Rhetorical Analysis Final Draft Wonderland not so wonderful Many people think that Disney movies are a positive influence on children especially girls, but the real question is, are these imaginative fantasies a positive thing? In the article “Escape from Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination”, the author Deborah Ross analyzes a series of Disney films and their influence on female culture. Ross breaks down three films that feature a heroin; The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Alice in Wonderland. She provides both an informative and argumentative analysis regarding females of all ages and their imagination. Her evaluation is very successful through the use of imagery, sentence structure, and logos to get her point across to her audience.
Throughout time, village elders, parents, or an authority figure have told stories to impart a kernel of wisdom, or to teach a moral code of conduct. To hold the audience's attention, magical characters were invented deeds or quests inserted, villains were defeated, and the boy got the girl. Or in the case of Cinderella, the girl through magical enhancements of grace, patience, and beauty, won the heart of boy. A simple plot written for a simple audience. But according to the article, "Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior" by Elisabeth Panttaja, the author tells us that the sweet-tempered, motherless young woman that we read about as children was an imposter.
A 2009 study found that 31 per cent of “girl” toys are all about appearance, involving plastic makeup and dresses. Meanwhile, toys targeted to boys encourage invention, exploration, competition, problem solving. These are all skills associated with highly desirable employees and leaders. I think that parents have to avoid walking exclusively down the Barbie aisle at stores, and instead provide your child with games and toys that encourage scientific discovery,
Disney is the worlds second largest media firm, and is one of the first factors that affect a child’s gender role portrayal (Martz, Bazzini, Curtin, Joslin, Regan 2010: 353). Even though children may be unaware that these views are being formed, the prince and princess characters in many Disney movies portray traditional masculine and feminine characteristics. These later on build the stereotypical gender images that are related to these traditional characteristics (Ross 2004: 55). Children start to associate certain attributes to men and women and this is how their portrayal is shaped. In many of the fairy-tale Disney movies, male and female characters are overrepresented and having such portrayals of gender roles may weaken children’s beliefs, expectations and aspirations because they cannot aspire to do something other than what is presented in the Disney films (England et al.
The Disney brand and stories are a well-established part of our lives. “Disney's empire has not only become a part of American culture, but has become practically inescapable (Ramos).” The stories are always based around a princess desperately needing to find her prince in order to escape whatever circumstances they are in. It is an unrealistic portrayal of how women are supposed to be. In real life, women need to work hard to get anything they want most and if they have unrealistic views, they are set up for failure. Many argue that there is no harm done since little girls
Before fairytales were aimed for kids, they were intended for adult audiences and so contained adult topics like oedipal themes and strong sexual connotations. As these stories had to be adapted to entertain and teach children, these adult topics were hidden in symbols. The symbols of the story start with Snow White herself. Many interpretations claim that her white skin represents her sexual innocence, while the red lips represent her sexual passion that her step-mother sees and which leads to her jealousy. Others say that the combination of the colours white, red and black is representing the life cycle.
Barbie steps out of Stepford No matter the era, in literature, audiences commonly see an essence of societal problems during the time the piece was written. “A Doll House” gives an insight into the struggles of women in 19th century society focusing on sacrifices they may make to obtain respect and happiness. The general idea portrayed by Ibsen is that the woman has “duties to [her] husband and children” (Ibsen 591). This establishes the era-controversial theme that a woman is an individual in her family and in society. Certain elements of this play – the title, conflicts, and character change- suggest that Ibsen is focusing on the conflict between women’s roles in the family, including sacrificial risks, and her role, or lack there of, as an integral part of larger 19th century society.
A Little Princess (1995) Part 1 The film A Little Princess (ALP) is a children’s story that also highlights social issues of Britain in the World War I time period. A child, watching this film, would be intrigued by the animated mind of the main character (Sara) and her vivid imagination. Her constant neglect from the malicious headmistress (Miss Minchin) endorsed her sympathy gained from the audience. Even as Miss Minchin mistreated Sara, her character grew tougher and her imagination grew stronger. Sara would use her fantasy stories to fill the void whenever she missed her father or felt hopeless.
When looked at more closely, one can see that it does not only speak of a young girl who wins a charming prince, but tells a story of the many economic power struggles that we can still see prevalent in modern day society. What is it that children are really being taught? Cinderella is a story of power held by the classes. This can be seen when looking at how she is looked down upon by the powerful, how she suddenly becomes well regarded when she dresses nicely, and how eager everyone in the story is to climb the social ladder. Are these the values being bestowed in young children around the world?
Beauty pageant participant, Kelsey Killeen said, “When I started going into pageants, it gave me so much self-confidence.” Pageant moms believe pageants are a good way to teach their daughters skills needed in life. Eight main skills mothers thought or hoped their children would learn from pageants were acquiring confidence, learning to be comfortable onstage and around strangers, gaining poise, determining the best way to present oneself, realizing the need for practice, learning good sportsmanship, becoming more outgoing and learning to listen (“Child Beauty”). Some parents have even said that they have placed their children in pageants because of a birth defect their child had (“Child Beauty”). These parents wanted to support the fact that their children are normal and beautiful no matter if they have birth defects (“Child Beauty”). In numerous pageants it is required that the contestant raise money for a local