GENDER REPRESENTATION

Critical Analysis of Disney's Gender Representation in Movies

Table of Content

Introduction3

Discussion & Analysis4

Discourse and Disney6

Significance7

Politics of Representation8

Studies in The 1990s8

Changes over Time9

Conclusion11

Critical Analysis of Disney's Gender Representation in Movies

Introduction

“Gender” refers to the range of difference between men and women. On one level, it refers to biological distinction—men possess a y-chromosome that triggers development of male sex organs. On another level, gender refers to the social or cultural differences between the sexes. Under this definition, gender differences are often associated with expected societal roles of women and men, how individuals identify themselves (and are identified by others) with respect to these roles, and the significance of sexuality in understanding individual identity.

Although “gender” and “sex” are often used interchangeably, the preferred academic term explaining differences between men and women is gender. This use reflects the rise of feminist scholarship that has argued that the social roles of women are a product of politics and are not necessarily determined by biology. This so-called social construction of gender viewpoint has opened critical paths of inquiry into how politics shape gender roles and how the embodiments of these roles reshape society.

It has been argued for long by communication scholars that there is a lot more to Disney movies than fairy tales and innocent storylines. Disney is an institution which has the power to represent, and it exercises its power to do ideological and discursive work. Top-grossing Disney movies released in modern times have becomes a discursive means of reproducing particular ideas about gender roles particularly females and their identities. Disney has taken the assistance of technology to recreate animated female characters in live action form in its new millennium movies. This has been as a deliberate attempt to increase consumer awareness about the idealistic female body. Erasing the social diversity of perspectives, values and ethnicities, in addition to discursively privileging male, dominance and whiteness are some of the observable patterns in the themes and story lines of Disney movies. Disney movies play the role of an ideological influence on the consumers. They lead consumers to shape view and identities about themselves, in addition to other groups,. These consequences of movies released by Disney are unfavorable to open-minded, free interaction and communication across genders.

Discussion & Analysis

Devised by George Gerbner, cultivation theory proposes that television viewing makes an independent contribution to people's conceptions of social reality. The central hypothesis of cultivation research is that those who spend more time watching television will be more likely to hold beliefs and assumptions about life and society that reflect the most stable messages embedded in television's dramatic programs. Television entertainment offers vivid and repetitive “lessons” regarding gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and other sociocultural dynamics. Over time, viewers absorb stable images of different groups and perceptions of a broad range of social “facts” and practices; these patterns offer templates that viewers use in navigating their own sense of identity. Cumulative exposure to television's massive flow of images, representations, and symbolic models cultivates specific values, images, beliefs, desires, and ...