I would like to introduce myself as a twenty year old white female who was born in one of America’s most racially diverse cities, New York City, but was raised in a white, middle class suburb in central New Jersey. Fortunately, I attend one of the nation’s most ethnically diverse universities; New Jersey’s very own Rutgers University. I currently reside and am spending my undergraduate career at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus. For those of you who are unaware, New Brunswick is a socioeconomically and racially diverse city which adds to the appeal to so many of the University’ students. The ethnic diversity of students, large campuses (there are four to be exact), and an urban environment were all influential aspects of the university’s appeal to me as a high school student who was unsure where to attend college. I yearned to break out of the bubble I call suburbia and learn from others who were different from my friends and me.
When I came to college, I was thrown into a melting pot of other newbies to this whole college experience and was overwhelmed with a desire to learn as much as I can in and out of the classroom. By making new friends while keeping in touch with my old ones from high school, I began to notice cross cultural similarities and differences between my new multi-racial groups of friends. When discussing our childhood experiences and what our families are like, I began to realize that despite differences in skin color, we are all fundamentally the same when it comes to certain topics of interest. Even our taste in music, movies, and extracurricular activities did not seem to differ greatly. Why then, is it so important for race to be the topic of conversation for many and the basis of controversy in music, film, and politics? It is unfortunate that race is and always will be the basis of identity and controversy in the media.
The topic of race and media became the theme of a social action project I am currently working on for a Women, Culture, and Society class. The project requires me to research the reciprocal influence race and the media have on each other. My classmates and I decided to focus on the influence of the Disney princesses on women of all ages. I decided to focus on the multi-racial aspect of the princesses and thought that there was no better place than Rutgers to talk to women of different ethnicities and see how they are influenced by Disney movies. Not surprisingly, despite the color of their skin, most women I spoke with claimed that Cinderella and Belle were among their favorites. Why didn’t my Asian friends say Mulan, my Indian friends say Pocahontas, and my Middle Eastern friends say Jasmine? What about my African American friends who had no princess with whom they could identify? Could the reason be that Disney did not create a princess that wasn’t white until 1992? If race is the basis of identity for most people in today’s society, then the media has a long way to go with catering to a more diverse audience.
After doing some research, I noticed that even Disney’s princesses, who portray beauty and strength, seem to be ridiculed with controversy. Since Disney is a $3 billion industry with a never ending amount of princess merchandise, it is not surprising that their audience of young girls ranging from ages 3 through 8 buy the majority of their products. There is a need for the creation of multi-racial princesses as more and more girls are buying the products. The recent favorites include Cinderella and Belle, despite the fact that these princesses are older than the consumers themselves and are actually the very same ones with whom I found myself admiring over ten years ago.
Maybe identifying with a princess goes beyond the scope of one’s race, but it seems that as children develop gender identity, they begin to recognize their race as an essential aspect of their character. While I did not admire Cinderella and Belle because they are the same skin color as me, I’m not sure if I would have been able to identify as strongly with a princess that was Asian or American Indian. Young girls seem to admire the princesses because of their physical and personality traits, but the characteristic of skin color becomes an issue as children get older and begin to segregate people based upon race. As Disney creates more princesses that portray women of all different nationalities, the business will become more profitable since more girls will purchase their products due to their ability to relate to a princess that looks just like they do.
Disney seems to be trying to cater to a more diverse audience by creating princesses of different ethnicities. This coming year, Disney will be releasing a new film, The Princess and the Frog . This film will have Disney’s first Black princess and has gained much controversy which caused creators to reevaluate some aspects of the film. For one, the title of the film changed from The Frog Princess to its current tile, The Princess and the Frog due to a racial stereotyping problem. Secondly, the princess’s name had to be changed from Maddie to Tiana due to a supposed reference to slavery. In fact, the princess worked for a white woman which also alluded to slavery. These problems are just some of many which caused the creators to go back to the drawing board and change some parts of the story. While Disney’s intentions were good, this example exemplifies the point that even when Disney tries to cater to the needs of multiple ethnicities and improve its image, race is the topic of identity and controversy in the media.
I would like for you think about the ever-changing sources of media for today’s young generations. With movies, television shows, video games, etc., should race be the basis of identity for viewers? What other aspects of identity are important? Would a color blind society be better off? If so, how? What types of role models can young girls today look up to if not even Disney can get it right? Last but not least, I would like for you to reflect on the types of role models you had as a young child and what aspects you admired. If we do not focus on race, what should we be focusing on? It seems to me that despite Disney’s good intentions, there will always be controversy as creators attempt to accommodate a more racially diverse audience worldwide.
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I'm not sure what you're trying to say with "not even Disney can get it right". Of course Disney can't get it right; Disney has never, ever gotten it right. I've never seen a single Disney movie that gets it right. Maybe I'm misreading you.
I'm with Aimee. I think the Princesses are nothing but pathetic as role models, for a number of reasons, which are listed here.
My favourite Disney movie was always "The Lion King" which didn't even feature a conventional Disney Princess (plus in the stage adaptation, the director Julie Tamor switched Rafiki's gender to female as she felt there was no central female character in the story. Julie rocks!)
But I've never really thought of Disney princesses as role models. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty all seem to conform to traditional ideals of feminine passivity. The heroines got a bit stronger come the 1990's, but the heroines are essentially there to be married off to the heroes. The one I always liked best was Belle, who was a bookworm and not afraid to stand up to anyone. But all the Disney Princess merchandise still makes me roll my eyes.
I'm curious to know why you felt you would not be able to identify with as strongly with a character from a different race. During your interviews did you find that Whites identified the strongest with Cinderella and Belle? If so perhaps there is merit in your idea that one cannot identify with someone from another race as strongly as someone from the same race; if not, perhaps you are imagining prejudice where there is none - and talk to people who grew up in other countries to find out how they reacted to the Princesses without the direct American cultural influence.
Just curious, what were the reasons people gave for identifying with Cinderella and Belle? Could it be that they identified with some other trait those characters had beyond their skin color? (like Belle's love of books, perhaps?)
Though I am not Chinese, my favorite is Mulan, because she's the most heroic. Though I'm only partially white, Belle is my second favorite, because she was bookish and a misfit in her town.