Pink and Blue and Watched All Over: Toy Commercials as Cultural Pedagogy

By Sam Guenther

It is well known that gender ideologies are naturalized through institutions such the family, the church and the media. Schemas are cognitive frameworks that help organize and interpret information give rise to gender stereotypes (Gorham, 12/10/09). Of particular concern is the way such schemas and stereotypes are learned. One important way is through children’s play. Television is an important and pervasive educator for young children and much concern has been placed on commercials targeted at children’s toys. In this paper I will consider several recent commercials for popular toys. I will compare how they construct masculinity and femininity.

Quite simply, the toy commercials are a cultural pedagogy. Toys have long been used to teach children about gender roles. For example, little girl’s dollhouses have “taught” young girls how to be good house wives and homemakers. By taking care of their pretend home (doing the dishes, baking, playing dress up) girls grow up learning that accelerating at these chores should be their goal in life. Modern day toy commercials continue to “teach” children gender roles. While some facets of the media have evolved to showing more equality among gender, toy commercials have continued to differentiate male and female toys to the extreme. Utilizing a textual analysis of various commercials for children, one can easily witness stereotyped gender roles and various ideologies.

In Hasbro’s commercial for the Rose Petal Cottage, an excited little girl is shown doing housework in her playhouse. The pastel-colored house comes equipped with a washer and dryer, an oven with plastic muffins, and a crib and rocking chair to rock your baby doll. In addition, the tune that is playing in the background sings, “I love my laundry it gets so clean. Taking care of my home is a dream, dream, dream!” The content in this commercial suggests that a little girl’s only ambition is to grow up to be a homemaker concerned with baking and doing laundry. This commercial also establishes the deeply rooted ideology that a woman needs no other skills than homemaking because her husband is the bread winner.



While the Rose Petal doll house teaches girls how to be good homemakers, Mattel’s Barbie Shopping Boutique teaches them how to dress to please a man.
In this commercial, little girls have a spinning wardrobe in which they can mix and match outfits and a check-out counter for their purchases. Every plastic piece, including the credit card, is painted pink. The Barbie dolls shown are all blonde with big busts, tiny waists, and long legs. Mattel’s commercial emphasizes that the main activity little girls should be concerned with is shopping and buying clothes. Also, this introduces young girls to the ideology that to be happy, girls must have a great wardrobe and be skinny and blonde.



There is a striking difference between commercials aimed at girls and those aimed at boys. In the commercial for G.I. Joe toys, for example, little boys play with the jet fighter, “Hurricane,” and the Humvee, “Hammer.” Both toys come equipped with either plastic missiles or launching foam missiles. The commercial consists of both boys firing missiles at each other while destroying the surrounding by running the “Hammer” into things. Much different from little girl toys, this commercial focuses on violence and physical activities, whereas the commercials for young girls focus on nurturance and stationary activities. Commercials for young boys such as the G.I. Joe commercial introduce young boys to the stereotyped gender roles of males. They are expected to enjoy violence and rough play.



Another commercial also features violent role models. This one, for WWF Stretch Wrestlers toys, pictures two boys playing with stretchable action figures of their favorite WWF wrestlers. They are shown in a miniature fighting ring as both boys smack their figures against the other. The actual WWF wrestler is standing above his own figure saying, “Your stretching me into a wimp!” Unlike girls, the boys are engaged in physical activity as well as competition among one another. The toys in which they play with are called “action figures,” not “dolls” and once again violence and toughness are shown to be vital components in young boys play.



Katherine E. Barnett (2004) states that, “gender is a social construct, meaning that what we thing males and females should do or how we think males and females should behave is not based on one’s biological sex” (185). In other words, Barnett suggests that institutions such as the media and in specific, commercials, can easily teach children how they should think and act through its content. Commercials themselves are part of a cultural pedagogy and the information they teach to children can have detrimental consequences.

Beginning at this stage, children are beginning to establish their identities as an individual, as well as a male or female. To form identities, they often look to television or commercial contexts and identify with the stereotyped media constructions of people. Jean Kilborne (2004) agrees that the media exposes young girls to unattainable ideals of physical perfection and the ideology that women are less powerful than men. The ramifications of these images and ideals cause a significant drop in a young girl’s self-esteem and can culminate in desperate attempts to emulate physical perfection and be wanted by males. Girls can form drinking problems, be subjected to date rape, or form eating disorders.

