Husband says Disney movies teach little girls to only rely on a Prince to save t!
Question: My husband and I both like many of the animated movies, especially when Pixar and Dreamworks fully got into the game with great movies like Toy Story and Shrek. We plan on having children one day and my husband says they aren't allowed to watch Disney movies. He hates them for some reason! He was partially kidding but still! He says they all have pretty much the same plot and always teach that girls should rely on the handsome prince to rescue them (i.e. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc). Plus, he just can't stand Disney movies for some reason. Do you agree that most Disney movies teach values that go against raising strong, independent women? Btw, neither of us are feminists but we do both admire strong, independent women who can take care of themselves.
Answers: My husband and I both like many of the animated movies, especially when Pixar and Dreamworks fully got into the game with great movies like Toy Story and Shrek. We plan on having children one day and my husband says they aren't allowed to watch Disney movies. He hates them for some reason! He was partially kidding but still! He says they all have pretty much the same plot and always teach that girls should rely on the handsome prince to rescue them (i.e. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc). Plus, he just can't stand Disney movies for some reason. Do you agree that most Disney movies teach values that go against raising strong, independent women? Btw, neither of us are feminists but we do both admire strong, independent women who can take care of themselves.
WATCHING THE MOVIES SHOULD BE FINE. I AGREE WITH YOUR HUSBAND THAT IT IS A SILLY THOUGHT PROCESS WHICH I THINK LEADS GIRLS TO FEEL THEY NEED TO BE PAMPERED AND GET THE ABERCROMBIE AND HOLLISTER CLOTHES AND COACH THIS AND THE TIFFANY THAT.
BUT GOOD PARENTING CAN OVERCOME ALL OF THAT. LET A LITTLE GIRL BE A LITTLE GIRL LOVING BELLE AND CINDERELLA, AND AS SHE GETS OLDER BE THE BEST PARENTS SHE CAN EVER ASK FOR AND YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT DAUGHTER, WITH EXCEPTIONAL VALUES.
Honey, the movies aren't going to determine that - YOU are. They are just shows. Hmmm, I think MULAN is a Disney movie . . .
well, teaching them not really. showing them that ur prince will come yes. everybody has their prince charming. so i think disney is jsut pointing it out. i think that any kis who doesnt see a disney movie is deprived. they r kids favorite movie so taking them away for that reason is pointless
I do agree with oyur husbands statement ( even though i luve disney movies. It not only teaches women that tthey need to rely on a prince, but also that women have to be beautiful to be accepted. For example in Cinderella the step sisters were not liked by the prince because of their looks. It also teaches that beautiful people are always good, but the ugly ones are always bad like in cinderella and snow white.
i think that there is a part of every girl who waits for the perfect guy to come along and sweep them off their feet. i don't think that disney movies are bad at all and i think that if one day you are blessed with children they should be allowed to watch disney movies. there is nothing wrong wanting a wonderful boy to come along and i think that after watching these movies, they may even look for positive qualities in a guy (for example - one that will treat her well). i don't know if any of this makes sense but that is what i think, then again, i am quite the romantic :o)
No, I think it's silly to worry about things like that. Because they teach SO many good things to, the prince saving the princess is just ONE part of the story. Besides, every little girl will fantasize about their Prince anyway, Disney movie or no Disney movie. The things that I remember from Disney movies are funny characters, AWESOME music, or how to be brave, or be a good friend. Look at the Fox and the Hound? Or Beauty and the Beast that teaches you about beauty being on the inside? Or Aladdin teaches about why it's not good to get greedy. Besides, we all grow up so fast these days, and it seems to be the younger and younger every year is growing up faster. And we ALL find out soon enough how harsh, cruel, and unforgiving the world can be and that there is no prince coming to save us and that there is no pot of gold on the end of a rainbow. The world doesn't let us dream of those things for too long before turning on the light. So what's wrong with letting your kids fantasize about good, beautiful things, and have their pure thoughts and dreams and their fairytale, if only for a little while?
And Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are really the only ones where the princess is relying on the prince to save them. And give Sleeping Beauty a break! She was sleeping!
and camaya b is wrong- the prince didn't like the stepsisters because they were loud, obnoxious, and b!tchy. Cinderella shows us that you don't have to be a princess or special (he turned down all the most beautiful goirls in all the land, remember?) for a handsome prince to fall in love with you, and that even when he finds out you may be poor, dressed in rags, and somebody's maid, you are still worth loving.
Many children do have fantasies just as you
and I did but don't you agree that as you grew
older reality sets in?
Alice from "Alice In Wonderland"
Jasmine from "Aladdin"
Mulan from "Mulan"
Wendy from "Peter Pan"
Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"
Miss Bianca from "The Rescuers"
Those are just the few off the top of my head that I can think of which feature female characters who don't rely upon the main male characters in the films to save them.
I watched Disney movies constantly as a child, as did every other little girl I knew, and it had no affect on how we grew up. Our parents were the ones who affected that.
I think it'd be silly to not let kids watch the Disney princess movies. Little girls will still imagine being a princess and dreaming of their handsome prince, with or without the help of movies.
Disney movies do set up the belief that women need strong men to come to their rescue at the drop of a hat risking life or death. But you have to think about the time period at which most Disney movies were made. In the late 40s, early 50s, and women at the time were cooking and making dinner for their husbands and working simply as secretaries until the right man came along. Plus they were all based off of fairy tales written centuries ago because people were bored with their ordinary lives. Allowing your future young ones to watch Disney movies won't in anyway affect their view of women's roles in society. However, if you and your husband don't reflect the beliefs you do share onto them concerning women and their independence, your children may become hopeless romantics who are still waiting for their prince. You rear your child, not movies written years ago purely for enjoyment.
Yes and no. "Classic" disney movies always has the damsel in distress princess and the prince to rescue her from the dragon, evil stepmother, etc. Not only does it teach that girls should have a prince to rescue her, it also implies that woman who has their own mind and go for what they want are evil. But I think the plot has shifted over the years for kids movie. Just look at Mulan, and Princess Fiona. They are not the damsel in distress you always see. In fact, sometimes they bail out the "prince" figure of hte movie.
A lot of the older Disney movies definitely had that kind of attitude: not only that Sleeping Beauty and Snow White could only be awakened by the kiss of the prince, but that Cinderella's horrible life was instantly reversed, made absolutely wonderful by the arrival of a man. In many of those films, the search for a man (and for the perfect man, another impossibility in real life) is the entire goal. In some ways even some of the newer Disney films (Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid) had the same message: the movie is resolved when the main character falls in love with the prince. I see both of those a bit differently, though, because both are such strong female characters: for them falling in love isn't the only way to live their life. In some of the most recent Disney movies, they've been pretty careful to avoid the old sexist attitudes that their earlier movies carried.
I would say don't discount the impact that the messages in films can give to your kids. Some Disney movies are pretty appalling by today's standards (in Peter Pan they sing the song "What Makes the Red Man Red" and portray the Indians in extraordinarily bigoted and ignorant ways) and people need to keep in mind that kids can't just somehow know what's absurd and what's legitimate. Kids don't have that context. And if that's the only exposure they have, then naturally, that can shape their attitudes.
However, I would suggest that you don't need to ban such movies from your house, but that you should talk to them about it, about what's real and what's not.
Even if they do, (but I don't agree....Mulan kicks everyones butt) there is still MORE than enough woman/girl empowerment programs & learning at schools, that I can't imagine it being a real concern.
I've been watching disney movies and disney channel and im in the 6th grade. I am really smart and a couple times their movies and tv shows had some of the answers on the test from the tv. If you don't want them to watch the movies at least let them watch disney channel. They are really educational.
I do believe they do teach younger girls that they'll always need a Prince Charming to come to the rescue. You can't really fault Disney for that because the majority of those movies were made in a different era where on tv you saw women stay at home and cook and clean in high heels and pearl necklaces. I do believe though that if those same movies were made now the female lead characters would all be stronger and more independant.