Beautiful dainty little princesses are not the only stereotypical females in Disney movies. There is also the evil step mother and the powerful sorceress.
In Snow White, and Cinderella, the step mother is portrayed as being wicked and cruel to them. In the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, her step mother is her only opponent and she is jealous of Snow White’s rare beauty. This movie was mainly based on vanity, something children should not learn to want. Her step mother tricks her into eating a poisonous apple and she falls into a deep coma. Without the help of the seven dwarfs, Snow White could not have been able to defeat her stepmother.
Cinderella also faces challenges from her mean step mother. While the father is not present, the step mother is in charge for all the duties the children have to have. She makes poor little Cinderella do all the work, while her own daughters don’t have to do much but instead just pamper themselves.
Another type of stereotype for women in Disney films are the powerful yet also evil sorcerers. Ursula is a dark, demon-like witch in the story the Little Mermaid. Ariel is a naïve mermaid who will do anything to be like humans- even putting her soul in danger. Ursula can be compared to the devil; selling your soul to her in exchange for something of humanly value.
There are other Disney films that continue with this type of theme. The young, pretty, naïve girl who is powerless against the mighty evil step mother or sorceress. The class systems in these films are astounding. Though everyone I discussed in this section is rich, the girls that are made helpless are not made to look that way. For example, Snow White and Cinderella come from rich backgrounds but their step mothers treat them as if they were poor servants. They clean, and cook and do all the domestic work around the house. They are shown to be weak and powerless against their rich step mothers. Cinderella is never able to have a back bone and stick up for herself, and Snow White knows her step mother is out to get her, but still fails to follow instructions.
These are indirect class systems that are horrible stereotypes in this society and they need to be broken. Like Donna Langston says in Tired of Playing Monopoly, “this denial of class divisions functions to reinforce ruling class control and domination” (Langston, p. 125) If we don’t realize the underlining meaning here in these stories, how are going to break classism? We need to realize that class division is everywhere- and are children are even taught it in Disney movies. Because you are made to be like a poor helpless servant does not mean you need to be passive and naïve. And just because you are powerful does not mean you have to be evil and use your power for bad. These stereotypes on class needs to be broken.
http://www.newint.org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen.html
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