Male Objectification in Movies
Villains in Disney
The University of Southern Maine conducted an interesting study on the character analysis from the nineteen most popular and most recent Disney films. The films studied were: The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin, Cinderella, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, Pocahontas, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, The Fox and the Hound, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999). Their study focused on 334 different characters for different social, gender and racial variables. One of the conclusions of this study’s statistical analysis was that “villains are male much more than female” (Towbin). This information presents two interesting issues. First, male villains being more prominent than female villains is very impactful on the viewing audience. With more male villains occurring it is easier for young minds to associate evil and misdoing with males than females. This promotes the notion that males will more often than females do evil and that when one thinks of evil one should expect the individual to be male. Coupled with this, is the promotion of female innocence. More males being evil means that relatively speaking females appear more innocent and good; this notion is both damaging to the male image and limiting in the female sphere. By making inferences that females are more innocent than males brings in the question of female choice and argues that these fictitious females lack the choice to do evil. This limits actual females’ perspective of choice by presenting a strong social argument against their decisions on good and evil.
The University of Southern Maine conducted an interesting study on the character analysis from the nineteen most popular and most recent Disney films. The films studied were: The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin, Cinderella, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, Pocahontas, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, The Fox and the Hound, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999). Their study focused on 334 different characters for different social, gender and racial variables. One of the conclusions of this study’s statistical analysis was that “villains are male much more than female” (Towbin). This information presents two interesting issues. First, male villains being more prominent than female villains is very impactful on the viewing audience. With more male villains occurring it is easier for young minds to associate evil and misdoing with males than females. This promotes the notion that males will more often than females do evil and that when one thinks of evil one should expect the individual to be male. Coupled with this, is the promotion of female innocence. More males being evil means that relatively speaking females appear more innocent and good; this notion is both damaging to the male image and limiting in the female sphere. By making inferences that females are more innocent than males brings in the question of female choice and argues that these fictitious females lack the choice to do evil. This limits actual females’ perspective of choice by presenting a strong social argument against their decisions on good and evil.
Beauty and the Beast’s Damaging Perspective to Both Men and Women
This classic Disney film highlights both some obvious and popular gender bias, and also some more subtle damaging images on gender especially when considering the male lead in the movie. The first theme presented within this movie is the idea of the prince as a Beast and the storyline’s focus on Belle’s love being able to save him from his monstrous state. His beastly, animalistic nature is reflective of the perspective that men are animal like and that they are afflicted with this cursed nature which can only be cured by the love of a woman. Further, these ideas give viewers the impression that men are to be tamed; it claims to the audience that the love of a woman is what will make a man socially fit and this love accompanies the process of liberating men from their primitive nature.
Beyond this impression of men as beasts, another interesting bias presented is the films notion of courtship and marriage. Within this film, “marriage functions not only as a comic ending, but also as a bridge between the worlds of fantasy and reality.” Marriage of these two characters is the most significant social institution presented in both this fantastic world and the real world. It acts as an anchor point that connects the audience to these characters and brings them within the realm of the story. This becomes especially significant when considering the primary narrative elements of the film. Aside from the more combative and violent climax and the Beast’s conflict with the village, the primary narrative elements of this film are the courtship between the Beast and Belle. This limits young viewers in their access to the different dynamics of male and female relationships. The film only presents the romantic side of the two genders with no other relationships, work, personal, friendly, or otherwise being display. It hinders the growth of views when they can only see one form of relationship.
Progressing from the focus on only male and female courtship, another significant fault with the portrayal of both men and women within this film are the nouns used in association with each character. The Beast, only has three other nouns associated with his character, those nouns, in no particular order are “master,” “prince,” and “Adam.” Similarly Belle is limited in the language used to describe her character; the only words and phrases used to reference her are “princess,” “my little wife,” and “girl.” When considering the male nouns, these words are used to reference the characters authority. “Master” and “prince” denote an individual status and the nouns and character direct discussion to Beast focus on his stature. Similar to this, the nouns used to describe Belle also reference her status; however, instead of denoting authority, they acknowledge her subjugation and degrade her character. “Princess” and “my little wife” both focus on her social standing when in reference to a man. In both of these circumstances the noun being utilized is in focusing on her relationship with a significant male figure in her life. Lastly, “girl” simply degrades Belle’s status as even a woman. It associates her with childlikeness and immaturity as a sole connection to her gender. All of these nouns focus on the status of men and women in their association with each other. They empower men and degrade woman damaging the viewer’s perspective on relationship dynamics and gender roles.
This classic Disney film highlights both some obvious and popular gender bias, and also some more subtle damaging images on gender especially when considering the male lead in the movie. The first theme presented within this movie is the idea of the prince as a Beast and the storyline’s focus on Belle’s love being able to save him from his monstrous state. His beastly, animalistic nature is reflective of the perspective that men are animal like and that they are afflicted with this cursed nature which can only be cured by the love of a woman. Further, these ideas give viewers the impression that men are to be tamed; it claims to the audience that the love of a woman is what will make a man socially fit and this love accompanies the process of liberating men from their primitive nature.
Beyond this impression of men as beasts, another interesting bias presented is the films notion of courtship and marriage. Within this film, “marriage functions not only as a comic ending, but also as a bridge between the worlds of fantasy and reality.” Marriage of these two characters is the most significant social institution presented in both this fantastic world and the real world. It acts as an anchor point that connects the audience to these characters and brings them within the realm of the story. This becomes especially significant when considering the primary narrative elements of the film. Aside from the more combative and violent climax and the Beast’s conflict with the village, the primary narrative elements of this film are the courtship between the Beast and Belle. This limits young viewers in their access to the different dynamics of male and female relationships. The film only presents the romantic side of the two genders with no other relationships, work, personal, friendly, or otherwise being display. It hinders the growth of views when they can only see one form of relationship.
