Disney Princesses

This video highlights the case study of Disney's use of gender stereotyping in particular with female characters. Disney Princesses tend to be females with slim, slender bodies with ever flowing hair. The always have to depend on men to save them, not relying on their own sense of empowerment.

Snow White
Snow White takes on a motherly role to the seven dwarves. She saves them from a messy house but when she is poisoned by the Queen, she can only be saved by a kiss from the Prince.

Cinderella
Cinderella, another young, thin female, is a servant in her own household until her fairy godmother transforms her rags into a beautiful dress so she can go to the Prince's Ball. At the Prince's Ball, she meets Prince Charming and he automatically falls in love with her. He then saves her from her terrible home life and she becomes the princess.

Sleeping Beauty
Aurora is already a beautiful princess, but is hidden in a cottage in the woods with three fairies to save her from the wicked fairy Maleficent's curse of death. On her sixteenth birthday she fulfills the curse and is only saved by Prince Philip rescuing her with "True Love's Kiss."

The Little Mermaid
Ariel is also a princess. She is the musically talented, red-headed daughter of King Tritan. She gives up her voice to the sea witch Ursula after falling in love with human Prince Eric as she would give anything to be with him. Ursula's curses are defeated when after a large struggle Prince Eric destroys her.

Beauty and the Beast
Belle, yet another attractive, young and slender female is a young woman living in the French countryside. She is a free-thinker but must trade in her freedom to save her father from the Beast. After spending a few days with the Beast, she realizes she no longer needs to have her childish dreams as the Beast has introduced her to a new life.

Aladdin
Princess Jasmine is the only princess who has a slightly darker skintone, yet still is young and slender with ever flowing hair. Aladdin falls in love with her and throughout the story she must depend on him to get her out of sticky situations as well as save her and her father from Jafar.

Mulan
The most empowering of the female Disney Princesses was Mulan. She had to hide her beauty and disguise herself as a man to save her father and even still needed the help of an all male team in order to defeat the Huns.