Likewise, Jackson Katz (2000) speaks on the effects media has on young boys. Katz focuses on the strong correlation between media featuring aggressive, beefed up, vulgar men and violence in males. He insists that the media is raising generations of young males in a society that “glorifies sexually aggressive masculinity and considers as normal the degradation and objectification of women.” For example, Katz considers sexually explicit rap and hip-hop videos as well as entertainers such as Howard Stern and professional wrestling. While Stern, according to Katz, orients his show around pornography and the commodification of women’s bodies, professional wrestling focuses around crude male dominance and violence. Katz insists that the effects the media constructed images of men are becoming increasingly dangerous and violent.
While the exact effects of such commercials cannot be determined, it is likely that they have negative cumulative effects on, not only individual boys and girls, but upon the culture in which almost all American children live.

Works Cited
Barnett, Katherine E. “Destructive and Constructive Characterizations of Women in
Disney’s Mulan.” Race/Gender/Media : Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004. 184-90. Print.

Gorham, Bradley W. “The Social Psychology of Stereotypes: Implications for Media
Audiences.” Race/Gender/Media: Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004. 14-22. Print.

Katz, Jackson, and Sut Jhally. "Put the Blame Where it Belongs: On Men." Los Angeles
Times 25 June 2000, Commentary M5 sec. Print.

Kilborne, Jean. “The More You Subtract, The More You Add: Cutting Girls Down To
Size In Advertising.” Race/Gender/Media : Considering Diversity Across
Audiences, Content, and Producers. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004. 103-109. Print.

Are Gay Men the New Women of Advertising?

By Donikea Austin

Women are portrayed in two ways: non sexual mothers/homemakers OR hypersexual, young, always available, passive sexual objects. Gay men are now also occupying these roles…Recently, there seems to be a trend in using gay men in advertising to sell traditionally feminine products.

Carson Kressly, best known for his work on the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He appears in an ad for Clorox 2 washing detergent. In the past in advertising, men were rarely if ever used as spokespeople for household products. Clorox did go against the grain by using Kresly, however in doing this, they are equating gay men and heterosexual women in their traditional role of homemaker. In doing this advertisers are saying that gay men and women can be used interchangeably and have similar household roles. One of the problems that arise when gay men are used this way is that it places them at a lower status, with women, and takes away the fact that they are males. The other problem with this is that it is in some ways a symbolic annihilation of gay men. In this case the men are being put in situations that make them seem like women and it takes away from the fact that they are men and not just feminine gay stereotypes. This specific ad which is targeted towards women provides Kressly as an easily consumable figure of gay men.

Another trend in advertising that features gay men portrays them as extremely passive and hypersexual. For example, the ads for Dolce & Gabbana feature a group of men aggressively looking down at a passive woman, in the first ad, and a passive man, in the second. Not only do the ads show a sense of dominance over the passive figure, it also shows what appears to be a gang rape of the passive characters. The position of the passive characters is also important in these ads, the woman is positioned with her hips trusted, and the man is positioned with his legs open.

Over the years we have seen a rise in the number of openly gay figures in the pop culture and the media. However the way they have been portrayed has changed slightly. Gay men at one point were portrayed exclusively as a joking character, a buffoon or a negative figure. While those types of portrayals are still around today, we have seen a rise in the way that they are portrayed similarly to the way women have been. This may be because in our label obsessed society, for some people you have to fit into one of two categories, male or female. The problem with classifying gay males is that they have the physical characteristics of males, however they are attracted to males like females in our society are thought to do, and they are stereotypically flamboyant as women are thought to be. With this mentality, gay men by default are classified as women and not men.

The only way that there can be a change in the way that gay men are advertised is to create a different schema for gender roles. We need to be more receptive and understanding that people do not necessarily need to be classified into different groups in order for us to understand their roles in society.

Gender and Batman

By Micheal Rodeno

The Batman the caped crusader, the dark knight is the only super hero that does not have any supernatural powers to defeat his crazed enemies. Batman has been a popular mythical character to young boys since the 1950’s. In this blog entry, I will examine the specific characters portrayed in the Batman the Animated Series cartoon and how they construct masculinity and femininity.

