The Unrealistic Reality Of Disney

By Anaisa Arora

Princesses of Disney. Painting a picture strikingly similar to an unrealistic utopia

Almost every girl's youth has been influenced by these iconic characters. Every girl has undoubtedly crept into bed dressed as a princess and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of starring in their own princess feature.

As a child, I recall watching Disney princesses on television. Ariel rapidly swimming through the sea. Cinderella and her Prince waltz the night away at the ball. Aladdin and Jasmine travel the globe on a magic carpet. I recall being awestruck by their facial components, apparel, and unnaturally slender physiques.

I couldn't help but wonder as a kid, "Why can't I appear like that?"

As I've gotten older, I've recognised that these physical standards, which are the product of societal expectations, are absolutely impossible to attain.

We've always had a special spot in our hearts for Disney princess classics. We were influenced as young children by Cinderella's yearning to attend the ball, or we empathised with Snow White's plight and pined for Prince Philip to liberate Sleeping Beauty. Recent Disney films, such as Frozen and Mulan, have defied expectations about women in Disney films, altering the paradigm from damsel in distress to saviour.

There's still a long way to go, primarily since classic Disney films continue to have a profound influence. The Disney brand has enthralled a generation of children. Within is a plane of

existence apart from actuality, one where aristocracy reigns and sorcery flourishes. The lustrous allure of conventional Disney fairytales masks a subtle toxicity revealed through princess

clichés. While such princess images are immortalised in cherished childhood recollections,

chauvinistic forces of domesticity and subservience lurk beneath the nostalgic allure, mirroring the standards that women endure in society.

Mischaracterization of women in the media takes us on a sentimental journey of us sitting in front of our TV sets, watching Disney princesses live such enthralling lives, without

comprehending at the time that the representation of women has been done erroneously and is derogatory on many levels.

Furthermore, females' phenotypic pigeonholed aspiration, as per Disney, is to pursue true love and a good lifestyle, regardless of individual talent and potential. Disney movies have demonstrated that identifying a partner to act as a guardian is the cure for young young females confronting complexities. The majority of Disney cartoons, such as fairy tales, tend to indicate females' paramount desire and ambition as having the proper partner to marry. And a feminine demeanor and elegant facial attributes are conducive to this.

Aladdin's Princess Jasmine is an illustration of Disney's chauvinism. Jasmine is the Sultan's daughter, and she is obligated to marry before she reaches 16, and in an arranged marriage.

Throughout the film, Aladdin pretends to love Jasmine, but his true desire is to marry her and become the Sultan.

As a corollary, it is evident that portrayals of gender and gender roles have been quintessentially impacted by the utilisation of contemporary media, which

continues to rely on patriarchal paradigms for dissemination. While this isn't the circumstance in all of the films, it is in a substantial proportion of them. Males are presented as heroic figures who can save the day at the drop of a hat, while females are portrayed as caretakers or cleaners.

Despite the advancements in racial and gender rhetoric, Disney lags in its portrayal of body image. Princesses and other female heroines are depicted with size zero waists, slender limbs, and even tiny feet. However, the unnatural and unhealthy physical size depicted in Disney's

cartoon characters is what society demands. With its animations, Disney conforms to society's notions of archetypal beauty. Disney movies portray society's ideal of beauty, but they also

exacerbate the detrimental effect of the "ideal" body type. Despite the negative reaction from a percentage of its audience, Disney persists to abide to the unchanged cultural classification of "quintessential" beauty and has made little to no effort to change the standard over the years;

Disney's body image rhetoric demonstrates to viewers that in order to be stunning and successful, one must be slender.

Additionally, the image of Disney antagonists contrasts exponentially from that of female icons. Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Mother Gothel from

Tangled, and Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, for illustration, are all female antagonists in their respective films that embody conventionally perceived undesirable traits. These characters are deliberately crafted by Disney to appear unpleasant and menacing in both their face traits and physique. Ursula is a colossal octopus that stands in stark contrast to Ariel's size zero

figure.Maleficent and Mother Gothel (as an elderly lady) are not necessarily greater in stature than the princesses of respective films, but their bodily traits, such as hands, facial form, and hair, are rather unnerving. Mother Gothel, in her younger incarnation, and Lady Tremaine, on the other contrary, possess ordinary body proportions but appear somewhat overweight in contrast to the princesses.

Moreover, the female adversaries in Disney animations are all showcased in an undesirable manner. Disney communicates a statement on body image through the villains, indicating that beauty is virtuous and ugly is morally corrupt. However, these generalisations are not based on what the individual spectator acknowledges to be attractive or repulsive, but rather on societal preconceptions. The unique depiction of the villains' ugly appearance exposes Disney's body image discourse, since it encourages and worsens society's unfavourable view of the perfect physique.

Consequently, In recent times, Disney has been criticised for having racial connotations in its representation of black individuals and other minorities. In the film Aladdin, Jasmine's

complexion is painted brown for an entire song so that she may be distinguished as a participant of her culture.

Disney films have been chastised for portraying unrealistic expectations of women and their bodies. There were very few princesses in the start of the Disney era, but they were all white. Princesses were typically depicted as needing to be saved by a prince. More princesses were developed throughout time by Disney, but they were still presented as needing to be rescued from a dreadful situation by a male protagonist. Disney limits young girls' conceptions of themselves and what they can achieve in their future lives by omitting to include female

characters who are robust and autonomous.

The stories that should be told,

consist of strong women to behold. Shattering the expectations of society, without any dubiety.

By Anaisa Arora