Introduction

 

          With her white-gloved hands held elegantly up in the air, she walks as if she’s weightless. A beautiful pink dress with lovely white accents hangs gracefully from her shoulders. The shiny, strawberry blonde curls frame her smiling face and her presence is known whenever she enters the room. Her peers look up to her, and her superiors look down. Not because she is unworthy of attention, but because she is five years old. This little princess is not one of a kind, but one of many little girls plagued with this fascination of royalty. Where does a majority of this fascination come from? The Walt Disney Corporation and its Princess line. But the real question is: what effect does this phenomenon have on our little ladies?

         Many people believe that the Disney Princesses have a negative affect on the little girls who love them, especially parents. What trajectory are the Disney princesses setting these young, impressionable girls on? Are there young women today whose self-image was in part shaped by their exposure to the princess phenomenon? What is ‘the princess effect’?...With no formal research done on how Disney’s princess culture has influenced young girls’ trajectories, there’s no way of knowing whether any of the perceived negative messages from the films have really penetrated impressionable minds. (O’Connor)

         These are important questions to be asking, as so many young minds are consumed by this princess culture. If these girls are absorbing and internalizing the messages the princesses are sending and carrying those into their adulthoods, it should be important what exactly these messages are and just how much they affect this large demographic. 

         The goal of this study is to prove whether or not these princesses are a bad influence, so that parents can make an informed decision on if or how much they want their daughters partaking in the princess culture. Hopefully the research will prove that the princess affect is harmless, or it will prove that this popular trend needs to be dealt with. 

         This study is significant because so many young impressionable girls are embracing this “inherently” innocent group of characters. It is important to find out if any immediate or prolonged damage occurs as a result of this phase that so many young girls go through. The results of this study could help many parents prevent their daughters from falling victim to a bad influence. 

The research question for this study will be: How do the Disney Princesses influence young girls?

 

History

 

         Since the beginning of time people have told stories, passed down from generation to generation. These stories have evolved into books, movies, and music, and into new interpretations that fit in with the times. The Walt Disney Corporation is famous for its interpretations of these classic tales in its movies, and has made billions of dollars capitalizing on them. 

          A great part of Disney’s success is attributed to the Disney Princess line, which was created in 2000, that marketed to young girls with the goal that they would personally identify with the characters and buy the products associated with those characters (Rozario).  Since the creation of the franchise over 25,000 products have been added and it has contributed greatly to the Disney Corporation’s marketing sales, from $300 million in 2001 to $4 billion by 2008 (Setoodeh). 

Disney’s princess phenomenon has been identified as a powerful influence on children’s media and product consumerism, contributing to a new “girlhood” that emphasizes gender and the consumption of gender-related products and messages (Orenstein).

          The Disney Princess movies can be organized by time era; the early, middle, and current films. The earlier movies were released between 1937 and 1959, which include Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. The middle movies started premiering thirty years later; these include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan. The current films include The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave, and Frozen (England). 

           The following is a brief look at advertising and the Disney Corporation’s roll in advertising to show just how expansive the corporation really is. A study conducted by Catcha Digital in 2013 found that “marketers… invest $518.8 billion…[each] year”, (Catcha Digital). The Disney Corporation reported that they spent $1.96 billion in the same year. This means that Disney accounted for roughly 4‰ of the total global advertising expenditure (Statista). 

            In a study featured in CBS news determined that the average American views roughly 5000 advertisements in a single day (Johnson). Although an assumption that every business spends roughly the same amount of money per advertisement must be made, the scope of the Disney Empire throughout the United States can be roughly determined. An average American can expect that they will view an average of 18.89 Disney advertisements everyday or approximately 6900 each year. Although this estimate is rough, and under the assumption that children ages zero to two-years-old will not absorb the advertisements that they are subjected to, young persons are likely to have seen close to 41400 Disney advertisements by the time in which they reach age 8. Disney does not influence girls exclusively, especially because Disney only makes up 4‰ of all advertisements, but with 6900 Disney ads a year, Disney has a great potential to impact the public even if the advertisement audience does not view the movies.

