Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us

When I was in preschool, I was asked what I wanted to be. Obviously, I responded with "A Princess", just like every girl at that age. And we have Disney to thank for that. We dream of the fancy clothes, the wonderful lifestyle, a prince, and a happily-ever-after. I remember when I reached elementary school, still having a mindset that I wanted to grow up to be a princess, my parents told me that it wasn't realistic and that they are just movies. They never happen in real life. Now I look back on what they said and I see a different reason why they said that. It is because of all the stereotypes in the movies, and now in our age, there are women and girls changing it. Sure there are some instances where fairy tales do come true, which means there are some instances where stereotypes do occur. But I believe that the more years that come, we begin to see what the Disney movies actually mean and it is kind of sad to watch.

 

So, both of these videos are about the stereotypes that the women in Disney movies are portrayed. I really don't want to give so much away in the videos because they are wicked cool and I really hope you watch them! But basically, they are about the typical women, who are domestic, they clean the house and cook, they change themselves for love, and they do what they must in order to do so. But the videos also show the different women: Mulan, Esmeralda, Tiana, Rapunzel. All who are supposed to follow the "rules of women", but who chose to go against them. What you say? Women going against stereotypes? Thats crazy!!!! But those are the movies we should be showing to young girls, so they know. 

I also wanted to talk about Frozen, which was a pretty good movie. But those stereotypes changed. Most of you know the movie, so I won't go into so much detail. But, Elsa was the queen and did not need a king to rule with her. Elsa became one of the first princess to say that Ana could not marry a man that she just met. This movie also showed that Elsa didn't need a man to save her, it was her sister who did. Unlike all the other Disney movies, they were not portrayed this way, rather the complete opposite. I believe that is why so many parents, or even young adults, saw this as a great movie because it changed everything. Kids should be growing up, learning the things that Frozen taught. I couldn't find an interesting video, but here is a website that speaks of the broken stereotypes. Also, I know that Brave was a movie similar to this, I think, but I never saw it so I don't know! I didn't want to leave that out.

I believe that girls should be brought up knowing that they can be whoever and do whatever they want. I think that this article and Disney relates to Delpit's rules of power number 2: There are codes or rules for participating power- that is there is a culture of power. The culture of power is that women are expected to be cleaners, as men are supposed to be the "man of the house", but why? Someone created it that way and everyone followed it. The rules:

1. Girls cannot do boy things

2. A girl must marry a man to be successful 

3. Boys are supposed to be seen as strong and powerful

4. Women are supposed to be perfectly dressed

5. Boys must save girls

AND SO MANY MORE!! But things are changing. 

This article makes me also thing of SCWAAMP (like everything else). The things that we find important in our society and that Disney also only shows. Society values Straightness. Have we seen a Bi/Lesbian/Gay couple? Society values Able Bodiness. Princess's are seen as very skinny, perfect hair, perfect body. Prince's are seen as strong, masculine, and powerful. Have we seen an imperfect looking Prince or Princess? Society values Maleness. Disney shows that a women cannot do male things or the other way around. But Mulan finally showed the difference. We need to show more of the differences to let society know that it is okay to show the differences. The media is a huge part of people's lives and that is a start to show the differences. 

So, here I am at 18 years old, and I believe I am absolutely Princess Kaileen. But I didn't get here because I cleaned the house, which I don't at all. I don't have fancy clothes or I'm not rich. Prince Charming didn't come and save me. But I am just starting my life and so far it is happy, so I believe I will have a happily ever after. I hope some girls just dream of that, and not everything in between. 

Topic Point- I found this really interesting video where someone spoke of 5 different incidents in schools disapproved of kids not following the gender roles. I was going to post it, but it had a lot of swears. But has anyone ever witness or heard about issues where kids got in trouble for not following the "rules"?