts the audience’s perception towards women’s image and roles in society.

21st-Century Movie
In 21st-century movies, Disney began to challenge these gender stereotypes and traditional narrative modes.

In Frozen, Elsa was born with the uncontrolled magical power to freeze everything that may hurt others including her sister Anna. Therefore, she ran to the north mountain to block herself. Afterwards, her sister Anna embarks on an adventure to reconnect with Elsa, ultimately helping her to achieve self-redemption and fulfillment. This movie emphasizes the power of sisterly love and self-acceptance and it is worth noticing that Elsa is no longer dependent on men and does not pursue love throughout the narrative.

In Moana, the daughter of the chief of the island, Moana, embarked on the journey to restore the heart of Te Fiti. She defied her people’s prohibition on sailing beyond the reef and set out on an adventure to find the demigod Maui. Throughout the movie, Moana showed incredible independence and bravery compared to older Disney's female characters.

Criticism of Disney's Anti-stereotyping Practices
However, Disney still received plenty of criticism towards its extreme transition from persuasion of romantic love to independence and power. Also, some new forms of gender stereotypes like over-emotionality was considered to bring out.

Primarily, the transition from persuasion of romantic love to independence and power is considered as too extreme that Streiff thinks “while some might consider a princess’s focus on power to be refreshing, it is significant that the audience does not see a woman attaining a balance between exercising authority and a relationship. Instead, power is a substitute for romance”. According to her, Disney concentrated excessively on depicting Elsa’s power and independence, which goes to another extreme compared to its early movies and breaks the balance between power and romance. At the same time, instead of the one who seeks love, Elsa is replaced by an over-emotional heroine who blindly sees herself as independent and well-decided, which is considered as a new form of gender stereotypes.

Restriction Towards Criticism and Expanded Representation
Previous perception has non-negligible restrictions that it ignores other close relationships shown in the movie besides male-female relationship. Apart from romantic love, friendships, sisterhood, and kinships are also indispensable. In Frozen, the expansion and development of the sister bond between Elsa and Anna transcends conventional romantic narratives.

Also, female characters’ personalities and image are not depicted simply by Elsa but all the female protagonists appeared in the movie. The criticism neglects other protagonists’ experiences about love.

Besides the ignorance of other relationships and the characteristics shown by other protagonists, the previous criticism also misunderstands the role of “power” attached to Elsa and Moana. Instead of using power to show domination or control, what Disney intends to emphasize is how Elsa and Moana utilize their power as a means of self-discovery and achieving their goals. Such portrayal of a female's power is also a kind of diversification that shows women’s lives do not necessarily need a romantic relationship and should not always be bonded by male. It emphasizes personal growth and self-acceptance instead of dominating or controlling others.

Effective Break of Gender Stereotypes and Progressive Narrative Modes
Though some “new stereotypes” upon an over-emotional women and blindly independent princess were considered to be brought to the stage, Disney did challenge old stereotypes in their previous movies effectively in three aspects: Men are not always born with more rights and power, women does not need to be submissive and domestic, not only through love and male can women achieve self-fulfillment.

Men are not always born with more rights and power
In Frozen, we are delighted to see Elsa, the princess born with immense power, rights and status, challenge gender stereotypes that female characters are often passive and take supporting roles. Also, in Moana, as the daughter of the village chief who holds the responsibility to lead her people, Moana either challenges original stereotypes in Disney movies that male characters are appointed with the responsibility to lead the future of a realm. Furthermore, a progressive transition shown in Moana is that women no longer need a strong male to rescue them from a dilemma. Women can be as powerful as men to fight against evil forces, as Moana shows equivalent strength and courage as Maui when climbing the mountains. All these portrayals subvert the traditional notion and shows that women can also be powerful and independent leaders, getting through the dilemma and saving the realm.