Bruce Wayne/Batman


Bruce Wayne is Gotham’s richest man and most eligible bachelor. He fits the ideology of everything that is good. Everything from his socioeconomic status to his physical physique is nearly flawless. His alter ego Batman never fails to save the city from the crazed maniacs that try to hurt the innocent people of Gotham. Physically Bruce Wayne is huge and does not have an ounce of fat on his body. His bat suit brings out all of Bruce’s overwhelming physical features. In fact most of the male characters in this series have a similar body type. Even though Bruce Wayne inherits all of his wealth from his Mother and Father and he is usually a very private person he is still very highly regarded even though he has little to do with the daily functions of the Wayne Corporation. The people of Gotham bow to him in two different forms either as himself or his alter ego Batman. Batman also has a protégé that he took in when his parents were slain Dick Grayson and his alter ego Robin.

Dick Grayson/Robin

Dick Grayson could be considered a miniature version of Bruce Wayne in every sense he also fits the ideology of everything that is good. He also has to grieve with the loss of his parents just as his mentor Bruce Wayne did. As Bruce’s closest confidant and the only other person who knows about his secret life besides his butler Alfred he stands to inherit all of Bruce’s wealth if anything happens to him. Dick is also a very popular figure on a smaller scale at Gotham University and is also sought after hard by most of the women on campus. Even Physically Grayson is a smaller version of Bruce with mostly the same facial features and the same cut up body without an ounce of fat. He is not as physically imposing looking as Bruce but he is still in great condition. Robin learns from Batman the way of the streets and about the mad villains that are trying to destroy Gotham. Robin is Batman’s sidekick in every sense of the word he does not get to drive the Bat mobile and is often never seen as the hero when both have a share in saving Gotham from whatever attack they face. Batman receives all or most of the credit. Any variation of Batman is not complete without some of the insane villains Batman faces off against.

The Joker

The Joker is the arch nemesis of Batman and Robin and is the dynamic duos biggest threat. The Joker is the ideology in the show of everything that is bad. The Joker is horribly disfigured mentally and physically. The Joker has no feelings and will do anything to get laugh which usually means trying to hurt the people of Gotham and kill Batman. The Joker physically is not physically not very physically imposing he is tall and skinny. His skin is ghostly pale due to him falling into a vat of chemicals that made him go mad and changed his pigmentation. His clothing is also very different than that of Bruce Wayne he wears ugly purple suits while Bruce Wayne wears fine clothing and wears a high tech suit when he is Batman. While Bruce Wayne stays away from the bright lights of the media the Joker embraces the spotlight by high jacking TV stations to the people of Gotham can see his retched smiling face. Joker like most criminals has to steal all of his riches in order to perform his crimes. The Joker is seen as the bottom of the barrel and the scum of the earth who strikes fear into the people of Gotham.

The women of the show such as Selena Kyle/Cat woman, Pamela Eisley/ Poison Ivy, Harlene Quinzel/Harlequin and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl are all petite young and beautiful. They all have long flowing hair, rail thin stomachs, voluptuous hips and large breasts. These women are seen as objects to the powerful men in the show. The women are never seen as powerful until they change into their costumes and become their alter ego’s.

Pamela Eisley/Poison Ivy

Pamela Eisley also known as Poison Ivy is an example of a women who only becomes powerful until she has a costume on. Pam dated Harvey Dent before he turned into Two Face and nearly killed him by poisoning him after Harvey wiped out an extinct plant. Pam before turning into Poison Ivy was just seen as a harmless beautiful girl that Harvey Dent dated. After this incident Pam becomes Poison Ivy and is one of the most dangerous and feared criminals in Gotham.

Selena Kyle/Catwoman

Selena Kyle also known as Catwoman is the object of Bruce Wayne’s affection for most of the show while Batman is the object of her affection when they are squaring off against one another. Selena is not really seen as a villain in the show because she does not side with the other villains and does all of her jobs independently. Selena much like the rest of the female characters is seen as a beautiful woman on Bruce Wayne’s arm until she changes into her cat suit. When she is Cat Woman she is a cat quick thief who is capable of taking on any male challenger.

