Dead Hearts, by Stars
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I've been working on a short story since last week's post, and it's taking a while. So instead, I decided to post my essay on gender in social constructionism that I mentioned here (It should be in the post literally below this one, but I linked it anyways).
Looking back on it after a week, it's all I can do to keep myself from revising it, removing unnecessary words and phrases, and changing a thought to make it more clear. It seems terribly unorganized now than it did before. But it was a subject I enjoyed writing about - a first for me, even in high school (research papers excluded) - and I like some of the parts very much. I interchanged source names for "x's," to show how many times I had to cite.
So:
Take a Shot for Every Elsa You See
Media is one of the most powerful methods of perpetuating current social conventions. People are most easily influenced when they are younger. Combine these two factors, and the Disney franchise could easily be one of the most socially influential companies in the world. Many young girls (and some young boys, for that matter) idolize the Disney princesses, and aspire to be like them in looks and/or personality (x). One only has to look at the number of small Elsa’s that will be running around ringing doorbells this Halloween to realize how affected children can be by a film. The first Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, is a prime example of how early Disney princess movies incorporated idealized gender roles, and thus indirectly promoted society’s predetermined views on the matter of a proper woman.
The general story in Snow White is that a jealous queen sentences a beautiful girl to death, simply for being prettier. However, Snow White escapes death by running away, and finds a place to hide. And when she does die in the end, it is her physical beauty that motivates the prince into saving her via “true love’s kiss.” Snow White, for the majority of the movie, is portrayed as innocent, kind, and charming, but also rather oppressed, helpless, fearful, and vapid (x). Physically, she is portrayed as having a slim figure and is wearing a neat and tidy dress. Emotionally, she has a passive personality. She would rather work as a maid in an abusive situation than find a way to better her life, and spends lots of her time daydreaming about when her hero will rescue her from the evil queen’s palace (x). And of course, she would not be a proper Disney princess if she did not collapse crying at some point in the movie (x).
On the other hand, “Disney transforms the vain, active and wicked woman of folktales into the Femme Fatale, the 'deadly woman' of silent film and of Hollywood classic film” (x). In other words, a strong independent woman, who would be respected as a suitable role model in today’s society (x), was considered the villain and the opposite of a socially accepted woman nearly 80 years ago. Appearances were very important, too – the evil queen in Snow White transforms herself into an old, stooped crone with bad teeth, wiry hair, and frumpy clothes – a far cry from the fair-skinned, youthful Snow White. Disney was implying that the queen was evil not only in personality, but also in the way she dressed, suggesting that a woman must also look the part of a good housewife, and appearances to others in society mattered a great deal (x). Also, as the antagonist of the story, the evil queen opposed everything the pure protagonist stood for, and therefore the traits of the queen –proactivity, cunning, and independence – were dismissed as undesirable because they were associated with “the bad guy.”
Disney contributed to the 1940’s social construction of gender through these supremely different portrayals. When Snow White came out, the purpose for women in life was to find a suitable husband, and to support him in his endeavors (x). She was not supposed to have her own job or own property, but was expected to stay at home, clean, and raise children (x). In other films in that time period, most women were similar to Snow White in that they waited for the man to act first instead of being proactive themselves. They were not expected to intelligently think for themselves, and if they were ever anything but obedient to what the higher powers ordered, they got into trouble and created a big mess for the men to clean up (x). Snow White is therefore much like the ideal housewife: she cleans without being asked, she follows orders without question, and acts as a mothering figure (as evidenced when she cooks the seven dwarves their meals and scolds them to wash their hands). “This teaches little girls that the perfect beautiful woman stays at home and does housework,” (x) but more importantly, it teaches that an ideal woman never questions anyone about their wrongdoings.
