Gender & Identity In Disney

How have female representations in the media impacted on contemporary female identity? Employ feminist theories to address and interrogate your case studies.

The media today is awash with idealistic representations of modern life; society's craving for perfection is reflected in every pixel of the media we consume. Reality, in contrast, is a poor substitute for the fairytale world of film, where good thwarts evil and Happy Endings reign supreme. Arguably, women are often the victims of cinema's flawless perceptions and Feminism's ongoing challenge is to compete with these unrealistic representations. Marjorie Rosen asserted that "the Cinema Woman is a Popcorn Venus, a delectable but insubstantial hybrid of cultural distortions" (1973: 10 in Gauntlett, D., 2002: 48). In short, the female protagonist is an unreachable example of false feminine perfection, and the film's representation a guide, created by men, in fitting the symbolic order. In 1937 Walt Disney Studios released their first feature length animation: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Highly acclaimed as a "significant screen innovation" (IMDB 1990), Snow White was adapted from the original story by The Brothers Grimm, sanitised to suit the Disney mould, and given a memorable, award-winning score. Its lovable characters and unforgettable villain made it an instant hit and it remains a much loved classic today. Seventy-three years later, Disney released Tangled: a reworking of the fairytale of Rapunzel, a girl with long enchanted hair. Like its predecessor, Tangled (2010) won the hearts of critics and audiences worldwide and has rightly earned it place as a Disney classic. However, another element it has in common with Snow White is the widespread feminist criticism it received, for its heroine's dependence on the male protagonist to save her, for its sexualised femininity, and for its negative portrayal of motherhood. This essay shall compare Snow White (1937) to Tangled (2010) in an attempt to identify and analyse how representations of women have changed in the seventy-three years that separate them. To do so, the Cultural Circuit Approach, developed by DuGay (1997), will be applied to both films in order to distinguish similarities and differences in their structure. As a useful tool for media deconstruction, The Cultural Circuit allows for an in-depth analysis of a text's creation, and permits exploration of the ideas and concepts linking its production, representations, identity, regulation and consumption. It is first and fore mostly a model used in cultural studies, and therefore a thorough method of studying the representation of femininity in Disney's films and the consequent effects on contemporary female identity. As the focus of this essay, representation of the feminine in the two films shall act as the starting point in this investigation. Immediate assumptions about Snow White's heroine are made the moment she appears on screen. Her pale skin represents her virginal purity, whilst her large eyes and curvaceous figure embody femininity. Barthes, a forerunner in theories of semiotics, states that every image is a signifier, representing a list of signifieds that contain different meanings for each individual. For this layer of meaning Hall cites Barthes's explanation: "Barthes calls this second level of signification the level of myth ... a second, more elaborate and ideologically formed message or meaning" (1997). The audience is informed of Snow White's angelic nature through her appearance alone and sympathy is automatically gained. Happily serving her step-mother, Snow White sings contentedly while she cleans, until she is interrupted by a handsome prince and they fall in love at first sight. Here, feminists argue, lies the sexist ideal that women should be beautiful and gentle, happy as housewives; this is how men will fall in love with them. This ideology is later enforced when Snow White joyfully cleans the Dwarfs' house. Throughout the rest of the film, Snow White displays no distinct personality; she exists only to be "victimised" by her step-mother and to clean for the men (Maslin, J., 1987). E.Ann Kaplan argues that in Hollywood films, women are "refused a voice, a discourse" (1938: 8. In Craven,A., 2002: 108) and this is certainly true with Snow White. She is helpless until her prince charming rescues her from her sleeping death, awakening her with a kiss. The glass coffin in which Snow White lies is, according to Gilbert and Gubar, "a metaphor for the conditions of patriarchal life": Snow White is an object left on display for the desire of men (1979:37. In Craven, A., 2002: 129). She is a caged, submissive woman whose goal in life is to look beautiful. Unlike Snow White, Rapunzel is determined to escape from captivity. However, Tangled offers hard evidence that Disney's representation of its female heroines has changed very little over the years. Rapunzel's wide eyes and long lashes are now a hallmark belonging to every Disney Princess, as is the small waist and delicately curved frame fitting "Western standards of beauty" (Wolf, 1990. By Wheleham, 1996). Returning to Barthes's theory of the Myth Level (1957), Rapunzel's impossibly long, blonde hair is symbolic of her youth and purity; at once her weapon (used as a whip and rope on many occasions) and the object of her mother's, and