Women does not need to be submissive and domestic
Disney challenges the stereotypes that women should play submissive and domestic roles in family and society. For previous eras’ princesses, Disney exhibits stereotypically feminine characteristics including being supportive, needing assistance or being timid, tentative, caring, and visually appealing. However, in Frozen and Moana, Elsa plays an active role in pursuing self-acceptance independently, not being timid or obedient. Moana likewise shows great bravery and aspiration to embark on the journey to restore Te Fiti, undertaking a dominant role in saving her realm’s island. The evolution and maturation of gender portrayal indicate an equally active role for both genders to the audiences.

Not only through love and male can women achieve self-fulfillment
The last and most importantly, Disney showcases that female characters with diverse ambitions and stories do not necessarily culminate in romance. Female protagonist is no longer bonded with male and pursues love to achieve self-fulfillment. Unlike Cinderella who ends in romantic love with the prince and Belle who ultimately falls in love with the Beast, Elsa’s journey to conquer isolation and achieve self-acceptance does not revolve around any male characters. Moana’s story is also centered around her personal exploration and responsibility towards her community, without the pursuit of romantic love. Moreover, Elsa even shows great awareness of immediate love and inappropriate male-female relationships while refusing to bless her sister’s marriage. All these progressive adaptations indicate love is no longer the master of success for females.

Social Impact
Admittedly, not every girl is born as a princess with immense power, yet the anti-stereotyping practices do bring a refreshing change to empower audiences with illuminous interpretation upon women's image and diversified roles in society. The movie shows to girls that female characters do not need to be submissive and affectionate, rather, they can also be independent and take on the role to be a leader, thereby achieving self-fulfillment. By watching Frozen and Moana, girls can feel the freedom, independence and bravery, which help them to let go of society's expectations of women and live a happier life.

Furthermore, the tiny stereotypes that still exist in the film reveal an important truth: there is no perfect balance in life, nor in one’s personality. By showing one does not always have to be perfect, a role model for young girls has been formed that has a more realistic feel. It also encourages young women to embrace and lead their own lives, finding their own balance between independence and relationship, whether it conforms to traditional gender expectations or not. By presenting realistic and diverse female images, these anti-stereotyping practices also bring a broader perspective to society to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.

References and Further Reading

 * Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, Walt Disney, 1991.
 * Cinderella. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske and Clyde Geronimi, Walt Disney, 1950.
 * Cummins, J. “Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.” Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Volume 20, Number 1, Spring 1995, pp. 22-28.
 * England, D., et al. “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses.” Sex Roles, vol. 64, no. 7–8, Apr. 2011, pp. 555–67.
 * Frozen. Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Walt Disney, 2013.
 * Kumar, Arjun M., et al. "Gender Stereotypes in Hollywood Movies and their Evolution Over Time: Insights from Network Analysis." Big Data and Cognitive Computing, Volume. 6, Number 2, 2022, pp. 50.
 * Marcotte, Diane, et al. “Gender Differences in Depressive Symptoms During Adolescence: Role of Gender-Typed Characteristics, Self-Esteem, Body Image, Stressful Life Events, and Pubertal Status.” Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, vol. 10, no. 1, Spring 2002, p. 29.
 * Moana. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, Walt Disney, 2016.
 * Putri, Novia A. “Disney Frozen: Challenging the Traditional Gender Roles of Disney Princesses”. Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2022, pp. 59-67.
 * Quadflieg, S. and Macrae, C.N. “Stereotypes and Stereotyping: What’s the Brain Got to Do with It”. European Review of Social Psychology, 22:1, pp. 215-273.
 * Reilly, C. “CHAPTER FOUR: An Encouraging Evolution Among the Disney Princesses? A Critical Feminist Analysis.” Counterpoints, vol. 477, 2016, pp. 51–63.
 * Rogers, Anna S. “Are Disney Characters ‘Frozen’ in Stereotypes? An Intersectional Analysis of Frozen”. Education Sciences & Society. vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2019, pp. 23–41.
 * Streiff, M. and Lauren, D. "Frozen in Time: How Disney Gender-Stereotypes its Most Powerful Princess." Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 2, Jan. 2017.
 * Whelan, B. “Power to the Princess: Disney and the Creation of the 20th Century Princess Narrative.” Interdisciplinary Humanities, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring 2012, pp. 21–34.