Disney could have gone against the standard expectations of women. They could have created a heroine with anomalous characteristics that set her apart from “normal” girls. Snow White could have been a shrewd businesswoman, who talks the huntsman out of killing her, instead of running away. She could have been curious and adventurous, and found a way out of the evil queen’s palace without having to rely on a prince to save her. She could have even had some common sense to make the right decisions for herself, and not eaten the apple offered to her by a complete stranger. However, to make decisions for herself would have gone against what was expected of women in the 1940’s; that is, they were expected to stay home and be sexually loyal to only their husband (x), among other things. Men and women, seeing a movie with such an abnormally independent heroine, might have prohibited their daughters from seeing it because it went against the grain of what society deemed acceptable (x). They might have thought that their daughters would start acting independently too, and thus would become social pariahs. Because of that, Disney chose to have an emotionally weak character instead of a strong one. If they had directed a movie with implications and themes no one agreed with, sales would have tanked and the franchise would have closed before it even got started. It is simple business. By catering to the social expectations of their target audience, Disney ensured a massive success and made a huge profit off of their first movie – an impressive feat for a budding company.
At the time, these portrayals of women as domesticated housewives were beneficial. As a highly influential medium, they taught young girls their expected positions in society, and influenced how they were supposed to behave and think (x). From today’s point of view, though, Snow White can be seen as harmful to the newest generation of women. Today, the emphasis is on how women are capable of being independent, and most of society encourages women to enter job fields dominated by men (x). Social constructions are fluid and constantly shifting (x), and what might have once contributed to the social construction may not anymore. After all, the most popular Disney princess today has no love interest and desires to live independently, and yet one could make a drinking game out of how many little girls look up to and aspire to be her.
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Am I not justified in thinking that I have to cite too many times? Even in the introduction, which I've never had to do before. But as I've said, ever since my TA told me I had to appropriate thoughts to more people, I've been going on citing sprees. I hope it's working, because honestly, sometimes I just add a name to the end of a sentence that has a similar thought to the source. I don't actually draw any inspiration from it.
I am hardly one to give out advice, but I've come up with a method for writing conclusions, which is something I've always struggled with. I imagine myself doing a mic drop after the last sentence. If I can't see myself doing it, it's not strong enough. Silly, yes, but effective.
I kind of took a risk titling it something so sarcastic though. It was almost going to be 'Damsel in Distress,' but I was talking to an old high school friend when writing it, and told her as a joke that I should reference my drinking game sentence. She told me that I should, and I quote, "Totally do it, it'd be so funny." Also, my TA is awesome in that he is nearly as sarcastic as I am (seriously, he's hilarious), so I knew that he wouldn't really mind. So, uh, take risks within reason? Is that a thing? Can it be a thing?
**EDIT: Today was the day of our second exam. I struggled a bit more than with the first, but that's beside the point. We are supposed to turn in our exams to our TA's, and as I gave my exam in, my TA said, "By the way, good job on your essay... Assignment #3, right?" (I nod mutely at this point) "Yeah, I haven't put the grades up yet, but good work."
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Out of the hundreds of essays he had to grade, mine stood out enough for him to remember it. I am so goddamn satisfied with myself. TA, rate me. Judge me. Va-li-date me.
Honestly, I think one of the main reasons why he liked it is because of the title, though. I've seen the titles of some other people's essays, and they're things like 'Sociology Assignment #3.' That's how you title papers in high school. Not in college.
But anyways, I'll just be here, grinning until next week.
On the other hand, “Disney transforms the vain, active and wicked woman of folktales into the Femme Fatale, the 'deadly woman' of silent film and of Hollywood classic film” (x). In other words, a strong independent woman, who would be respected as a suitable role model in today’s society (x), was considered the villain and the opposite of a socially accepted woman nearly 80 years ago. Appearances were very important, too – the evil queen in Snow White transforms herself into an old, stooped crone with bad teeth, wiry hair, and frumpy clothes – a far cry from the fair-skinned, youthful Snow White. Disney was implying that the queen was evil not only in personality, but also in the way she dressed, suggesting that a woman must also look the part of a good housewife, and appearances to others in society mattered a great deal (x). Also, as the antagonist of the story, the evil queen opposed everything the pure protagonist stood for, and therefore the traits of the queen –proactivity, cunning, and independence – were dismissed as undesirable because they were associated with “the bad guy.”