Harlene Quinzel/ Harlequin

Harley Quinn is a former clinical psychologist whose mind has been warped by the Joker. Harley is madly in love with the Joker and will do anything to please him. She is considered to be of little threat at all just a beautiful woman that the joker cant flaunt and do some of his dirty work. In a particular episode Harley runs away from the Joker and captures batman and has him tied up over a tank of hungry piranhas. She calls the joker because she wants to show her what she has done. Harley thinks Joker will be proud of her accomplishment and they will kill Batman together. When joker enters the room he becomes enraged because she has came closer to killing Batman than he ever has. Joker cannot get over the fact that a woman did a better job than him on something that consumes his whole life.

Batman portrays many ideologies for both men and women in terms of what is right and what is wrong and how each sex should be indentified.

She's The Man

Kit Yi Ng




She’s the Man (2006) centers on a teenage girl, Viola, who poses as a boy at a highschool. As a female posing as a male, this film examines the role of gender and sexuality.
Viola’s mother teaches Viola table manners and buys her a lot of feminine dresses. Viola’s mother values consumption, male power and feminine passivity (as she doesn’t approve of viola’s interest in soccer.) The mother here, represents the extreme ideology of traditional femininity, which mainstream culture has long identified as out-dated. As personified by the “masculinized” Viola, this construction of femininity is clearly not valued within the film’s narrative. Viola is not satisfied with following the old rules and does not want to “behave like a lady”. Instead, she insists on playing soccer and even enters the team of another school to prove her abilities.

In the film, Viola is an active character, not passively waiting for male attention. For example, in the last scene, her brother pulls down his shorts to show that he is a male in the stadium and viola who pulls up her sports shirt does the same. She also takes initiative sexually, kissing Duke who is her roommate first. At the end, Viola’s team wins the game and her mother no longer stops her from playing soccer. On one hand, the film seems to tell audiences that females have the power to make changes.

On the other hand, I argue that the film still holds a deeply rooted ideology which values masculinity over femininity. First of all, the film shows that sports are still the world of males and females are not supposed to get in. Viola cannot play soccer if she does not pose as a boy. In order to play soccer, she must abandon all of her feminine traits, and hide any feminine signifiers. For example, she needs to put on a wig of short hair and fasten her breasts on sunny days, hide all the tampons away, take showers only when there is nobody in bathroom and speak in a deep voice. Furthermore, the coach in Viola’s highschool, who represents the mainstream opinion, actually discriminates against females as he does not allow Viola to join his team.

The main actor, Duke, is muscular, tall, athletic and interested in girls. Meanwhile, when Viola acts as a woman, she is very feminine. She is thin, slender, has long blonde hair, big eyes and smooth skin. Moreover, other actresses in the film are all very feminine and appealing. When Viola’s friends show up in the movie, they dress in low-cut dresses and make-up; their goal is to grab male attention.

Much of the humor in the film comes from near-homosexual encounters. When Viola poses as a boy, her female classmate wants Viola to be her boyfriend. Much of the humor also stems from the fact that Viola is interested in men, staring at men in the changing room and hugging her male roommate.

On the surface, the film portrays the flexibility of gender roles. Viola is able to successfully “act like a boy,” and thus demonstrates the social construction of gender. However, this interrogation of gender roles is ultimately superficial. Viola, even when dressed as a boy, is still very feminine. Her love interest is also hyper-masculine. Furthermore, the fact that a large portion of the film’s humor stems from near gay/lesbian encounters makes one question just how progressive the film really is.

Craig Morgan's “I Am” and Male Stereotypes

Jasen Sokol



One popular criticism of popular music is that it perpetuates gender stereotypes. Although it is more common to see female stereotypes perpetuated than male stereotypes, it is not difficult to find such stereotypes in popular music. One song where it is somewhat difficult to find the perpetuation of stereotypes is Craig Morgan's “I Am.” Although there are instances in which male stereotypes are supported, the majority of the supported stereotypes are positive and many of the lines in the song denounce the negative stereotyping of men.

“I Am” is essentially an autobiographical country song. The lyrics consist of questions inquiring as to different personality traits that Craig Morgan possesses. At the end of each verse and the refrain, Craig emphatically responds “you bet I am!” These traits range from Morgan being a so-called good ol' boy to being down to Earth. Several of the traits that Morgan says he possesses, however, come in direct conflict with negative male stereotypes.

