Julianna Heskett

Erin Rogers

Writing 2010

17 March 2017

Gender Stereotypes and Children's Movies

There are Agreement and disagreements in the discussion about the stereotypes of males

and females in popular childrens movies. By children's movies, I mean movies with a G or PG

rating, whose target audience is children. The movies in the general discussion are mostly Disney

princess movies and Pixar animated movies. The time frame on the movies in discussion is

about from the 1980s to 2011. It is agreed that the stereotypes depicted in these movies

influence childrens ideas of gender, however there is a disagreement on whether the traditionally

male and female traits are positively or negatively impacting children. And, it is noted that

characters of Disney and Pixar movies have changed from the earlier movies, in later movies

they have been portraying counter-stereotypical attributes of their apparent gender.

There is a general agreement that because childrens movies portray gender stereotypes

consistently, the stereotypes influence the social learning of children. Authors of various studies

of the portrayal of genders in kids movies, agree that the gendered stereotypes influence

childrens ideas of gender, whether positive or negative. The movies can be watched repetitively

and their social learning is still developing. Meredith Li-Vollmer and Mark E. Lapointe, from

the University of Washington, studied the villains of 10 animated movies. They looked at how

the male villains are portrayed, their characteristics and behavior, as opposed to the male heroes.

At the beginning of their study, they were concerned with What children may learn about

gender norms and identity from the villains in animated film because Childrens gender
schemata are less developed than those of adults, and are, therefore, more susceptible to

influence from sources including media(Li-Vollmer, Lapointe) (A schema, or schemata, in

psychology are patterns of thought that are organized while the brain is developing). At the

conclusion of their study, they state that, the sissy trait of the villains will validate in childrens

gender schema that males that portray feminine qualities are villainous, or are less than a hero.

They imply that this will negatively impact a childs social learning. Additionally, there was a

study of about 100 G-rated movies released between 1990 and 2005, that assessed portrayals of

gender in those movies whose audience was kids. The authors, Stacy Smith, Katherine Pieper,

Amy Granados, and Marc Choueiti, reference the gender schema as well in their conclusion,

saying In other words, repeated viewing of these films may encourage them to embrace sexist

attitudes at an information-processing level(Smith, Pieper, Granados, Choueiti). The authors

of this study not only agree that children's movies impact children's learning, they also agree that

the impacts are negative. Parents can even see the way that gendered stereotypes affect their

children, and Jennifer Hartstein, a child psychologist, says that gendered play based on princess

movies Can also set the tone for how she [young girls] develops into a young

woman(Hartstein). Hartstein also suggests that the tone princesses set is a negative one. So,

children's developing minds and patterns of thought are affected by repetitive views of G-rated

movies that consistently portray gender stereotypes, a view that is collectively agreed upon. And

Within these authors, the stereotypes might be negatively impacting childrens social learning

skills.

There is some disagreement to whether the traditionally female traits are portrayed as

positive traits, or negative. Some say that Female stereotypes in children's movies highlight the

negative characteristics of women, such as unrealistic beauty, submissive, or dependency on

the males in the film. According to Hartstein, who was mentioned previously, there is such a

thing as The Princess Syndrome, which is where young girls play that they are princesses,

focusing on the standards of princess portrayed in the movies that young girls frequently watch.

Hartstein says that these traits portrayed in princesses are harmful to girls because they

emphasize body image, reliance on a saviour, and A lack of internal motivation because she

expects it all to come to her(Hartstein). John Matthews agrees in his article about Princess

Syndrome, While the boys imagine gaining powers and abilities from their special status, being

a princess brings girls wealth, beauty, and romance (Mathews). Both Hartstein and Matthews

agree that boys are seeing positive portrayals of males, and girls are only learning negative

characteristics. Inversely, Ken Gillam and Shannon Wooden, see that female traits are shown in a

positive light when they help heroes be better heroes. Gillam and Wooden looked three pixar

movies, Cars, Toy Story, and The Incredibles. They saw that when the male leads, Lightning

Mcqueen, Woody, Buzz, and Mr. Incredible, learned to accept traditionally feminine traits they

were better heroes, or better men because they were able to be more affectionate and caring

towards other. Gillam and Wooden say that this portrayal is good for our son[s] to be aware of

the many sides of human existence we can see ways in which his perception of reality is

shaped by them (Gillam and Wooden). Gillam and Wooden see the positive female traits, and

how they help males become better, and that these traits are positively impacting children's views

on gender roles.This is also a sharp contrast to Li-Vollmer and Lapointes opinion in their study

that traditionally female characteristics make males more villainous, and therefore reflect a

negative image in young boys minds. But, Hartstein claims that the female image in media is a

negative contribution to children's views on gender. And there are others that would agree that
female traits are viewed as negative, and have negative impact on children's gender ideas, and

wish that there would be more masculine traits associated with girls.