 

Analysis

 

Body Image

 

          Disney Princesses commonly possess physical appearances that spark media and general public discussion.  Peggy Orenstein’s book Cinderella Ate My Daughter takes the stand that these movies promote a sexualized childhood for young girls. Girls are led to believe that physical appearance is more important than personality (Orenstein). 

          As time goes on, the appearance of the princesses has become increasingly sexual and shapely (LaCroix). In the Disney Princess movies, the princesses are unrealistically thin with perfect hourglass figures and perky breasts, whereas the villainous women are fat or have “ugly” features. In accordance with the princesses’ figures, the movies establish a form of the “thin-ideal” media. The “thin-ideal” media is any form of media that represents an unrealistically thin female figure as the most positive and desirable female (Thompson). 

          Many studies have shown that children as young as three-years-old begin expressing a preference for thin body types, and that girls as young as five-years-old begin expressing their concerns about their appearances or the possibility of getting fat (Hayes). While preschoolers probably do not understand the sexual implications of body types, many of them are aware that it is important for women to be pretty and that body fat is seen as undesirable for women (Smolak). The portrayal of the thin-ideal and emphasis on appearances in the Disney Princess movies could be teaching young girls that attractiveness is a very important part of female identity. 

          The internalization of the thin-ideal is when an individual begins believing that “thin is good” as a result of listening to those perceptions of significant or respected individuals, including parents, peers, and the media (Thompson). Many studies have shown that large amounts of exposure to the thin ideal in media are associated with the internalization of the thin ideal in girls (Grabe). While a majority of research focuses on the effects of the media on women and older girls, longitudinal studies have shown that early exposure (around the age of five years old) to the thin-ideal in media predicts appearance-related concerns in the future (Hayes). Not only does the media influence the internalization of the thin-ideal, but young girls who play with thin-ideal dolls (such as Barbie) are more likely to experience lower body esteem (Dittmar). Consequently, the Disney princess movies and products are concerning because they could be exposing the thin ideal to an extremely young age group of girls. 

 

Behavior

 

          Research of media regularly portrays only the negative effects; these common research projects however, do not take into account the conceivability for the media to reach a positive effect on youth. A meta-analysis on studies of prosocial television, or television that promotes positiveness, helpfulness, social acceptance and friendship, by Mares and Woodard in 2005 determined that children who viewed prosocial television and film commonly behaved in a more positive manner and had a more positive attitude than children who did not. The social cognitive theory suggests that the media’s display of rewards being given to characters that exhibit prosocial behavior encourages the young viewer to replicate the prosocial behavior (Bussey). 

          A study conducted by Padilla-Walker determined that Disney movies contain drastically high amounts of prosocial behavior. Prosocial behaviors occur at a rate of approximately one prosocial act per minute. Disney princesses are exceptionally prosocial. An example of this would be during the movie Mulan, Mulan sacrifices her safe lifestyle and joins the army in order to save her father’s life. The Padilla-Walker study discovered that two of the movies from the princess line, Mulan and Pocahontas, were the two most prosocial of all Disney films (Padilla-Walker).

          Currently, two theories that explain the effects that prosocial media can have on a child’s behavioral tendencies. The General Learning Model insinuates that merely exposing a child to prosocial media encourages the child to engage in prosocial behavior (Smit). The Social Learning Theory indicates that the viewers typically observe and duplicate behaviors that characters are rewarded for (Kirkorian). An example of this is when Belle heals the Beast’s wounds or when Rapunzel saves Flynn Rider; these encourage replication of this behavior and consequently creating a more prosocial child. When children observe and replicate the prosocial behavior with frequency, they adopt prosocial behavior into the tenants of their personality.   

 

Gender Roles

 

          Some content analyses have shown that Disney Princess movies portray many strong messages regarding gender and gender roles. One of these analyses found that the portrayals of gender have become more complex over time, but each princess is still rewarded for their female gender stereotypical behavior (England). The films generally reinforce the idea that traditional female gender roles are supreme, such as when a majority of the princesses desire marriage over other opportunities in their lives and perform more domestic work than other forms of work (Dundes). 

