Do Kids Learn To Be Sizeist From Watching Disney Movies?
Apparently I’m on a movie kick, but I couldn’t resist sharing this great article in Newsweek exploring the subtle sexism in recent kid movies.
…One in four female characters was depicted in “sexy, tight, or alluring attire,” compared with one in 25 male characters. The female characters were also more likely than men to be beautiful, and one in five were “portrayed with some exposed skin between the mid-chest and upper thigh regions.” Because you wouldn’t want to take on the world without baring your midriff—girl power! (Another study found, troublingly, that women in G-rated films wear the same amount of skimpy clothing as women in R-rated films.) One in four women was shown with a waist so small that, the authors concluded, it left “little room for a womb or any other internal organs.” Maybe we could carry them in our purses?
No wonder young girls are reporting body image issues earlier and earlier. Not only are fat females treated by the filmmakers as lesser or non-sexual grandmothers, but the girls we’re supposed to emulate are hyper-sexualized with giant Hentai eyes and Angelina Jolie pouts. And to think we all blamed Bratz dolls!
You know, I honestly cannot think of a sympathetic fat female human character in an animated kid’s movie. There were fat people in Wall-E, of course, but it was pretty offensive stereotyping. I think Mrs. Potts eventually turns into a fat human, but for the majority of Beauty and the Beast, she’s tableware. Arguably, one of Sleeping Beauty’s fairy friends is a plus-sized fairy, but that movie is old than my grandmother. Likewise, Hyacinth the Hippo. Dora the Explorer isn’t a svelte lass, but she’s also like six. And there are never fat princesses.
Then there’s Ursula the Sea Witch. Love her.
You know, she’s the first fat villian who really has some power. The other fat girls in Disney movies are either fairy godmothers (who twitter a lot) or singing teapots. Up until Ursula, the female villians were all tall, angular women with pinched faces (Cruella DeVille; the Wicked StepMother in Snow White; the aunt with the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp; Maleficient, who is also awesome for rocking that head gear) and she ends up embodying ultimate power (and, you know, getting stabbed by a boat, but whatevs).
But the fact remains that Ursula is still evil, and definitely not sympathetic. In fact, the only plus-sized female main character in recent memory is Princess Fiona, who is introduced to us first as being thin and Cameron Diaz-y and then her plus-size state is explained by her having been cursed. Seriously. Cursed! And the only reason she ends up being ok with her state is the fact that her man loves her best when she’s all green and belchy.
Let’s discuss in the comments!
Posted by Weetabix
Filed under: Disney, Fatism, Feminism, Kids, Movies, Question, Weetabix
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Fairy Mary from Tinkerbell?
She was the boss.
Ooooh! I hadn’t seen this movie/series, so I looked her up. You’re right, she’s pretty adorable!
http://www.disneyonlineworlds.com/images/3/35/Meet_the_Fairies_%28Movie2%29_Banner_10.png
…Hentai eyes? With tentacles? There’s an image!
Ha! I guess I meant “of the type of eyes usually drawn on the females in Hentai” but I hadn’t considered that it might mean multiple eyes!
I saw a Princess Fiona halloween costume the other day in the standard “why are women such whores at halloween?” tut-tuting articles that come out this time of year.
I couldn’t care less about “sexy” costumes, but when I saw “sexy Fiona” among them I got pissed. Fiona is fat and never once bared her midriff. Yet there it was. Arghghghg! We can’t have anything nice. :(
Sarah, I dressed up as Princess Fiona about ten years ago and the little kids coming to my door went berserk! They LOVED it. I can’t imagine twisting their little brains by making her all sexy. Boo!
Like Spoonfork suggests: Fairy Mary. Though I have TRIED to get even a T-shirt with this character on it; but to no avail. So even though the character is the boss of the Tinker fairies and a “good” character; no one is promoting her through the copious Disney marketing of goods. Which is so unfortunate because I want to ROCK a t-shirt with her!
Otherwise I’d be hard pressed to come up with sympathetic fat characters in any film, let alone animated; let alone (again?) Disney-brand.
