The picture shows a young girl in a light blue dress and
white dress, showing her purity and innocence. She has long blonde hair, a
Eurocentric beauty ideal, and is wearing various Disney iconography, which
shows how entrenched Disney and their various franchises are entrenched in
young girls' lives. The dress is modeled off of Elsa from Frozen, and, when
paired with the high heels and necklace, it looks as if she is trying to model
her appearance off of the character, a much older woman. Interestingly enough,
the lace that makes up the neckline is very much like that of an older woman's.
Lace also signifies sensuality and a woman's sexuality, especially around the
neckline where it would be considered provocative if she had breasts.
She is holding a pink bear, pink signifying silliness and
girlishness, while the teddy bear still draws back to her innocence and her
true age, which is actuality only three. She is gripping tightly, which could
be interpreted as her holding tightly to her childhood, while still letting it
hang by a single limb, very far from the center of her body. She is seen as
wanting to hold on to her childhood while at the same time wanting to get rid
of it so as to make herself look older and more like one of her favorite Disney
princesses, which is a grown woman. She is also not looking at the camera, but
rather at something to the side, and holding her hand to her mouth and smiling,
which seems somewhat malicious. It is often the stance girls take when they are
gossiping, and a body position that has been learned at a very early age.
Another interesting aspect of the picture is the lighting,
which seems very washed out and makes her and her surroundings very pale. It
signifies the European ideal of light skin, especially in women, which is a
major characteristic that all but one of the Disney princesses have that
attributes to their beauty. Being light
skinned is seen as beautiful and women who have dark skin are typically mocked
and excluded from the idea of beauty. The lines in the photo also bring the
focus onto the model and away from the surroundings. The angle of the photo
show her as being powerful and confident.
1 comment:
From: Edmund
I noticed that on one side of the girl, the background is predominantly white, while the other side is mostly brown. I see this as a representation of the split you have mentioned, between her wanting to be like an adult Disney princess, and the child she is. The two colors also have meanings of their own. The white background may represent the child keeping her silliness, childhood, and innocence. The brown part of the background, being part nature, is a good representation of Disney’s and other social aspects’ ever-present influence on children, pulling them away from girlishness/boyishness and towards adulthood, unrealistic standards, and even sexuality as you have suggested.
The emphasis put on the imitation of Disney princesses does a good job of portraying the effect such influential media has on children. Not only does the girl feel pressure to look like her favorite Disney princess, but she also is losing he innocence and childishness. Through this, she is learning what it is to be a woman: looking like a Disney princess.
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