Landyn Shanks

After reading the article “Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the Disney Heroine� and after participating in our class discussion, I am still not sure about what to take from this article or this subject of discussion in general. The way that these feminist critics look into each and every simple aspect of Disney movies, and try to see how they can depict them as giving little girls messages about being “the perfect girl� absolutely blows my mind. There is no psychological or biological way that girls in the age range that view these Disney movies can comprehend the implications these feminist activists are saying they do. These movies are a form of entertainment, what would be entertaining about a Disney movie if the princess did not end up with her prince in the end? I cannot think of a story that would appeal to little girls that solely involves aspects surrounding feminist ideas. I myself watched these movies as a young girl, and cannot think of a time when I thought to myself, or convinced myself that I was a girl and therefore I had to keep my mouth shut, be pretty and find my perfect prince. I think every child, regardless of what ideas they take from movies, will eventually grow to find that they are simply just Disney movies, and do not make significant implications for life in the real world. I thought the article and our class discussion were extremely over the top and almost ridiculous, the ideas the feminists pulled and manipulated from these movies were even over my head. I cannot think of one girl of the “Disney Princess� age that would comprehend those types of ideas. And once they do, they will be at an age where they are no longer basing their actions off of solely things they see in the media. They will be more influenced by their friends, teachers, siblings and family. At this age they will also be capable of making personal decisions for themselves, disregarding the ideas and expectations of others. I cannot think of any piece of media from my childhood that has anything to do with the personal beliefs, goals or expectations I hold in my own life. I know I do not need to live my life with my only goal being to find the perfect guy, I know I can be a successful person in the world without being a top model, and as we all know, I definitely do not sit back and keep my mouth shut.