Here’s the sexy Fiona costume. I don’t even get it, aside from the ears there is nothing Fiona about it. But I didn’t see the fourth movie…
http://www.dizguise.com/p-69313-shrek-forever-after-sexy-fiona-warrior-adult-costume.aspx
I saw it and I promise you, Fiona did not bare her midriff. Here’s what she looked like.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c-zSBtezANo/TARx6Ouu5SI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/qYHloZHNakQ/s1600/Shrek+Fiona.jpg
You know what, it still bothers me, she looks thinner in that warrior shot than in previous movies. Oh well. :)
The women in Lilo & Stitch were sized looking like they could have internal organs, iirc, including Lilo’s older sister Nani.
Though my childhood was comparatively Disney-free, I definitely remember wanting to look like Cinderella, and knowing that my kid pudge wasn’t up to snuff. At the age of 6.
I think that it’s absolutely part of the whole culture that contributes to socializing us as girls to know what we ‘should’ look like, and since it’s supposed to be ‘for’ little kids, it’s all the more potent. (Side note – how awesome is Geena Davis? That article reminded me of just how kick-ass she is.)
When Smurfette and Miss Piggy (two characters whom I disliked as a kid for being too loud and fluttery) are two of the only non-skinny characters kids have in their world, it’s a real shame. Not to mention that they totally violate the ‘human’ aspect of your question, as does the plus-size version of Fiona.
I really want a fat princess to be the lead in something, now. I’d totally make an exception to the princess embargo I have going on with my nieces.
I definitely agree with Cameron on “Lilo and Stitch”. The womens’ bodies were much more realistic.
Also if you have little ones that watch “Caillou” on Sprout, they tend to show the women as having larger waists and thighs as well.
The problem with “Cailou” is his whiney voice. I don’t know how parents can stand having that on for their kids.
PBS is good for having more variety in shapes and sizes.
Something I find fascinating about Ursala is how she personally subverts every idea she puts forward. A strong, outspoken, fat, female, who has other people trade off their lives to fit the social norms, she refuses to fit herself. The previous female villains did overtly evil things (wanting to kill puppies for a coat), or played into a deadly sin, vanity in Snow White, greed in Cinderella, envy and rage in Sleeping Beauty. Yet, Ursala’s biggest sin is taking advantage of people who want to fit the status quo.
That said, Mama Odie, in The Princess and the Frog was a fat good guy, who fell into Disney’s awesome crazy old lady trope.
It never occurred to me until I read your comment, but we know from the movie that Ursula can take pretty much any form she wants, so one would assume she chooses to look the way she does, which is awesome.
what about when Ursula turns into “Vanessa” to sabotage Ariel? From what I remember, Vanessa is pretty thin, no?
Not to bash this photo (I think the concept is actually pretty cool), but notice the difference between the ‘larger’ Ursula and the ‘thinner’ Vanessa?
oops! I realized I didn’t post the link to the photo! here it is: http://www.wwww.fanpop.com/spots/disney-villains/images/18776150/title/ursula-vanessa-photo
Ooohh “Lilo and Stich” is my favorite! I love how the women have more realistic bodies, albeit still tiny tiny waists. Also Lilo has that fascination with larger people, in a good way imho. Even Lilo has an adorable bit of chub :D
But I also agree completely that movie is in the minority :/
ah…in regards to Dora:
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/03/19/dora-the-explorers-makeover-gwen-and-i-saw-it-comin/
she doesn’t stay chubby and cute, sigh.
Ursula is my hero. Hah!
In the fourth Shrek film the situation seems to be reversed… Fiona lives with ogres and the curse is interpreted as her having to be human during the day… I had such a girlcrush on Fiona in that film :)
Mama Odie in “Princess and the Frog” — definitely a big woman, as well as blind, and the wisest person in the movie (she does voodoo, but dresses in white – as opposed to the “shadow man” who’s the bad guy voodoo practitioner in black).
