Disney, The Media, and Body Images

This is something that I am very conflicted about. In Class we were talking about how being a feminist makes people more confident about their body image. I agree with this because with the understanding of what feminism is, people are more likely to understand that images let out by the media of what men and women are "supposed" to look like should not actually be taken seriously. But then, after that I started to think about body images in the eyes of children. When the class me for the first time, we discussed the purpose of psychology of women and in one of the slides of the power point titled "Why do we need the psychology of women?" one of the reasons was "Because little girls learn these body ideals at a certain age." I agree that this is unfortunate because this is how kids grow up to have eating disorders and insecurities, but I don't know if I agree with the way some people bash on Disney because of their disproportionate princesses and princes. Are we being a little harsh on Disney? Of course it can be justified by parents worried for their children, but then what does that mean for Disney's animation style?

Another style of drawing people that is similar to what Disney does with its princes and princesses is found in anime or manga; basically a Japanese style of animation, stereo typically know to have female characters with giant eyes, tiny lips and noses, and an extremely curvy body, including the small waist. Does this mean that Anime and manga have to stop being made in this manner too. But another thing that contributes to the way that Disney is criticized for its characters is because of the age group it markets itself to. Does that mean that Characters like Ariel and sleeping beauty should now only be marketed to adults, because more mature audiences are able to understand that these are but mere cartoons. But then again, there are some adults out there who even take shows like Family Guy and South Park and The Simpsons seriously even though they are obviously satires. So does that now mean that we have to bar every piece of animation and media that might end up being taken seriously?

I think that the way that the characters are animated is being taken way too seriously, and it is unfortunate that Disney gets all the bad wrap for teaching children these bad things about body images  because of these animations. I say this because, ok, Disney is partly to blame for getting these images into children's minds, but not once does a Disney Princess ever say, "This is what pretty looks like!" or "Everyone, should look like me!" No, only the images enter these kids brains. Images, that without care, left unexplained, can form into ideas of what beauty should look like. That is why I feel bad for Disney taking all the blame for teaching children these wrong body ideals, because Parents are also partly to blame for not having explained to their children at an early age, or at a time they see fit, that it is OK to be skinny but that everyone comes in various different shapes and sizes. This is a conversation that parents usually only bring up when kids go into their pre-teens but by then the images of these princesses and now pop stars and models have already been ingrained in their mind as an ideal body type.

Times have changed. I feel like now that more people that learned about what feminism truly is are probably parents by now and hopefully are enforcing these feminist views on their children at an early age. This is why I really liked the reading assigned to us the first week by Obama. The future of every child depends on what their parents, elders, and authorities teach them. So, in the future, if our children are taught feminist views, then I don't think a skinny princess or supermodel with a tiny waist would scare parents anymore in the way it scares parents now because of the fear that their children will become anorexic, for example, as a result. I honestly think that if there's still any problem with Disney characters and other forms of media, I'd hope by now that its not because the model or princess is skinny and of the claim that they are unrealistic representations of the human body, because I hope that in the near future we will already have taught our children that not everyone naturally looks like that; but if anything it would be about the lack of representation of other body types in the media. Because as a feminist, I also don't think it is OK to hate on those who have worked hard to be "skinny" or in other words fit or even if they are that way naturally. Therefore having skinny people represented in the media isn't the real problem. The real problem with the media and Disney is not representing all body types. Representing all body types is something Disney used to do with shows like "That's so Raven" and "Lilo and stitch" and something, that with recent backlash, has started to do again with Characters like Kristoff from Frozen and their new Princess Moana.