Disney Princesses: Bad For Self-Esteem?

By Victoria Robertson on June 27, 2016
It’s no secret that Disney princesses tend to project completely unrealistic standards on their young viewers. Though these standards have been lightened recently, specifically with “Frozen” characters Ana and Elsa and “The Princess and the Frog’s” Tiana, the underlying problem is still there.
According to a new study conducted by Brigham Young University, Disney princesses may be influencing young children in negative ways, making them more susceptible to gender stereotyping.
While this isn’t exactly detrimental news, it’s something that can be concerning, especially as the “norm” in society continues to change and hate towards certain communities continues to be an issue in the news.
The study was a small one led by Sarah M. Coyne, a family-life professor at the university. It took a look at 198 preschool students and the way they interacted with Disney princesses. The study involved all aspects of princess culture — movies, toys, clothes and other merchandise specific to the Disney princesses.

pixabay.com

The researchers then assessed the preschoolers behavior by parent reports, teacher reports and tasks involving the ranking of the preschoolers’ favorite toys.
The toys the students were asked to rank were as stereotypical as possible for the study, “girl” toys being dolls and barbies and “boy” toys being tools and puzzles (and other gender neutral options).
So what were the findings?
In terms of who had viewed Disney princess media, about 96 percent of girls were familiar with the princesses in some form while a whopping 87 percent of boys had as well. So for both genders, a majority of the preschoolers had viewed a Disney princess film.
But when it came to Disney princess toys, only 4 percent of boys played with them once a week, while about 61 percent of girls played with them once a week.
And for both genders, according to TIME, “engagement with Disney princesses was associated with more female gender-stereotypical behavior a year later.”
Of course, this means two different things for boys and girls.
For boys, this influence was actually a positive, as it encouraged their “body esteem” as well as encouraged them to be more helpful.
For girls, this influence was negative. It lowered their body esteem and diminishes their confidence.
Of course, this isn’t a universal truth (as it could lower boys’ self-esteem and raise girls’ self-esteem), but it is something to keep in mind as Disney continues to produce princess films that could potentially be harmful to their young audiences.
The study was the only one of its kind, and it was a pretty small one at that. However, the conversation has already been started, and parents, teachers and researchers are continually seeing these effects in young males and females.
The idea of “gender normative” characters never was an issue before, but again, times are changing, and with that change, it’s probably about time for the film industry to make some changes as well, Disney included.
And it has. Disney’s release of “Finding Dory” featured the first lesbian characters in the studio’s history, which is a step in the right direction. And there have also been rumors surrounding one of the most popular Disney characters for young girls, Elsa, being a lesbian in an upcoming sequel. This hasn’t been confirmed, but it would certainly be a much larger step in the right direction, especially given the influence the character has over the younger audience.
So for future Disney princess films, it’s quite possible these changes will be made, and that there will be positive effects to follow.
The truth is, females are very vulnerable when it comes to their image — the idea of beauty portrayed in cinema can be harmful and lead to eating disorders, depression and other such problems. So while the film industry and media need to be adjusting to these issues, we can’t rely on them to change either.
So in the meantime, it’s important for parents to take charge and be the positive influence that their children need. While it’s beneficial for media to portray this positivity, it’s also important not to rely on it — at some point, parents need to be the ones to redefine gender stereotypes and be a positive influence in regards to body image.

pixabay.com

According to Coyne, parents should “have your kids involved in all sorts of activities, and just have princesses be one of many, many things that they like to do and engage with.”
In other words, don’t stop your children from watching Disney princess films, but be sure that there is a large balance of activities so that the gender stereotyping isn’t so much of a problem.
We live in an age where blaming technology and the media is so simple that we do it all the time — even if we’re right, we need to take charge on our own as well.
So watch all the Disney princess films your eyes can handle, but understand that times are changing, and I’m sure future films will reflect that change as well.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format