Rewatching Princess and the Frog, I note that at least Tiana has a waist as wide as her head, and she also has hips and a butt.
I spotted a matter-of-factly fat woman in, of all things, Kim Possible. In the episode where Ron, usually an adorkable sidekick, wins an American Idol-type contest with the annoyingly catchy “Naked Mole Rap,” his three backup singers have numerous sexy costume changes. They are all shakin’ it and having a great time and they are all played straight. Even the fat woman. She doesn’t get the “funny fat woman” closeup or the inverse, the hide-her-behind-the-others choreography. She’s just there.
yup and best of all. they all wear the same costume! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6scHgACSD0
I can’t help but wonder if, at this point, the color of the character doesn’t have something to do with her being less ridiculously skinny than the other disney princess characters- just saying. And the woman in the Naked Mole Rap is also black.
There is that stereotype that it’s more acceptable for black women to be larger, which just seems to be perpetuated with these examples.
There’s also a fat backup singer in Hercules.
And I thought I was the only person who had actually sat down and thought about this in detail !! lol . I totally agree that there needs to be a fat princess !! I mean , we have them of all ethnicity’s , now we need a happy , pretty fat chick who gets the guy and all her dreams to come true ! I have 2 lil boys , so I dont have to worry about this much , although I like a good cartoon movie just as good as the next 6 year old girl , but I think if I had girls , I would seriously have to think about letting them watch movies where the only depiction of a princess is most def. something they can never be . I mean ALL lil girls wanna be like the princess in the movies . I actually remember very well wanting to be like Pocahontas . I had this lil purple bathing suit with Native American (Im a quarter Cherokee , I had weird things like that . lol) beading on it . I was like 7 I think one day when I decided to play in the woods wearing my ”Pocahontas outfit” and when I put in on thought to myself ”I cant be like Pocahontas . Im to fat” . Maybe I was just a deep thinking child , but I bet there are lots of lil girls who think things like that and its just sad .
there is still no black prince, which sucks HARD …
About Ursula…
Well, we can´t forget that when Ursula becomes a human, she’s not fat at all…
I love Ursula, she’s my all time favourite villain. That said, she does have a bit of the ‘delusional fatty’ going on. Remember her line, “Look at me… wasting away to practically nothing”?
Don’t forget Madam Mim from the Sword in the Stone, she’s a minor villain who, as part of her song, shows she can make herself pretty, or ulglier, but would rather stay fat (i mean that in the greatest way). I love the Magnificent Marvelous Mad Mad Mad Madam Mim
Well, not to be a downer..but, have you ever watched closely at Poor Unfortunate Souls? The images of the souls she pulls out of her cauldron-thingie are of a fat woman and a skinny man..then to make them happy or whatever she changes them to a skinny woman and a buff man…she even says the woman longs to be thinner. It’s subtle size-ism…none the less, I do love Ursula though. That white mohawk-do is fabulous. Here’s a link to the song if you want to see what I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFVG4VfPmg
Brittany,
I had an entirely different take on that particular song (The Little Mermaid is my absolutely favorite Disney cartoon, ridiculous anti-feminist sentiments aside) my impression is that Ursula couldn’t understand why they would throw away their souls for such a vain reason, but if they’re willing to make that sacrifice/agreement, she’s going to take advantage of it. (Is Ursula the under sea diet industry?)
I hope someone jumps in on this because now I’m really wondering if my love of this particular movie hasn’t blinded me to an obvious fat slam.
I’m with you, Weetabix. You can how little she thinks of them in the line preceding that bit: “I use it on behalf / Of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed (pathetic)”
Under sea diet industry – I love that!
Honestly, she’s my favorite princess. I have red hair thus my childhood addiction to the movie..even though now I think shes the dumbest princess of all if you really think about it..
Anyway, I can see that idea too…I guess it’s how you look at it. I just wonder if little girls get the ‘poor unfortunate souls wanting to be skinny’ idea or the ‘get skinny = happy’ idea.. I don’t remember how that scene effected me as a little girl,but I’m guessing on a sub-conscious level I got the ‘skinny = happy’. A lot of Disney movies have horrible anti-feminist/anti-fat imagery…it’s kinda sad really.