          The Disney Princesses are known for being highly gender stereotypical. A study by Dawn England examined the gender roles of Princesses and Princes from the Princess movies. Each character was assigned a code every time they were mentioned as possessing a certain characteristic or exhibited the characteristic in their behavior. Each time that the character exhibited a new behavior, the behavior was coded (England).

          Within the study, the following traits were considered feminine: tends to physical appearance (feminine), physically weak, submissive, shows emotion, affectionate, nurturing, sensitive, tentative, helpful, troublesome, fearful, ashamed, collapses crying, described as physically attractive, asks for/or accepts advice or help, behaves as a victim. The study defines the following traits as masculine: wants to explore, physically strong, assertive, emotional, independent, athletic, engaging in intellectual activity, inspires fear, brave, described as physically attractive (masculine), gives advice, leader.  This chart shows the frequency of each trait or characteristic that was observed in the study and what percentage of all behavior that the trait makes up for the princes and the princesses. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The graphs featured above demonstrate the data found in the study (England). 

 

The chart featured below shows the amount of masculine or feminine traits portrayed by each princess in comparison to the total sum of the masculine and feminine traits from each movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(England)

 

         Over time, there is an obvious trend from very few masculine traits and a great number of feminine traits being exhibited by the early princesses to a level that displays masculine and feminine traits in nearly equal amounts. 

          The ratio of feminine characteristics exhibited by the princesses decreased over time, with 86% (394 codes) of the princesses’ behavior in the early films coded as feminine, reducing to 58% (566) in the middle movies, and 53% (91) in the most current film. In the early movies, 14% of the total characteristics coded for the princesses were masculine (63 codes). This increased to 42% (411) in the middle films, and 47% (80) in the most current film. (England) 

This motion towards a more androgynous princess has not, however, created a princess that displays more masculine traits than feminine ones (in this current study).

Below is the curve of the results of the study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(England)

            Although this trend shows significant promise towards creating a less hyper-feminine image for the audience, the overall effect of the Disney princess is still very feminine oriented as “The princesses displayed 567 masculine characteristics, or 34.68% of their total coding characteristics” while they “displayed 1068 feminine characteristics, 65.32% of their total characteristics,” (England). Based on these findings, the princesses as a whole can still be considered female gender stereotypical. 

          Even though Disney movies are becoming more progressive and androgynous over time (England), the older princess movies released before the middle movies are still very popular among young children today (Rozario). Accordingly, the messages portrayed in these films are still relevant to the discussion of the influence on children.  

          While the Disney Princess movies do contribute quite a bit in sending these gendered messages, the associated products and market associated with them also contribute. The availability of these toys and costumes gives young girls the opportunity to engage in gender stereotypical play based on the movies themselves. Although no research has been done on the effects of the Disney Princess products themselves, a study has been done regarding Barbie dolls (a similar product with the same audience, and with associated movies). The study found that playing with Barbie dolls was associated with girls seeing fewer career possibilities for themselves later in life (Lasnier). This study illustrates that playing with gendered toys may be associated with the internalization of gender stereotypes in young girls.

          Through several studies, most notably Sarah Coyne’s “Pretty as a Princess: Longitudinal Effects of Engagement With Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes, Body Image, and Prosocial Behavior in Children” there has been significant examination of the relationship that exists between Disney princess engagement in young children and gender stereotype conformity, prosocial behavioral trends, and body image. The results have indicated that in the short term, engagement with the Disney Princesses, through media, toys, and self-identification, relates to heightened levels of prosocial behavior and increased conformity to gender stereotypes. The study determined that, over a year period, above average engagement with the princesses is related to above average gender stereotyping (Coyne).