Progressing from the focus on only male and female courtship, another significant fault with the portrayal of both men and women within this film are the nouns used in association with each character. The Beast, only has three other nouns associated with his character, those nouns, in no particular order are “master,” “prince,” and “Adam.” Similarly Belle is limited in the language used to describe her character; the only words and phrases used to reference her are “princess,” “my little wife,” and “girl.” When considering the male nouns, these words are used to reference the characters authority. “Master” and “prince” denote an individual status and the nouns and character direct discussion to Beast focus on his stature. Similar to this, the nouns used to describe Belle also reference her status; however, instead of denoting authority, they acknowledge her subjugation and degrade her character. “Princess” and “my little wife” both focus on her social standing when in reference to a man. In both of these circumstances the noun being utilized is in focusing on her relationship with a significant male figure in her life. Lastly, “girl” simply degrades Belle’s status as even a woman. It associates her with childlikeness and immaturity as a sole connection to her gender. All of these nouns focus on the status of men and women in their association with each other. They empower men and degrade woman damaging the viewer’s perspective on relationship dynamics and gender roles.
Trends of Male Characters within Disney Films
Character design and behavior for Disney films revolves around similar patterns. Male characters repeatedly act in established trends. One such of those trends is “male characters use physical means to express their emotions" (Faherty). The movies Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast both display this type of character action. In Cinderella the king acts with violence, throwing things and yelling at his son about why marriage is taking so long. Beauty and the Beast also displays violence as the outlet of male emotion. Gaston, in an attempt to win the love of Belle, uses threats and violence. These perspectives on men limit the viewing audience and promote a bias of males to be aggressive and physically dangerous.
Further biased trends also exist within Disney films beyond physical expression of emotions. Another recognized norm of male Disney characters is that “males are not in control of their sexuality” (Faherty).Mogley displays this in the end of the film The Jungle Book. In the conclusion, he sees a girl and goes into a hypnotized like state moving past his friends and following her. Similar to the manner in which male emotion is portrayed, these illustrations of poor control of male sexuality promote gender bias and damage the male image. This display tells the viewing audience, often impressionable children, that men should not be able to control themselves around women.
Past male characters being unable to control their sexuality, another pattern can be seen within the actions of Disney male characters is that overweight male characters are often “slow and unintelligent,” and the individuals seem to be “overly focused on eating” (Faherty). Winnie the Pooh is a great example of this. His large size is attributed to his humble and unintelligent nature. He is always obsessed with eating, specifically honey, and often the driving force of his character is his hunger. Again portraying heavyset male characters as ignorant and food obsessed is damaging to the impressionable audience and insulting to men who struggling with being overweight. All of these biases are unfair and offensive to men. They unfairly portray males and the bias generated creates a damaging impression for young viewers on the way men should be.
Character design and behavior for Disney films revolves around similar patterns. Male characters repeatedly act in established trends. One such of those trends is “male characters use physical means to express their emotions" (Faherty). The movies Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast both display this type of character action. In Cinderella the king acts with violence, throwing things and yelling at his son about why marriage is taking so long. Beauty and the Beast also displays violence as the outlet of male emotion. Gaston, in an attempt to win the love of Belle, uses threats and violence. These perspectives on men limit the viewing audience and promote a bias of males to be aggressive and physically dangerous.
Further biased trends also exist within Disney films beyond physical expression of emotions. Another recognized norm of male Disney characters is that “males are not in control of their sexuality” (Faherty).Mogley displays this in the end of the film The Jungle Book. In the conclusion, he sees a girl and goes into a hypnotized like state moving past his friends and following her. Similar to the manner in which male emotion is portrayed, these illustrations of poor control of male sexuality promote gender bias and damage the male image. This display tells the viewing audience, often impressionable children, that men should not be able to control themselves around women.
Past male characters being unable to control their sexuality, another pattern can be seen within the actions of Disney male characters is that overweight male characters are often “slow and unintelligent,” and the individuals seem to be “overly focused on eating” (Faherty). Winnie the Pooh is a great example of this. His large size is attributed to his humble and unintelligent nature. He is always obsessed with eating, specifically honey, and often the driving force of his character is his hunger. Again portraying heavyset male characters as ignorant and food obsessed is damaging to the impressionable audience and insulting to men who struggling with being overweight. All of these biases are unfair and offensive to men. They unfairly portray males and the bias generated creates a damaging impression for young viewers on the way men should be.
Links to Sources:
1. Cummins, June. "Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney's Beauty and the Beast." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 20, no. 1 (1995): 22-28.
2. Faherty, Vincent E. "Is the mouse sensitive? A study of race, gender, and social vulnerability in Disney animated films." SIMILE: Studies In Media & Information Literacy Education 1, no. 3 (2001): 1-8.
3. Towbin, Mia Adessa, Shelley A. Haddock, Toni Schindler Zimmerman, Lori K. Lund, and Litsa Renee Tanner. "Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length AnimatedFilms." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 15, no. 4 (2004): 19-44.
Header image via http://goo.gl/S00JmK
1. Cummins, June. "Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney's Beauty and the Beast." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 20, no. 1 (1995): 22-28.
2. Faherty, Vincent E. "Is the mouse sensitive? A study of race, gender, and social vulnerability in Disney animated films." SIMILE: Studies In Media & Information Literacy Education 1, no. 3 (2001): 1-8.
3. Towbin, Mia Adessa, Shelley A. Haddock, Toni Schindler Zimmerman, Lori K. Lund, and Litsa Renee Tanner. "Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length AnimatedFilms." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 15, no. 4 (2004): 19-44.
Header image via http://goo.gl/S00JmK