The first time that a negative male stereotype is quashed by Morgan is in the first line of the refrain. He asks, “[a]m I strong enough to cry?” The notion that men who cry are as weak is a key element of the schema that is the male stereotype. However, this element of the stereotype is problematic because it teaches men to hide their emotions. This can lead to a variety of problems ranging from difficulty making friends to post-traumatic stress disorder (United Press International, 2009; Salters-Pedneault)

Another important yet less-discussed stereotype that Morgan denounces through his song is that men tend to be unfaithful. It is not uncommon for males to be portrayed in the media as having multiple love interests. This can be harmful because Morgan denounces this stereotypes by singing “[a]m I a lover, a one-woman man, you bet I am!” By using this line in his song, he sends the message that it is okay to be famous and faithful.

Not all of the lines in “I Am” combat male stereotypes, though. In the second line of the refrain, Morgan sings “[a]m I weak enough to show my tender side?”. This line seems to perpetuate the notion that it is not acceptable for men to be emotional. This is a problematic line for two reasons. As was previously mentioned, suppressing emotions can have negative effects on a person's health. More importantly, however, is the fact that this line seems to contradictory to other parts of the song. It contradicts what Morgan sang in the line previous to it when he said that he is “strong enough to cry.” It also sends a conflicting message because he infers that it is acceptable to “show your tender side,” but uses the word “weak” to describe why he is able to do it. These conflicting messages may lead to some listeners to be confused about what the lyric actually means.

However, Morgan does sing about some male stereotypes that are considered favorable. He uses lines about whether he is “willing to take a stand” and “tough as nails when push comes to shove.” These lines signify that Morgan is encouraging men to be tough but not overly violent or aggressive. The media often does not portray men as such, as even Disney has portrayed many of its main male characters as violent and aggressive at times.

Although Craig Morgan’s song “I Am” is one of his lesser known songs, it has a more message about what it means to be a man than the majority of today’s popular music. It breaks through some of the stereotypes of men, including the notion that it is not acceptable to cry or be monogamous, and reinforces other traits such as being tough but not overly aggressive. Although there are conflicting messages at times, Craig Morgan did a very good job of cutting through some of the stereotypes that surround males today

Works Cited
Morgan, C. (n.d.) I Am. In Youtube.com. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXmpHeKmr5Y.

Salters-Pedneault, K. (n.d.). Suppressing Emotions. In About.com. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://bpd.about.com/od/livingwithbpd/a/suppress.htm.

United Press International (July 25, 2009). Study finds suppressing emotions can hurt. In UPI.com. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/07/25/Study-finds-suppressing-emotions-can-hurt/UPI-36381248566093/

What Cartoons Teach Us About Race & Gender

Michael Rodeno





When we were kids one of the things that we hold most dear to us is what we watch on television. Most of the time parents take for granted what their kids are watching. Parents think this show or game is made for kids so there is not any content that would be inappropriate for them to watch. When I was a child I did not see any of the stereotypes because I didn’t know they existed. When I look back on some these portrayals now from old cartoons such as Bugs Bunny or Popeye I am shocked by the blatant forms of racism. My blog will focus on what a child can learn from cartoons in terms of race and gender.



After watching a few older cartoons such as Bugs Bunny and Popeye that are still somewhat prevalent to this day I asked myself what could a young mind take away from these portrayals of race, gender and social class? The first cartoon I viewed was on YouTube it was an old Speedy Gonzalez with his cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez. This particular cartoon stereotyped Mexican people as either being fast and energetic or slow, lazy and hungry. Speedy Gonzalez is the fast and energetic character who is always running around screaming Andale or Arriba while Slowpoke Rodriguez is lethargic and sings la cuca racha very slowly. Even the two characters attire is stereotypical Speedy and Slowpoke both wear all white outfits with sombreros. On top of their clothing, accents and behavior even their food choices are stereotyped in this particular cartoon. When Slowpoke suggests to speedy in order to enjoy their cheese they need Tabasco sauce. This particular cartoon suggests that Mexicans are slow and lazy or energetic and annoying as well as hot sauce eating sombrero wearing people. These perceptions are disturbing to say the least.