          The research team had three hypotheses regarding the possible influences on children: 

   H1: Based on previous research and the social cognitive theory of gender development, we predict that exposure to Disney Princesses will be associated with heightened female gender stereotyping both concurrently and over time. We also predict the relationships will be stronger for girls than for boys. 

   H2: According to research on thin-ideal internalization in media, we would expect that exposure to Disney Princesses would be related to poorer body image in children, both in the short- and long-term. However, given that research suggests that body image socialization effects are either non-existent or weak in children under the age of six years old, we would predict rather modest effects. Given that children are particularly influenced by models of the same sex, we would expect any associations to be stronger among girls than among boys. 

   H3: Given that prosocial behavior is extremely common in Disney movies, we predict that engagement with Disney Princesses will be associated to heightened prosocial behavior both concurrently and over time. Again, we predict effects to be stronger among girls than boys, given girls’ potentially higher identification with same-gender Princess characters. (Coyne)

          The first hypothesis, “that engagement to Disney princesses would be associated with higher levels of female gender stereotyping in both the short and the long term,” (Coyne) was supported by the results of study. The results of this and other studies indicate that a heightened exposure to media that was stereotyped contributes to behavior that is more gender stereotypical. Watching Disney Princess media has been proven to have an ability to influence young girls in a way that would kinder them towards gender stereotypes and could “contribute to a ‘girly-girl’ culture in which gendered behavior is common and highly valued,” (Coyne). 

          As these figures of girlhood demonstrate behavior that is exceedingly feminine stereotypical, they generate different opinions amongst the parents and guardians of young girls. It is not fundamentally incorrect to express one’s femininity or to act in a manner that is gendered. The problem exists when gender stereotypes lead girls into thinking that they are limited in the opportunities that they can partake in or if they refrain from participating in activities that are essential in the formation of a child in order to conform to the stereotypes of their gender (an example of this being a girl who would forego playing an outdoor game with other children so as to avoid the threat of soiling one’s physical appearance).

          This study was also able to reach a conclusion on adult women who identified themselves to be “princesses” (this being women who self-identify as princesses and have no direct assessorial ties to nobility). These women succumbed to failure more readily on difficult tasks than a woman that did not self-identify as a princess. They also were more likely to lack a desire to work and valued superficial qualities more than non self-identifying women. While this does suggest that there may be implications for a childhood with significant levels of gender stereotypical behavior (Coyne). 

Princess engagement may have some positive effect on boys in the short term. While the majority of media designed for boys contains hyper masculine messages, the Disney Princesses offer a source of femininity. The study found that “boys who were exposed to Disney princesses had higher levels of female stereotyping in the short term; therefore, it may be that these boys demonstrate more androgyny in the preschool years,” (Coyne). At the same time, princess engagement for boys did not lead to a higher level of female gender stereotyping.

         Hypothesis 2 proposed that Disney Princess engagement led to poor body image amongst children. This is because the Disney princess characters are considered to be perpetuating the thin-ideal.  The results of this study were contradictory to the hypothesis. Engagement with Disney Princesses had a direct relation to higher body image in young girls. This result not only contradicts the hypothesis of the study but also research on thin-ideal internalization. This is a concept that insinuates that when children are exposed to thin media figures that they are more likely to have negative childhood body image.  This result that the engagement with the Disney Princesses improves body image in the short term is believed to be a result of self-identification as princesses. Children who identify themselves as princesses because of engagement with the princesses believe that they are inherently beautiful because they are princesses. Although the Disney Princesses have a positive effect on young girls’ body image, it is essential that the young girls know that are appreciated for reasons other than bodily appearance.  

          Hypothesis 3 postulated that engagement with Disney Princesses would be associated with increased levels of prosocial behavior. This hypothesis was confirmed. Disney Princesses demonstrate many prosocial traits, which encourage the replication of the behavior from its young audience. This supports previous research that indicated that observation of prosocial behavior in media relates to an increase of prosocial behavior.

          All in all, the Disney Princesses have mixed effects on little girls. They improve body image and prosocial behavior, but continue to pioneer traditional, more limiting gender roles.