men's, desire, her hair is a metaphor for her virginal youth and beauty. She can use it to her own advantage, as shown when she turns an angry crowd of thugs into a band of singing merry men, but it is also the reason she is pursued by her jealous mother Gothel and the male criminals she employs. Rapunzel's 'assets' are her greatest weapon, but they are rendered a weakness by enemies' gaze. Maggie Humm states that "Mainstream cinema encourages an inevitably voyeuristic male gaze and reproduces fetishistic stereotypes of women." (1997: 4). Patriarchal representations of ideal femininity has led to the sexualisation of Disney's heroines, creating the Disney Princess stereotype, one which both Rapunzel and Snow White fit perfectly. In comparison then, Snow White and Tangled are "prototypical Disney" (Anon., 1998). Their heroines represent the male ideal of female youth and beauty, as well as obedience to the symbolic order. Just as Snow White is a victim until she is rescued by her prince, Rapunzel is not brave enough to disobey her mother's rules until handsome Flynn Ryder enters her tower. At the end of the film, it is Flynn Ryder who cuts Rapunzel's hair, removing evil Gothel's object of desire, and ultimately freeing Rapunzel. Returning once again to Barthes, the brutal cutting of Rapunzel's hair signifies the removal of her virginal purity, by the man she loves. It frees her of her mother's hold and permits her to instead give herself to Flynn. Decades earlier, Snow White was saved first by the Huntsman, then by the Dwarfs, and finally by the prince. Both female protagonists then, are prisoners of their gender until rescued by the male hero, symbolic of patriarchy. Snow White and Rapunzel fit the following descri ption: "Young women are natural-born happy homemakers who lie in a state of suspended animation until a man gives them a life. Older women are the enemy, especially if they seek power" (Anon., 1997). As suggested, it is the older women of Snow White and Tangled that reveal significantly more about Disney's hidden ideologies surrounding women. The witch is a common icon of the monstrous feminine (Creed, 1993) often found in Disney, and representing the antagonist in both Snow White and Tangled. The evil step-mother is jealous of Snow's beauty, ordering her assassination so that she may remain "fairest of them all." Parallel to this, Rapunzel is kept prisoner by Gothel, who she falsely believes to be her mother, for her magical hair that keeps Gothel young and beautiful. Both the step-mother and Gothel are depicted by "an essentially sexual nature and later monstrous figure" (Craven, A., 2002): their voluptuous figures and mature, sculpted beauty are in contrast to the heroines' virginal looks, later turning to terrifying repulsiveness as the old crone. They represent the universal fear of ageing, but are also an age old symbol of man's fear of the other. Continuing with DuGay's Cultural Circuit, the representations found in Snow White and Tangled lead to the next idea in the approach: identity. From the previous analysis of semiotics in the two films, patriarchy is an obvious ideology in both. In Snow White in particular, the identities of man and woman are very much separate, represented in contrasting portrayals, linking back to the idea of the other. The Malleus Maleficarum reveals man's fear of women/witches stems back to the early fifteenth century (Heinrich., 1486). The mass hysteria and fear of witchcraft that dominated the era is said to have begun with a "morbid interest in the witch as 'other'" and the fear of women as "agents of castration" (1486). Freud offers further insight into the idea of Otherness, believing that the male fear of the feminine begins at an early age, when the young boy realises the differentiation between sexes. From then on, he regards women as "unpleasurably other" (Silverman, 1988: 17), due to their apparent castration. Arguably, this phallocentric definition of women was the beginning of inequality between sexes; strength and wholeness became part of the male identity, whilst weak and castrated (inferior) became that of the feminine. It is from this that women in film are either "the object of desire, or a source of fear", with patriarchy's dread of Otherness represented in a "suffocating or castrating mother figure" (Creed. 1993), a descri ption undeniably true of Snow White's step-mother and Gothel in Tangled. The fear of the "castrating mother" is an idea central to Barbara Creed's theory on the Monstrous Feminine (1993). The Archaic Mother is symbolic of life and death; birth, being singularly female, is out of male control, and so the Archaic Mother is "capable of disrupting patriarchal structures" (Creed. 1993) such as the symbolic order. Snow White's step mother embodies the identity of the Archaic Mother, but Gothel even more so. The tower in which she keeps Rapunzel is symbolic of the womb; Rapunzel is safe there, but when Flynn, a man, enters the tower, Gothel stabs him with a long, sharp dagger. Her phallic weapon and sexualised image are significant of the Archaic Mother, whilst Rapunzel's "reassuring femininity allows her to restore the hegemony of patriarchal structures" (Creed. 