Warner Brothers had another very controversial and shocking racist cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny. This included the Original Elmer Fudd who was an African American character originally. Elmer Fudd is extremely dark with huge light colored lips and is all slouched over he looks more like an animal then an human being. Elmer is not very intelligent either you can barley understand the words that are coming out of his mouth and he uses all slang instead of proper English. Although this particular cartoon was made a long time ago it is very offensive and would not be accepted in todays culture. This particular cartoon did not even portray the Elmer Fudd as a human being this gives young white children that black people are stupid and animal looking people. This particular portrayal would be very hard inpaticular for a black child because a cartoon like this could be very degrading to their confidence and may make them feel inferior.



An example of gender roles in cartoons is in the Disney Pixar movie Toy Story. The scene when Woody and Buzz are arguing over whether Buzz can fly or not. Woody is the dominant male in this group of toys until Buzz enters their lives. Woody tries to convince the other toys that Buzz is all bells and whistles. The main toy he is trying to convince is his girlfriend Bo Peep she has clearly moved on from Woody to Buzz because he is more dominant and has more desirable physical features when she says “Looks like I found myself a new moving partner”. This sends a wrong message to little girls that they should be looking for materialistic traits in a man instead of looking for a man with a great personality who really cares about her.



Another cartoon that shows stereotypical gender roles is the Jetsons. In the intro of the show we observe George Jetson giving his wife Jane money to go shopping. This act promotes the fact that Jane does not have her own money or make her own money. The only way that she is able to go shopping is to use her husband’s money. In the show she also fits the stereotypical housewife role in the capacity of staying home all day and preparing the meals. This tells a little girl that when I’m older I’ll find the right man and won’t have to work George is the breadwinner for the family he goes to work makes the money for the family and does not lift a finger when he is home. A little boy who watches this gets the idea that he does not have to help his wife with duties around the house and all he has to do is go to work. Even the kids fit stereotypes Elroy the Jetsons son is interested in sports and does anything to please his father and Judy is a typical high school girl who is interested in boys and shopping. These stereotypes in this show goes with times in which the show was made. However the Jetsons are still is prevalent today and may cause children to think that they need to fit these stereotypical gender roles.



Past cartoons and even some current ones can teach a child about race and gender in a negative way. Parents should monitor what their child watches and explain to them that these cartoons do not portray reality. These cartoons are generally harmless but obviously there are many messages about race and gender that we don’t really realize until we are really looking for it.

A Beauty or a Beast? Textual analysis of stereotypes and discrimination in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Sam Guenther

“It is not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking…”

This statement is spoken by Gaston, the “ultimate” male specimen in Disney’s 1991 film, Beauty and the Beast.

A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Though useful in allowing us to take shortcuts in interpreting vast amounts of information, these mental frameworks cause us to exclude important information in favor of the information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs or ideas. These schemas give rise to stereotypes by making it difficult to retain new information that does not conform to our already established schemas. The schemas most children have of gender stereotypes and discrimination are reinforced continuously by Disney films. The Disney empire, long beloved by parents and children alike, has recently been confronted about the stereotypical messages within their material. With such a powerful influence over the public, especially children, many contend it should be Disney’s responsibility to censure their media outlets and work to eliminate evidence of stereotypes and discrimination within their products. Scholars and parents alike are becoming concerned with the portrayal of women and other questionable behavior in Disney’s films.

In particular, Beauty and the Beast portrays severe gender stereotypes. Using a textual analysis, one can discover the use of these stereotypes in the main characters of Belle and Gaston, and indication of discrimination towards the Beast. The opening song in Beauty and the Beast summarizes the schemas of Belle and Gaston. As the whole town sings about Belle, the main character, they introduce her as beautiful, but “odd”, “peculiar”, and a “funny girl.” Why? Because she reads. The only town seems to be baffled because there is really no need for a girl to read, especially if she has beauty. The text of this film immediately displays Belle as the town spectacle because of this trait. Rather than encouraging Belle’s fancy for reading, the film isolates it as an “odd” and ridiculous trait. Although Disney does allow their female main character to be seen with some brains, she never ends up needing them. Just as the towns people suggested in the beginning. In Belle’s book she reads, she describes her favorite chapter as the one where the girl finds her prince charming. The film suggests that the only purpose a woman like Belle has, is to find a man. However, Belle does sing of her desire to find “more than this provincial life.” Yet, her idea of “more” still revolves around finding a man and no more.



