From: Kelsie
This is a photo
of my niece during her trip to Disney World. This little girl is one of a kind.
She is known to pick up any kind of bug or animal without hesitation and run
around with it daringly. She is fearless. In fact, she was swimming without a
floating device at the age of three. Not only swimming, but jumping off of the
diving board! This little girl has such a big imagination and a distinctive
personality of her own. At first, I thought this photo was absolutely adorable.
After learning about “Disney Monopoly”, gender scripts and beauty standards in
class, my view has changed.
Disney princesses
set unrealistic beauty standards for girls from a very young age. In this
photo, this little girl is in Bell’s beauty salon set in Disney World. Disney
Princesses have already been a huge part of her life. Like many little girls,
she loves to dress up like these princesses. The “Two Cultures of Childhood”
mentions that gender schemas become a part of a child’s identity as they strive
to act in socially appropriate masculine or feminine ways (Rudman and Glick, 60).
She is four years old and being shown how to make herself look “as beautiful as
a princess”. She has not yet begun to dress herself or fix her hair before
leaving the house, but this photo shows how interested she is in learning how
to do so.
I purposefully chose
a photo that was not set up. It was taken during the makeover process without
the little girl knowing. This goes to show how attentive she was while the lady
was explaining how she was fixing her hair. She was absorbing all of the
information like a sponge. This is looked at as normal in our society, which is
why none of her family members or friends thought anything of it, and most
people will not see anything wrong with this. All around, this was such a fun
experience for her, but I pray she knows that her fierce personality is the
most beautiful thing about her.
Works Cited
Rudman, Laurie A., et al. “The Two Cultures of Childhood.” The
Social Psychology of Gender:
How Power and
Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. The Guilford Press, 2015, 59-63.
3 comments:
I think this photo essay is super important to bring to everyone’s attention because this is incredibly true. We tend to as a society place a lot into beauty. What’s the next product we can buy to make ourselves look more “beautiful”? That’s the society we live in. We don’t place enough emphasis on being ourselves and truly embracing who we are. As a whole we spend more time looking for ways to enhance our outer appearance instead of enhancing our personality. This picture displays a beautiful young girl who is described as having a creative and distinctive personality sitting in a salon in Disney World, although this is completely innocent, she ultimately is somewhat looking up to these Disney Princess’s and how they look. Disney makes them look beautiful but also makes them with unrealistic and unattainable physical goals and we make the princess theme a staple in almost every little girls life. I remember when I was younger my mom picked out my Halloween costume from the time I was born till about ten years of age and every year I was one of the princess’s and I loved it, I wanted to be them and look like them so I could find my prince charming. Of course now when I meet people I never base anything off looks because looks fade, personality is forever and I really believe we need to start showing that to both young girls and boys instead of shoving unattainable “goals” down there throat.
From: Katie
I think this photo essay is super important to bring to everyone’s attention because this is incredibly true. We tend to as a society place a lot into beauty. What’s the next product we can buy to make ourselves look more “beautiful”? That’s the society we live in. We don’t place enough emphasis on being ourselves and truly embracing who we are. As a whole we spend more time looking for ways to enhance our outer appearance instead of enhancing our personality. This picture displays a beautiful young girl who is described as having a creative and distinctive personality sitting in a salon in Disney World, although this is completely innocent, she ultimately is somewhat looking up to these Disney Princess’s and how they look. Disney makes them look beautiful but also makes them with unrealistic and unattainable physical goals and we make the princess theme a staple in almost every little girls life. I remember when I was younger my mom picked out my Halloween costume from the time I was born till about ten years of age and every year I was one of the princess’s and I loved it, I wanted to be them and look like them so I could find my prince charming. Of course now when I meet people I never base anything off looks because looks fade, personality is forever and I really believe we need to start showing that to both young girls and boys instead of shoving unattainable “goals” down there throat.
From: Rose
While looking through the images, your title caught my eye immediately. “Beauty Standards vs. Beautiful Personality.” Then I started reading the essay, and that was when I was hooked! After reading “Disney Monopoly,” I was horrified. Not only do Disney princesses set unrealistic and narrow standards of beauty for girls, but they also set despicable, imprisoning standards for how princesses (girls and women) should behave. It never occurred to me that the narrative for “Beauty and the Beast” was that of a woman at the mercy of her abuser and how she can “fix” him. It is sickening to know that Disney is feeding these poisonous ideas to children all over the world. Vanity, selflessness, and caretaking serve as the ideal roles for princesses. Unfortunately, it is not their bravery, courage, strength, or heroism that is symbolized as the core values girls must be taught. This picture epitomizes Disney’s ideal. She is sitting politely, as a lady should, with her legs crossed. She is three years old and her mind has already begun the process of molding into what Disney insists girls should be. Her nails, hair, and makeup are getting done in order for her transformation into a princess and complete the indoctrination process. In the background, there shows another Princess helping another little girl transform. I can assume what their conversations would be, “What color nail polish would you like?” Which prince would you like to marry?” Instead of placing importance on false truths such as vanity and conforming to Disney’s unrealistic expectations, we as a community should set a new standard for girls. Let’s start by asking questions like, “What are your goals?” And let them know that whatever they put their mind to, they can achieve it.
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