And I love the idea of Ursula being the under sea diet industry XD
Sadly I don’t think we will be seeing a fat princess anytime soon. Michelle Obama is teaming with Disney to promote the magic of healthy living. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/09/disney-launches-magic-of-healthy-living/?CMP=SOC-DPFY10Q3TwitterDisneyParks30-09-10%400001
Which would mean no fatties of course because that doesn’t promote healthy living..riiight??
I used to think that if I would pretty enough, birds would land on my finger and animals would gather around me.
I have really disliked Disney and that part of the children’s entertainment history for a long time, as well as felt a lot of anger towards fairy tales in general because of the unrealistic ideas they gave to me of love, romance, and life. I used to LOVE the fairy tales when I was young I would dream of my own fairytale and it angered me how false they are and how cheated I felt to find that life ain’t like that.
it frustrates me to no end that all the princesses are shown as an unreal, unachievable kind of beauty with our cartoons for children created to “turn on” and appeal to adults as well.
There is one fairytale movie however that I absolutely adore it is in fact my favorite movie. NOT made by Disney but incorporating all the fairytale’s that Disney has made so popular it is so so much better! Made as a mini series on tv it is 6 hours long but I found it go by so quickly and I wasn’t bored once.
One of the things I like best, Snow white, who is “Fairest of them all” is played by Camryn Manheim and she IS known as the fairest of them all, the height of perfection and not one thing is done to excuse her fat, or explain it away. She just IS! And that is wonderful, and beautiful to me.
Unlike the fairytales that I came to hate, everything isn’t all wrapped up neatly by falling in love, things are crazy and kooky and love doesn’t just come easily it builds and grows.
If I should ever have kids, I don’t think I would really ever want them immersed in the Disney culture. Honestly I think it does more harm than it does good.
I am remember as a little kid always being upset that I couldn’t have one of those “real life size” disney princess dolls that you could wear their dress, because they wouldn’t fit me. :( That was always a hard thing to come to grips with as a young girl.
I would like to argue the case for Princess Fiona. She is an Ogre, and her body size is completely normal for a female ogre! :p And yeah maybe she was a little self conscious around Shrek, but that’s only because she loved him and you’d be self conscious to around your true love if you spent all your life in a tower alternating between green and pink with only a dragon to keep you company having to live up to all your stupid male suitors version of what a ‘real’ Princess should look and be like……so yeah! Lol.
I’m sorry, I love Fiona.
The plus-sized fairy in Sleeping Beauty was pretty fiesty. She stood up for her Beauty and for the color blue.
Was I the only person who thought Ursula was hot in “The Little Mermaid?” She had a great rack. They even jiggled in the water.
When considering Ursla you must also remeber Alice in Wonderland, and The Queen of Hearts…Not depicted as sexy, BUT she has power… :)
What about Mulan? I know that she is quite slender, but her body (especially her thighs) seem to be more muscular/toned than bony (like Ariel).
Not to mention that she totally kicks ass!
Is this article serious? I feel like the author was trying to make some kind of point about fatism by mentioning the fat Ursula, but the only thing she proved was that Disney makes villains of all shapes and sizes and does not prejudice.
If some people weren’t so quick to be victimized they would notice that not everyone has it out for them.
I completely understand your point here, but honestly, as a child growing up in the 90s when Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, and Mulan were released, I couldn’t have cared less how thin (or fat) the characters were. I really was not aware of my body, or other people’s bodies, at the time, and I just thought the princesses sang great songs (which I tried to emulate many a time, to my parents’ dismay).
Of course, I’m only one person, and who’s to say that other children around me weren’t affected, but I still think that below the age of 10, children are much more influenced by what their parents and peers say than by cartoons.
^this!!!!! Cartoons never bothered me as much as real people because even as i child i know illustrations weren’t representative (please give kids some credit) however it was the ‘REAL’ people held up as the ideal that were far more problematic.