The Hidden Gender Stereotypes in the Animations The Little Mermaid and Tangled
Erlina EKAWATI
ABSTRACT After the success of the feminist movement in the early 1960s, gender stereotypes are considered as not a big issue anymore. Many people tried to break gender stereotypes especially in mass media. However, it is undeniable that gender stereotypes are still imprinted because people have been fed by gender stereotypes from the show that they watch since they are young. It is shown in two animation movies titled The Little Mermaid and Tangled. This article examines various evidences of gender stereotypes that are hidden in both movies and how they are still seen although the creator has hidden them. There are two major points that will…show more content… In her book, Downing stated that the discrimination of women in the workplace is caused by their reluctance to be a professional for a long time (20). They would rather wait for men to provide their needs. She does not specifically explain that sometimes some women try to break the stereotype but they cannot do that since society wants to prevent from doing so. In other words, women have to strengthen the gender stereotype because of the situation.
Another scholar that has a work about gender stereotypes in the movie especially children’s movies is Kerry M Mallan in her works titled “Witches,Bitches,and Femme Fatales:Viewing the female grotesque in children’s film” in the Journal Explorations into Children’s Literature (2000). In her paper, she focuses on the women’s grotesque images in the movie. In general she focuses and criticizes the images of women who have power like Ursula or Cruella. They are always depicted as mad and cruel. Mallan stated that women who have masculine power will be seen as mad and deviant (2000,10). Even though she explains about women’s grotesque in children’s movies, she does not really explain about how the movies depict the image of good women. Like what Downing does in her book, Mallan also does not give explanations about the image of men in the stereotype gender. Both of them only focus on the women. On the other hand, I will examine the image of both women and men in the animations The Little
