Like many people, I grew up watching and loving Disney’s animated movies. Even now, at 21 years old, they are still a source of immense comfort and nostalgia!
However, as I’ve grown up and developed an understanding of the role media plays in our lives, I’ve tried to reexamine the media I’ve consumed. Of course, even my childhood favorites had to be examined, as I’ve tried to understand how my formative years have been shaped by the values and roles presented to me when I was small.
As a feminist, I thought I had to spend the majority of my time examining how women have been presented in our pop culture. Without a doubt, I’ve spent a lot of time considering Disney’s female characters and princesses; what values they represent, what messages they send to girls about femininity, beauty, love.
Yet I’ve spent so little time evaluating something that’s equally important, and equally worthy of discussion: masculinity in Disney movies. Once I realized this oversight of mine, I also realized that it’s not a topic that’s never come up. On the contrary, I’ve heard comments on “Disney Masculinity” often, mostly from men. What is the general consensus that I hear, though?
“Disney movies give girls unrealistic expectations.”
Expectations about what, I’d ask. Specifically, expectations about love and men. “You can’t expect any man to treat you like that”, they’d say.
I think a lot of criticisms of Disney are valid. We should always be examining how we present ideals of beauty, relationships, race, gender, etc to our children, and it’s undeniable that Disney is a powerful force in most of our childhoods. Disney often only depicts one form of love, one form of body type, one idea of beauty. For many, Disney represents a sort of status quo, a machine that spits out cultural norms and doesn’t do enough changing with the times.
However, the idea that Disney gives girls unrealistic expectations of men has rubbed me the wrong way for a long time, especially because it has been men that voice this opinion. It wasn’t clear to me at first why, but then it dawned on me that none of this was about, for example, criticizing women’s lack of agency in particular movies, nor was it about criticizing the idea that for women, journey and adventure must include romance. It wasn’t about criticizing how our culture is blasted with images of women who need rescuing, and while Disney has moved away from this trope, it has been guilty of using it. Women don’t need princes, certainly, but why is it that men are so adamant about these “princes” not being realistic? Could it be, really, that men have a problem with the way masculinity is being presented in Disney movies?
Because really, how is masculinity portrayed any better in media designed for boys? All the same harmful tropes still exist, women still get saved by men, and to boot rarely is there ever a rose-colored romance between the male protagonist and a woman he adores. Not the way these romances appear in Disney movies. In Disney movies, men are brave, heroic, daring, and charming, but are also sweet, kind, and wholeheartedly devoted to the woman they are in love with.
So, I’d like to know, what is it exactly about Disney heroes that girls should not expect to see in real life? When women criticize Disney, I hear them talk about the fast romances, passive heroines, etc. Men, on the other hand, seem to recognize that they don’t behave the way they’re depicted on screen. Masculinity doesn’t present itself as tenderhearted and romantic like it does with Disney princes. Male heroes for male audiences take the heroism but cut out any inkling of care or even common decency towards other women.
Yet, instead of recognizing toxic masculinity in our real, daily lives for what it is, some would live to instead shift the blame on women, and media coded “for” women. It’s women, then, who shouldn’t have all these idealizations. It’s women’s fault, for growing up with expectations. It’s never men’s faults, somehow, for failing to meet them, for not trying to be better. Because I really don’t think that Disney Masculinity is all that bad, in the sense that women should expect to have men who treat them well, treat them kindly, and treat them lovingly. If not all that, then what should women be expecting men to treat them like? And Why?
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