1993) as she heals Flynn's wounds. The increased presence of the Archaic Mother in Tangled in comparison to Snow White could reveal a change in ideology towards women: many feminists argue that 'backlashes' against feminism are ever more present in modern media. In the 1930's the housewife was still the norm, and the symbolic order knew little resistance. Fast forward to the 21st Century and women are gaining power and strength in society, leaving patriarchy struggling to retain control. Patriarchy's symbolic order is heavily evident in Snow White, relating to social expectations of women of the time. "The voice of the looking glass is a patriarchal voice of judgment that rules the Queen's - and every woman's - self evaluation" (Gilbert and Gubar, 1979: 38. In Craven,. A. 2002: 128). Beauty, essentially, is the only measure of worth appropriated to women, and even this is judged by men. In Tangled Gothel takes on the voice of patriarchy, diminishing Rapunzel's self-worth through extensive criticism of her looks, her weak demeanour and inability to care for herself. Rapunzel eventually proves her mother wrong and escapes, but only by attracting a man is she able to assert herself as an independent, attractive woman, just as Snow White accomplishes. In "phallocentric economies" women are required to "either occupy the muted relational positions of wife or daughter [...] or they must deny the sexual and reproductive aspects of femaleness to take neutered, actually masculinised power" (Lucas, 1998: 35. In Craven, 2002: 137). According to Lucas, then, Rapunzel and Gothel represent respectively the feminine (demure and beautiful) and the masculinised female (sexualised and powerful), as equally so do Snow White and her step-mother. Therefore, Disney's message to the audience goes as follows: remaining feminine and abiding by the symbolic order leads to love and happiness, whilst resisting patriarchal control leads to the destruction of your femininity and eventual demise. Audience consumption of the two films is the next angle of approach in the Cultural Circuit. The documentary Mickey Mouse Monopoly (2001), explores how children were affected by what they saw in Disney films, and if, consciously or unconsciously, they were able to pull meanings from the subtext. There are two opposing opinions on audience consumption: the first, developed by the Frankfurt School, states that audiences consume media passively, that is to say without question or critique (1923. By Wilson, 2000), often referred to as the Hypodermic Needle theory (Lasswell, 1927. By Wilson, 2000). On the opposing side is the Uses and Gratifications idea, by Bulmer and Katz (1974). It raises the point that audiences are active in their selection of programs, and choose according to their needs. If we take into account Barthes's previously stated view on semiotics (1957. By Hall, 1997), where the myth level will hold different meanings for each individual, it can therefore be said that an audience will identify with the text in different ways also. What researchers found in Mickey Mouse Monopoly was that children never questioned the actions of the protagonist, usually aspiring to be like them, and developed a strong dislike for the villain, as to be expected. However, the ideologies represented by Snow White and Rapunzel, as shown in the analysis previously, derive from patriarchal values. Dr Gail Dines states that "encoded in media images are ideologies about how we think about the world [.] belief systems, constructions of reality" (In Mickey Mouse Monopoly, 2001). Consequently, it is true to say that children are being taught patriarchal ideology through Disney. Girls will aspire to be beautiful and await the arrival of a prince to rescue them, and boys will grow up believing in superiority over women. These expectations, argue feminists, are unrealistic and harmful to a child's outlook on society. In response to this criticism, Disney has sought to make its heroines more independent and feisty, however this has been branded as consumer feminism. The term refers to token achievements of female characters in the media, its aim to satisfy women's need for stronger heroines, while underneath the patriarchal ideology is the same. Rapunzel is described as having "the independent spirit and ingenuity of a modern heroine" (Cornet, 2010) but regarding evidence found in the film's representation, such as her sexualized appearance and dependence on Flynn, this is arguably not the case. "Disney has changed only the trappings and in recent cases the skin color of its heroines. At heart, they all still identify with male authority instead of seeking their own empowerment" (Anon, 1998). Even seventy-three years after it's first animated feature film, Disney's female characters have remained essentially the same. In conclusion, Disney's impact upon contemporary female identity is unquestionable, when each film, steeped in patriarchal values, in consumed at such a young age. Their representation of modern femininity continues to lack the strength and independence that Feminists desire, but equally, there have been undeniable improvements since the 1930's. This new consumerist feminism could be patriarchy's way of satisfying the female masses, but it does not disguise the ideology behind Disney's colourful front. The message portrayed to young children in their films is an inaccurate and misleading one; that feminine perfection can only be achieved through stronger, masculine guidance.

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