Disney contributed to the 1940’s social construction of gender through these supremely different portrayals. When Snow White came out, the purpose for women in life was to find a suitable husband, and to support him in his endeavors (x). She was not supposed to have her own job or own property, but was expected to stay at home, clean, and raise children (x). In other films in that time period, most women were similar to Snow White in that they waited for the man to act first instead of being proactive themselves. They were not expected to intelligently think for themselves, and if they were ever anything but obedient to what the higher powers ordered, they got into trouble and created a big mess for the men to clean up (x). Snow White is therefore much like the ideal housewife: she cleans without being asked, she follows orders without question, and acts as a mothering figure (as evidenced when she cooks the seven dwarves their meals and scolds them to wash their hands). “This teaches little girls that the perfect beautiful woman stays at home and does housework,” (x) but more importantly, it teaches that an ideal woman never questions anyone about their wrongdoings.
Disney could have gone against the standard expectations of women. They could have created a heroine with anomalous characteristics that set her apart from “normal” girls. Snow White could have been a shrewd businesswoman, who talks the huntsman out of killing her, instead of running away. She could have been curious and adventurous, and found a way out of the evil queen’s palace without having to rely on a prince to save her. She could have even had some common sense to make the right decisions for herself, and not eaten the apple offered to her by a complete stranger. However, to make decisions for herself would have gone against what was expected of women in the 1940’s; that is, they were expected to stay home and be sexually loyal to only their husband (x), among other things. Men and women, seeing a movie with such an abnormally independent heroine, might have prohibited their daughters from seeing it because it went against the grain of what society deemed acceptable (x). They might have thought that their daughters would start acting independently too, and thus would become social pariahs. Because of that, Disney chose to have an emotionally weak character instead of a strong one. If they had directed a movie with implications and themes no one agreed with, sales would have tanked and the franchise would have closed before it even got started. It is simple business. By catering to the social expectations of their target audience, Disney ensured a massive success and made a huge profit off of their first movie – an impressive feat for a budding company.
At the time, these portrayals of women as domesticated housewives were beneficial. As a highly influential medium, they taught young girls their expected positions in society, and influenced how they were supposed to behave and think (x). From today’s point of view, though, Snow White can be seen as harmful to the newest generation of women. Today, the emphasis is on how women are capable of being independent, and most of society encourages women to enter job fields dominated by men (x). Social constructions are fluid and constantly shifting (x), and what might have once contributed to the social construction may not anymore. After all, the most popular Disney princess today has no love interest and desires to live independently, and yet one could make a drinking game out of how many little girls look up to and aspire to be her.
---
Am I not justified in thinking that I have to cite too many times? Even in the introduction, which I've never had to do before. But as I've said, ever since my TA told me I had to appropriate thoughts to more people, I've been going on citing sprees. I hope it's working, because honestly, sometimes I just add a name to the end of a sentence that has a similar thought to the source. I don't actually draw any inspiration from it.
I am hardly one to give out advice, but I've come up with a method for writing conclusions, which is something I've always struggled with. I imagine myself doing a mic drop after the last sentence. If I can't see myself doing it, it's not strong enough. Silly, yes, but effective.
I kind of took a risk titling it something so sarcastic though. It was almost going to be 'Damsel in Distress,' but I was talking to an old high school friend when writing it, and told her as a joke that I should reference my drinking game sentence. She told me that I should, and I quote, "Totally do it, it'd be so funny." Also, my TA is awesome in that he is nearly as sarcastic as I am (seriously, he's hilarious), so I knew that he wouldn't really mind. So, uh, take risks within reason? Is that a thing? Can it be a thing?
**EDIT: Today was the day of our second exam. I struggled a bit more than with the first, but that's beside the point. We are supposed to turn in our exams to our TA's, and as I gave my exam in, my TA said, "By the way, good job on your essay... Assignment #3, right?" (I nod mutely at this point) "Yeah, I haven't put the grades up yet, but good work."
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Out of the hundreds of essays he had to grade, mine stood out enough for him to remember it. I am so goddamn satisfied with myself. TA, rate me. Judge me. Va-li-date me.
Honestly, I think one of the main reasons why he liked it is because of the title, though. I've seen the titles of some other people's essays, and they're things like 'Sociology Assignment #3.' That's how you title papers in high school. Not in college.
But anyways, I'll just be here, grinning until next week.
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