During the 2nd day of HEART Fest at Roger Williams University, students in Dr. D’Amore’s CULST.373 Fairy Tales & Feminism course presented their work on various fairy tales or feminist concepts. From Little Red Riding Hood to Beauty and The Beast, students worked on a presentation that critically analyzes past works and how it still applies to complicated problems within society.
One of the presentations discussed the different anti-feminism ideals across Disney and their princesses, and the effects that can stem from it. The student, Nina, gave multiple examples of princesses that highlight the passive role that they play across their films. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White all show great dependence on a male character, and are dependent solely on their environment and situations. With that, she also highlighted that the princes fit into a certain mold, and their only purpose is to rescue the girl. They also all have a “desirable” appearance, and appear to be strong, brave, and heroic. Where is that same energy within the female characters? All of these ideals leave impacts on those watching these films, but especially young girls. Young girls who are the target audience for princesses could be convinced that as long as they are pretty, modest, small and quiet, they will appeal to the conventionally attractive male, and society.
With that, other students chose to explore a Disney movie, and analyze the feminist narratives across them. A student named Luca presented Beauty and The Beast, and highlighted the discrepancies in the film’s gender narratives, and how it relates to modern times and relationships as a whole. In the movie, Belle gets to choose between two men: The Beast or Gaston. There is no other option, and they both threaten Belle’s only other relationship with her father. The Beast desires Belle to help solve his curse, and assumes that she will do what he wants when he asks. On the other hand, Gaston presents himself with the desire to be his wife, and forces Belle to be with him by saying he will stop her father from being put in the asylum. The two relationships that she can choose are men with intense egos, and frame themselves as the only options. In relation to the modern woman, Belle has skills beyond just being a wife, but in the world she lives in, it’s her only option. This correlates with how this is not just a Disney movie with a hero and a villain, but tampers with gender roles and the role of a woman.
Furthermore, Rapunzel was also an example of showing how women’s bodies are controlled by society, and how that is still an issue to this day. In the film, Rapunzel is shown to be a beautiful girl with long hair. That is taken advantage of, and used against her multiple times, where she is locked in the tower and hid from society. In the story, Mother Gothel has complete control over her, how she presents herself, and what she gets out of her life. Rapunzel’s body is controlled and regulated by others rather than something she has control over. In today’s world, women are often valued for their bodies and appearance, limiting their autonomy.
In all, feminist concepts exist across a magnitude of films, and leave more impact than most acknowledge. The presentations all highlighted something unique to the table and highlighted that under the rug, there are a lot more metaphorical messages and deeper meanings behind extremely popular films.
By Kate Tortolini