WHAT DO OUR CHILDREN SEE?

SEXISM AND THE ANIMATED FILM INDUSTRY

Hello readers,

In this post I will be talking with you about animated movies and the values they transmit to our children. I decided to do a small recompilation of animated movies and tell you what kids will be learning while watching them. I have specially focused in the feminine roles since these movies usually turn to be sexists. As you will find the small reviews or summaries are written with an ironic tone. With this post you will be able to see the evolution of the feminine role in the animated film industry and it's ups and downs. The purpose of this post is to make you realise how much impact a movie can have. This is just my point of view, you might find it exagerated but it is the best way to illustrete the evolution.

Here you have the small reviews/summaries:

First phase 1960-1999

•         Sleeping beauty (1959)

By watching this movie, you will learn a wide range of vital lesson. To start, you will learn that it is totally ok to kiss a woman who has passed out. You will also be taught the importance of consent or how normal is to be married at the age of sixteen. Ahh! and that as long as a girl is beautiful and graceful the rest doesn’t matter. To conclude, you will learn how nice is to do nothing while the prince of your life saves the world from the bad for you.

•           The little mermaid ( 1989)

This movie will teach you that a girl is better off using her pretty face rather than her voice. Don’t forget that men don’t like a lot of blabber. You will as well learn how worth it is to change yourself completely and give up your voice and family for the love of a man. To conclude, if you are as lucky as Ariel a man will fall for you just for your appearance. 

•           Beauty and the Beast (1991)

From the Beauty and the Beast you will learn a huge amount of valuable lesson. For instance, how it’s acceptable for a man to yell at a woman, isolate her from her family and make her dress the way he wants. You will also learn about how pleasant the Stockholm Syndrome can be or how although you don’t want to get married you will end up being married at the end. To conclude, the most valuable lesson this movie will teach you is the passion of reading and being a cultured woman who is ambitious and has her own opinion.

•           Aladdin  (1992)

This movie will teach you that it is ok for a princess to escape from her castle if she doesn’t want to be forced to get married. Although what Aladdin will teach you above all is the necessity of a woman to find a man to rule her kingdom. You will also learn how nice is to only be able to choose the right one.  In conclusion, you will be shown how women can be turned into a prize for which two men fight.

•           Hercules (1997)

This movie will teach you that woman doesn’t always have to be a “damsel in distress”, they can also be independent as Meg. Although you will also learn it is best if at the end the boy saves the girl. Finally, Hercules will as well teach you to be ashamed of your past love life and in consequence to feel unworthy of a “good men”.

•          Mulan (1998)

This movie is a revolution. Mulan will teach you that a woman can save her country and do the same things as man. With this movie you will learn that women don’t have to wait to be saved, on the contrary they can be the saviours. To conclude, with Mulan we learn that women are also brave and powerful.

Second phase 2000-2019

•           The princess and the frog (2009)

The princess and the frog teaches us that women can also earn their living on their own. Tiana is the first Disney princess with a job. She is independent and she has her ideas clear. From this movie we will learn that women can stand by themselves and that hard work pays off. It also teaches us that women do not need a man to administrate themselves or control them. To conclude, we also learn that finding love is important.

•          Tangled (2010)

Tangled teaches us that a woman knows also how to defend herself and achieve her goals. With this movie we as well learn that if a woman fights for her dreams she can achieve them. We also see a woman learning astronomy and fighting. With the movie we learn how versatile a woman can be. To conclude, we also see how an object that used to be a symbol of oppression (a pan) is turned into a tool of protection or a weapon.

•        Brave (2012)

Brave will teach us that being a woman can also be a synonym of being brave, adventurous and impulsive. Merida also shows us how a woman can use a weapon as well as man, she is an excellent archer. She breaks all the princess schemes.  Her physical aspect and behaviour shows the new features of a modern princess. She illustrates how to challenge a whole sexist system by presenting herself as a participant to compete for her hand. To conclude, above all Merida teaches us how to demonstrate our worth by facing any obstacle.

•           Frozen (2013)

With Frozen we will learn that if there is a love that will always win that is the love between siblings. In this movie what really matters is the love between two sisters and not the typical romantic love. We will learn that to be happy and powerful a woman doesn’t need a man by her side. We can see this reflected in Elsa, who will rule the kingdom happily on her own. In conclusion, the movie teaches us that it’s ok to be different and to desire to feel free and find your true self.

•           Moana (2016)

Moana teaches us that woman can also be great leaders. She is a role model that transmits values as courage and freedom. From her we learn that having ambition without limits can be also a woman’s characteristic. As Mulan she wants to save her world and she proves to be capable. To conclude, Moana shows us that women do not need a prince by her side and it shows that working as a team you can get anywhere.

•            The Incredibles 2 (2018)

This movie will premier this June and it is a game changer. It shows for the first time a woman being in charge of providing for her family while the man is the one staying at home with the kids. The man supports the job of the woman and wants to do his as well as she, so everything will continue to flow properly. This movie will teach children that there is nothing wrong in exchanging the roles that used to be associated with each gender. 

What would you conclude after reading this small reviews/summaries? Is this an accurate representation of the woman? Could you say that the animated film industry has evolved during the last 10 decades?  Why male characters are still leading the way in terms of dialogue on screen? 

Share your opinions and ideas with me, we can learn from each other.

Thank you, see you in the next post :)


M.S