The Evolution of the Feminism among Princesses and the Adaptation of Foreign Culture in Disney Animated Movies

Almost every girl has a dream of becoming a princess when she grows up， possessing countless treasures， fancy dress， big castle and above all a handsome prince who deeply loves the princess. Disney animated movies have accompanied the childhood of several generations and brought laughter as well as joys to not only children but also adults. This essay aims at comparing gender role changes among princesses in Disney by dividing 14 princesses into two groups from Snow White to Moana according to their behaviors， and analyzing how Disney movies challenge traditional cultures from exotic countries.

First of all， Disney princess experienced the pre-feminist era during Snow White， Cinderella and Sleeping beauty （England 563）. These fair and virtuous princesses just sing as well as dance with small animals and do household chores everyday， which reveal obvious gender stereotypes. They not only have the sweetness and innocence as young girls， but also the delicacy and virtue as young women. In addition， such protagonists are so vulnerable that need to be saved by the prince and to be attached to the prince to survive. For example， in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves （1937）， what the princess does is just “singing- cleaning- fainting- sleeping- and- waiting” process （T?TH 188）. Snow White is so affectionate and nurturing that she uses a traditionally feminine way to rescue seven dwarves by cooking， cleaning， and acting as their surrogate mother， which seems that she regards doing housework as a way of gaining true love （England 563）. Besides， she is also a fearful， innocent and victimized role that is easily taken in the Wicked Queens words， eats the poisonous apple and waits until the princes rescue. Whats more， in Cinderella （1950）， on account of jealousy of Cinderellas beauty， Cinderellas stepmother and stepsisters raise peremptory requests of working as a maid and mistreat Cinderella by tearing up her fancy dress， forcing her to wear dusty and ugly clothes. However， Cinderella submits and yields to every demand without any complaint and still keeps optimistic by amusing herself while working. Additionally， the princess in Sleeping Beauty （1959）， who was most frequently affectionate， described as pretty， tentative， completely passive or even asleep during the final rescues （England 562）. These three princesses above are viewed as perfect female images from a typical patriarchal perspective. At this time， women are not given to act and think independently， and feminism is a just slogan as well as a yearning.

In contrast to these earlier depictions， Disney princesses contain feminist behaviors as well as masculine characteristics starting with The Little Mermaid （1989）， in which Ariel is no longer a traditional perfect princess， but a naive， wayward and rebellious girl， who dares to explore the known and pursue love. Because of the position of women in American society was continuously rising in 1970s and in order to conform to the social status quo， Disney changed feminine stereotypes of princess by making them become more aggressive， assertive and confident while pursuing aims， and also making them less dependent on prince or the potential marriage （England 563; T?TH 195）. For example， the princess in Pocahontas （1995）， who defuses a war between different races and saves the handsome English explorer called Smith， doesnt receive a marriage because of she decides to stay at home and lead clansmen， while John returns to England for curing the injury. Moreover， as Julia C. Golden mentions in his article that Tiana， the first black princess in The Princess and the Frog （2009）， owns her own restaurant by the end of the movie， and it is the only official Disney Princess employed as anything other than a princess （300）. She knows exactly what she wants and strives for it. She also fully understands that having a marriage with the prince is not all her life， while a career is also something a woman can devote her energy to. At this time， Princess seems to be more independent and take more responsibilities than before. Additionally， in Frozen （2013）， the two princesses Elsa and Anna （her sister）， especially Anna， act as female warriors who are intelligent， brave and powerful. Elsa possesses icy magic since her childhood. After knowing that Anna will marry a prince called Hans who comes from the nearby town， Elsa is extremely angry so that she uses the magic to freeze the whole kingdom. Anna really wants to undo the curse and save her sister as well as the kingdom and its citizens， so she successfully teaches Elsa how to properly control her magic powers through the act of true love （T?TH 209）.This movie conveys that women who gradually have the masculine characteristics can still survive without mens help. Also， unlike Ariel in The Little Mermaid （1989） who falls in love with Prince Eric at first sight， Elsa firmly declares that Anna cannot marry a man she has just met （T?TH 209）. This shows that princesses are no longer innocent， for knowing that they need to protect themselves when facing strangers and not to fully trust everyone.

