The Walt Disney franchise was founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Roy and Walt Disney. The franchise got off to a somewhat slow start until the mid-thirties. In 1934, Disney Productions wanted to go further than any other production company in the field of animation. Therefore, Disney began production of its first animated feature film in 1934. Three years later, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in December 1937. By 1939, the film had become the highest-grossing film in all the time. This was not only the beginning of Walt Disney's highly acclaimed success, but also of the sexist representation of women in his films. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Princesses such as Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora were created between 1937 and 1959, at a time when women were confined to the role of housewife while their husbands served as breadwinners. The gender roles among each princess are visibly stated in the way they behave in accordance with what is expected of women in a male-dominated society. Gender roles are defined. Social expectations regarding behaviors, thoughts, and characteristics that go hand in hand with a person's assigned sex. (Vechiu 2018) Today, gender is one of the most controversial and discussed topics to date in Western society, as there are no longer just two genders. There is no doubt that media plays an important role in how children, especially young girls, shape their identities and then adhere to gender roles that correspond to their biological sex. In recent decades, Disney has been criticized for its negative and stereotypical portrayal of women in the Disney Princess films. (Maity 2014) Despite the negative portrayal of women in films such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, they have remained popular over the past seventy years with younger audiences. Concepts of femininity will be examined by critically analyzing the messages that the princesses, particularly Snow White from Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and Merida from Brave, send to viewers regarding femininity. As Disney's first film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs places a heavy emphasis on gender stereotypes within a male-dominated society, particularly what it meant to be feminine in the 1930s. Gender stereotypes are defined as a generalized view of the characteristics that men and women should possess and the roles that should be played (Vechiu 2018). Particularly because the United States was going through an economic depression in which thousands of American workers lost their jobs and homes. The economic depression brought back to life the traditional arrangement that a woman's place was at home, caring for her husband and children. . Western society as a whole reinforced this stigma by expressing that working women were “un-American” and stole jobs from men who were trying to provide for their families. To escape stigma and punishment, many women took on the role of housewife, which involved only cooking, cleaning, and raising children. During this sensitive time, Disney used the character of Snow White and used her as a symbol to show viewers the characteristics of an ideal woman embodied within this patriarchal society. Features suchas passivity, virginity, naivety, obedience, cleanliness, beauty and, as always, a damsel in distress. In the film, Snow White is portrayed as a happy housewife waiting for her Prince Charming to come and save her. Snow White embodies traditional femininity, which includes relatively enduring characteristics encompassing traits, appearances, interests, and behaviors that have traditionally been considered relatively more typical of women and men, respectively (adapting definitions provided by Constantinople , 1973). Many intentional messages are displayed in Snow White's behavior and mannerisms throughout the film. To begin with, there is an emphasis on beauty and that all women should strive to achieve and maintain this characteristic. After all, at that time, physical attractiveness was considered a woman's most valuable asset. The intended message of beauty is delivered entirely via the Evil Queen. She does everything in her power to become the fairest in the land and therefore tries to kill Snow White to improve her chances of achieving this. In the context of Disney films, the word "woman" has become synonymous with "victim" in a patriarchal society. The implication here is that women are subordinate to men in all aspects, especially in professional roles. In Snow White, the message is very clear to viewers, especially girls, that a woman's job duties involve cleaning, caring for others, and waiting for a male figure to save you . To take it a step further, Snow White cleans a dirty house belonging to the Seven Dwarfs simply because cleaning is a characteristic reinforced by traditional gender roles. When she first saw the mess, she assumed that young children lived in the house and had never had a mother figure in their lives. Therefore, she took on this role by cooking, cleaning and collecting the Seven Dwarfs. As she completed each task, her character was depicted as happy while dancing and singing happily, implying that all women should be happy to clean, cook, and care for others at all times. Within traditional femininity, respect for gender roles was very important. Since Snow White was the only female around the Seven Dwarfs, it fell to her to accept this maternal role in their lives. Suggesting that a woman's job was to be motherly and devote all of her time to her husband and family with no pay and little recognition for her hard work. Finally, Snow White enters a coma while waiting for “true love’s kiss” to save her life. This ties into the stereotype of the damsel in distress, where Snow White needs a man to save her and without him she is helpless and hopeless. Although they possess divine beauty, these princesses only seem capable of suffering in silence, and it is for this reason that they finally receive the ultimate reward: salvation through the handsome Prince Charming. (Maity 2014) The implication here is that because Snow White was obedient, submissive, motherly, and beautiful, she ultimately obtained the savior via Prince Charming. Ultimately, the message that Snow White sends to viewers, especially younger ones who are just beginning to shape their identities, is that women are not only subordinate to men, but must adhere to roles and gender stereotypes, otherwise stigmatization and sanctions will follow. Unlike traditional princess films, Brave offers a radically different perspective onway the female protagonist is portrayed. This film is about a young girl who gains independence and ultimately a voice by challenging patriarchal norms. Comparable to other Disney princess films, Merida was born into a royal family and grew up in a male-dominated society. Her mother personifies the traditional gender stereotype of what it means to be a woman within this society. At the beginning of the film, Merida is portrayed as a free spirit and ambitious by riding horses and practicing archery despite her mother's attempts to teach her own princess. label. She constantly questions what it means to be feminine through sword fighting, horse riding and archery. Throughout the film, Mérida's mother explains to her how women, especially princesses, should behave. For example, princesses don't eat too much at dinner, they get up early to spend the day in the kitchen, they are patient, careful, clean and above all seek perfection. This is a common theme in more traditional princess films such as Snow White. Although Merida complains about all the regulations and limitations she faces as a princess, she does not react against these traditions until she is forced to get married. Merida embodies outcast womanhood, which is defined as a set of characteristics, attributes, and behaviors believed to contaminate the relationship between masculinity and femininity (Vechiu 2018). For example. Although Merida's mother constantly pushes her to strive for perfection, she does just the opposite. Her hair is unkempt, she hates tight dresses and loves shooting archery. When Mérida learns that she must become engaged to a foreigner for the good of the kingdom, her anxiety grows and she rebels against her feminine duties (patience, passivity, grace). She tells her mother: “I don’t want my life to be over. I want my freedom,” giving a feminist speech. (Morante 2016) Unlike Snow White, Merida does not wish to marry and follow the same traditional gender roles that oppressed her own mother. Mérida continues to refute the idea of ​​marriage and that is why it is made obligatory. Additionally, during this time, for Merida to rule as queen, she needs a husband who would take her father's place as king of the kingdom. This reinforces the idea that women need to marry to achieve higher status and financial stability. Although this may have been true at the time, Merida decides that she does not want to suffer the same fate as her mother and other women in this male-dominated society. Therefore, she rebels in the best way she knows how through archery. While all the early suitors have gathered and shot their arrows to win Merida's hand, she decides to take a stand for herself and compete for her own hand in marriage. This very behavior contaminates the relationship between femininity and masculinity, as it not only contradicts practices defined as feminine, but it also threatens men's exclusive possession of hegemonic masculine traits. (Vechiu 2018) Not only does Mérida triumph over the suitors and win her own hand in marriage, but in doing so she shames her family and is in turn punished by her mother. Therefore, she is considered undesirable and stigmatized not only by the suitors, but the villagers too. Unlike many princess films prior to Brave, it does not feature a Prince Charming. Presumably, the movie Brave contained several messages, one of them being that women are not property and are quite capable of solving their problems without the help of a..