Seven dwarves, one wicked influence? Photo by jmacphoto.com
Last month a $110 million museum opened in San Francisco, dedicated to the life and accomplishments of Walt Disney. Located in a former army barracks and two adjoining buildings inside the city’s 1,491-acre Presidio National Park, it houses some of the earliest sketches of Mickey Mouse, audio recordings of Disney himself, as well as notes detailing his thought processes during on early projects, and of course numerous pieces of memorabilia.
Museum board member Diane Disney Miller, Disney’s daughter, was quoted in a Bloomberg article saying, “I think a lot of people don’t know [Walt Disney is] anything but a brand… I want people to know who he really was.”
By most accounts the museum makes a fitting and honest tribute to the visionary cartoonist’s legacy, but it’s that very legacy and the Disney brand that have sometimes incited controversy. In particular, Disney’s fascination with and promotion of princesses has concerned parents who sometimes see these slender and arguably over sexualized icons as potentially dangerous role models.
In a 2006 New York Times article, author Peggy Orenstein wrote:
There are no studies proving that playing princess directly damages girls’ self-esteem or dampens other aspirations. On the other hand, there is evidence that young women who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs — who avoid conflict and think they should be perpetually nice and pretty — are more likely to be depressed…
While some of Disney’s more modern characters like Mulan or Pocahontas have defied female stereotypes to a point, Orenstein says, they are usually not the ones marketed to girls and held up as figures to emulate. One counter argument is that a princess obsession is a harmless phase that girls grow out of, but not everyone is convinced.
What is your take? Do Disney princesses make for bad role models? What do you see as the Walt Disney legacy? Discuss!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, that Disney has a history of churning out horrible examples for our daughters. However, I speak NOT of the cartoon princess model, but of the Britney Super-Slut Spears types… They are, regardless of fault, the product of their Disney-Based childhood careers, and I refuse to allow my children to watch Disney, as a result.
To complete this story, they are not permitted Nickelodeon either, for same / similar reasoning…
i am in complete agreement that these beautiful, skinny, princess like characters who often just end up falling head over heals over some handsome prince – really influences the minds of our children at a young age. It sets particular expectations of what is deemed beautiful. It sets expectations on what it means to be a lovable woman. It sets expectations on what love is what one should expect out of them. Unfortunately all of it through the lens of disney which is not very accurate to reality.