Finally， Disney is transgressing gender norms by challenging the traditionally foreign culture and reconstructing worlds famous classic literature image. During this “transgenic” reconstruction， these works show the freshness and uniqueness of an exotic culture. But at the same time， these colorful exotic cultures only constitute the background of the story， because it has been injected with modern characters by Disneys “genetically modification”. For instance， the movie Mulan （1998）， is adapted from traditional Chinese Ballad of Mulan. In the ballad， the bravery of Mulan who joins the army instead of her father is only considered as a filial piety behavior， but the one that Disney tries to convey contains a sense of independent free will as well as self-existence value， which is exactly the factor of “modernity” that not exist in Chinese Mulan. Some critics mention that “Chinese cultural values were selectively disposed and replaced with Western ideologies that simultaneously pacify feminist criticism and reinforce the racial/cultural hierarchy” （Yin 54）. It is in this way that Disney tries to present Mulan as a braver princess image by adapting Chinese classical literature. Similarly， what Pocahontas （1995） conveys is a rebellious princess who disobeys her fathers wills and secretly meets Smith. “In so doing， Pocahontas （like Mulan） embraces a Western perspective on individual destiny- intuiting her true path lies somewhere ‘just beyond the river bend”（van Wormer 587）. In addition， unlike Mulan who is from a Ballad， Pocahontas is a real woman， which is supposed to be more easily and realistically reflected through the movie. However， what Disney shows does not conform to the historical records in terms of princess age， facial appearance and costume. In the movie， the princess is “an older， voluptuous Pocahontas” rather than a ten to twelve years old young girl. Besides， though she is an indigenous princess， Disney animators finally choose “an Anglicized and statuesque model” instead of the traditional Native Americans darker skin colour. Pocahontas dress is not match what Native American exactly wore in 16th century： people at that time wearing long dress with removable sleeves， while Pocahontas wears over-the-shoulder short dress with a slit at the hem， which expose lots of skin （van Wormer 587-88）. Though Pocahontas is a well-known princess with typical masculine characteristics， it still has failures in terms of presenting real Indian culture.

Many critics have already analyzed the double-edged effect of this kind of process that strengthen the princess roles by challenging exotic culture. From the political economy perspective， these kinds of unreal and distorted depictions of foreign cultures can only be regarded as a profit-driven attempt. However， when it comes to the cultural aspect， these reconstructions will impede the expectation of multi-cultural publicity and limit the diversity of culture all over the word. （Van 586; Yin 57）

In conclusion， among the past eighty years， Disney has done much to change gender stereotypes and raised the status of princess by adding much more masculine characteristics into princess behaviors. Additionally， in order to achieve that set goal， enhance global popularity as well as grab publics attention， this company also adapts classic stories from different countries. However， the influences of princesses more powerful images and the incomplete narrative of exotic culture on children are still needed further research. Hopefully， Disneys impact will continue. When people get old， they still can recall the impressive Disney movies that they watched decades ago， and introduce Disney to their grandchildren with great passion.

Reerences：

[1]England， Dawn， et al. Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses[J]. Sex Roles，vol.64，no.7-8，Apr.2011：555-567.

[2]Golden， Julia C.， and Jennifer Wallace Jacoby. “Playing Princess： Preschool Girls”Interpretations of Gender Stereotypes in Disney Princess Media.[J] Sex Roles，vol.79，no.5-6，Sept.2018：299-313.

[3]T?TH， ZS?FIA ANNA. Disneys Violent Women in Quest of a“Fully Real”Violent Woman inAmerican Cinema[J]. Brno Studies in English， vol. 43， no. 1， Jan.2017，pp：185-212.

[4]van Wormer， Katherine， et al. Cultural Representations in Walt Disney Films： Implications for Social Work Education[J]. Journal of Social Work，16.5，2016：578-94.Web.12 Nov.2018.

[5]Yin， Jing. Popular Culture and Public Imaginary： Disney Vs. Chinese Stories of Mulan[J]. Javnost - The Public，18.1，2011：53-74. Web. 11 Nov.2018.

【作者簡介】袁也（1998.08-），女，江蘇南京人，揚州大學，本科，研究方向：外國語言文學。