Gender Stereotypes in Disney Animated Movies of the 20th Century

Premda postoje jasno izražene razlike među spolovima, u kulturi su ponekad pretjerano naglašene čime se stvaraju rodne uloge. Pretjerano isticanje rodnih uloga u društvu dovodi do formiranja rodnih stereotipa, odnosno uvjerenja o karakteristikama specifičnim za muškarce ili žene. Rodnim su stereotipima djeca izložena od svoje najranije dobi. Zbog toga već krajem predškolskog obrazovanja imaju jasnu sliku o tome što se očekuje od djevojčica, a što od dječaka te samim time i kako bi se oni trebali ponašati. Njihovom razvoju doprinose i mediji, koji često naglašavaju rodno stereotipizirani prikaz muškaraca i žena. Od svih vrsta medija kojima su djeca svakodnevno okružena ističu se animirani filmovi. Jedni od najpoznatijih animiranih filmova jesu filmovi Walta Disneyja, koji je uvelike doprinio razvoju animacije, ali i animiranog filma uopće. Njegovi filmovi stekli su slavu premijernim prikazivanjem, a ostali su jednako popularni sve do danas. Ovaj rad imao je za cilj dokazivanje postojanja rodnih stereotipa u animiranim filmovima analiziranjem Disney animiranih filmova 20. stoljeća. Za to je izabrano sljedećih deset filmova: Snjeguljica i sedam patuljaka, Pinokio, Pepeljuga, Petar Pan, Trnoružica, Mala sirena, Ljepotica i zvijer, Aladin, Pocahontas te Mulan.Although there are clearly expressed differences between opposite sexes, culture sometimes over emphasises them, which creates gender roles. When gender roles become overstressed by the society, gender stereotypes form – convictions about characteristics specific for men or women. Children are exposed to gender stereotypes from their earliest age. Because of that, by the time they finish preschool education, they will have already made a clear image about what is expected from boys, what from girls and consequently, how are they supposed to behave. Their development is induced through media as well, which often accentuate gender stereotyped displays of men and women. Among all of the media children are surrounded by daily, animated movies pop out. Some of the most popular animated movies are the ones made by Walt Disney, who made a large contribution to the development of animation, as well as animated movies. His movies have become popular on their first run and they have stayed on the same level of popularity until today. The aim of this paper was to prove the existence of gender stereotypes in animated movies by analysing Disney's animated movies of the 20th century. For that, following ten movies have been chosen: Snow White and seven dwarfs, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Mulan