In addition to Belle, other stereotypical females are shown in the film. While Gaston sings of his perfection, three girls swoon around him and sing the chorus. These three girls are either triplets or heavily stereotyped. All blonde, skinny, and with tiny waists, the only difference of them is the color of their revealing dresses. They are portrayed as the town’s “regular” women. In other words, the construction of femininity as portrayed by the three girl/women is normalized within the film’s narrative. They are completely infatuated with Gaston and the idea of marrying. They are sexy and ditzy. Clearly, their most valued commodity is their body.

This leads us into Gaston; he is a typical Disney male. In the film, Gaston sings of how “lucky” Belle is that he picked her as his bride. He continues to say that Belle must be the best there is because Gaston only deserves the best. This reinforces the idea of male domination and that a man comes first and deserves more than a woman, or will attain the best at a woman’s expense. The character of Gaston is illustrated to have a plethora of muscles with “biceps to spare!” This body image along with his uncanny physical abilities, like the female characters, puts emphasis on the body-as-commodity. In another musical number, Gaston’s minion replies that Gaston thinking is “dangerous” after Gaston announces he thought of a plan. The idea of Gaston’s lack of need for intelligence is also reinforced through the identical swooning girls. They only focus on his sculpted face and hairy muscles, as well as his abilities to shoot and drink. This represents the stereotypical “jock” as the main male character. While both male and female characters are valued only for their outer appearance, the difference here is that Gaston has the power to chose; the women in the film do not. Instead, the women are chosen, and chosen based only on how they look.

The other main male protagonist in the film is the Beast, and it is here that we find some potentially destructive ideology. Firstly, the idea of the Beast as an abuser becomes prevalent the instant he comes into contact with the other characters. The Beast is shown as a violent, angry creature, incapable of mercy. When Belle’s father stumbles into the Beast’s castle looking for help, the Beast immediately locks him away in a dungeon. To get her father released, Belle imprisons herself to the Beast, taking her father’s place. As the Beast’s prisoner, Belle is screamed at and threatened. At one point, the Beast’s temper boils over and he screams, “If she doesn’t eat with me, then she doesn’t eat at all!” Yet, after all this emotional abuse, Belle continues to hope that there is something human inside him, which is capable of love. Against the odds, Belle falls in love with him and “tames” the Beast. Belle’s actions tell children that it is okay to be abused by a man, because you can change him and he actually loves you. This is probably the most dangerous message in the film.

In addition to the Beast being seen as an abuser, he also represents the idea of discrimination. Cursed into the form of an ugly monster, the Beast’s life is threatened because of his difference. Discrimination or the unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice is illustrated perfectly by the Beast. When the town learns that the Beast is real, they immediately form a prejudice against him based simply on the fact that he is not one of them. They carry this prejudice further through discrimination when they venture to his castle to “kill the Beast.” It is disturbing that prejudice and discrimination are prevalent in a child’s movie and more so, that these actions are never shown as wrong. Rather, the occupants of the house and the Beast’s servants (who happen to be thinking house-hold objects) defeat the town’s people and send them running. The film reinforces ideas of prejudice without reinforcing them as wrong, only defeatable.



It is important that Disney movies be analyzed and questioned by parents. Katherine E. Barnett (10/8/09) states that, “gender is a social construct, meaning that what we think males and females should do or how we think males and females should behave is not based on one’s biological sex” (185). In other words, Barnett is insisting that gender roles are learned and taught by one’s society. In a time of critical learning, a child begins to understand what is considered male and what is considered female. Therefore it is very important what he/she is being exposed to. Children have been, and continue to be, influenced by the overly stereotyped Disney frames of gender.

Works Cited

Barnett, Katherine E. "Destructive and Constructive Characterizations of Women in Disney's Mulan." Race/Gender/Media :Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2004. 184-90. Print.

Beauty and the Beast. Dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Perf. Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson. Walt Disney Pictures, 1991. Videocassette.