More recently though, it is noticed that female heroes are taking on counter-stereotypical

roles, meaning that girls are taking on traditionally masculine traits to accomplish their goals.

And male heroes are seen with emotions and weakness, which are traditionally feminine

personality traits. This is most likely due to the changing gender roles and expectations in the

American society (England). Consequently, this idea is being viewed in a more positive light.

In a study titled Gender Role Portray and the Disney Princesses, the authors, Dawn England,

Lara Descartes, and Melissa Collier-Meek, looked at the way genders were portrayed in Disney

princess films beginning in 1980- 2009. They observed that while the princesses and princes are

still portraying traditionally feminine and masculine traits respectively, the princesses are

becoming more complex and showing masculine characteristics, and the same for the princes.

Though their study only looked at movies up until 2009, this pattern can be seen in more recent

movies like Tangled (2010), Frozen(2013), Brave (2012), and Moana (2016). The princesses

portray bravery, independence, and assertiveness. The authors of Gender Role Portrayal in the

Disney Princess say With the increase in breadth of gender roles displayed in these movies, it

could be argued that a viewing child would be exposed to more balanced gender role portrayals

(England). Jennifer Aubrey and Kristen Harrison, who work in communication departments of

the University of Michigan and University of Illinois, studied how the stereotyping or counter

stereotyping influenced gender related perceptions. They did a content analysis of shows that

children report as being their favorite.The content analysis revealed that the children did not

favor programming that was uniformly gender stereotypical Meaning that the favorite shows of

children are the shows that are featuring characters who behave counter stereotypically. These
findings agree with the gender role portrayal study, and the authors both agree with Gillam and

Woodens (mentioned previously) opinion that these movies are influencing childrens

perceptions of gender for the better. All together it is agreed that genders are progressively being

represented in children's movies, acting counter stereotypically. This is all together better for the

children's because they are being exposed to balanced gender expectations.

Many agree that the viewing of movies with consistent gender stereotypes, influence the

developing minds and thought patterns of the young children who view the films. Some believe

that the gendered stereotypes are negatively affecting children's view of gender roles, and their

social learning, while other believe the opposite. There is a small consensus that female

stereotypes are helpful to young girls, and boys receive a positive portrayal of both genders. As

the film industry endures, there is a growing population of the genders in children's movies

behaving counter stereotypically, probably because the american society has changed its

expected gender roles since the 1980s and this is viewed in a more positive light. These views or

opinions are collectively discussed in many mediums, and are largely based on the portrayal of

genders in movies whose target audience is children.

Works Cited

Smith, Stacy; Pieper, Katherine; Granados, Amy; Choueiti, Marc. Sex Roles. Jun2010,

Vol. 62 Issue 11-12, p774-786. 13p. 3 Charts. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-009-9736-z. , Database:

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 England, Dawn; Descartes, Lara; Collier-Meek, Melissa. Sex Roles, Apr2011, Vol. 64

Issue 7-8, p555-567, 13p, 3 Charts; DOI: 10.1007/s11199-011-9930-7, Database: Education Full

Text (H.W. Wilson)

Li-Vollmer, Meredith; LaPointe, Mark E. Popular Communication. 2003, Vol. 1 Issue 2,

p89. 21p. , Database: Communication & Mass Media Complete

Gillam, Ken; Wooden, Shannon R. Journal of Popular Film & Television. Spring2008,

Vol. 36 Issue 1, p2-8. 7p. 2 Black and White Photographs. , Database: Film & Television

Literature Index with Full Text

Johnson, Matthew. Natural Life. Nov/Dec2010, Issue 136, p34-36. 3p. 2 Color

Photographs. , Database: Alt HealthWatch

Aubrey, Jennifer Stevens and Kristen Harrison. "The Gender-Role Content of Children's

Favorite Television Programs and Its Links to Their Gender-Related Perceptions." Media

Psychology, vol. 6, no. 2, May 2004, pp. 111-146. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f3h&AN=13247295&site=ehost-live.