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Disney makes gender role stereotyping worse

The fortunes of Disney have fluctuate over the decades. Currently the corporation stands high. Hasbro’s princess-doll empire is valued at over $500 million; and the movie Frozen remains the highest grossing animated film of all time.

Good news for shareholders, but what is the impact on the young children who see the movies, play with the toys and immerse themselves in the Disneyfication of childhood? The findings are mixed according to a Brigham Young University study.

The new study, using 200 children. found that Disney products mold preschoolers’ attitudes about gender roles and body image. Both boys and girls are affected. The study focused on the current preoccupation with “Disney princesses.” There are currently eleven fictional characters that form part of the this corporate division of Disney: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida.

The new study found that repeated exposure to Disney princess culture, over the course of 12 months, correlated with female-stereotypical behavior for both girls and boys. With girls this led to reinforcements of what some would see as reinforcing a societal model for young girls, like only playing with toys in the “girl aisle.” With boys, although the behaviors reinforced a boy’s view of what a girl should play with, there was a, what the Washington Post describes as a “moderating effect on boys, such as making them more helpful with classmates.”

Although most of the children in the study were exposed to Disney Princess merchandise, 61 percent of the girls played with the products at least once per week, compared with just 4 percent of the boys.

According to lead researcher Professor Sarah Coyne, interviewed by the South China Morning Post: “A lot of people say: ‘So what? We want our girls to be girly. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with being feminine. But research has show a strong adherence to female gender stereotypes can be limiting across time.”

Expanding on this, the researcher pointed out that girls (and later women) who identify figuratively as “princesses,” tend to, in later life, to place a higher importance on appearance. The dangers here are that they, overtly or subconsciously, chase an unattainable beauty ideal, something which makes them underlying unhappy. There are also vulnerabilities to issues including eating disorders, depression and risky sexual behavior. As Phys.org (@physorg_com) simply tweeted: “Study finds Disney #Princess culture magnifies stereotypes in young girls.”

The research is published in the journal Child Development, in a paper headed “Pretty as a Princess: Longitudinal Effects of Engagement With Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes, Body Esteem, and Prosocial Behavior in Children.”

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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