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Target Women on Disney Princesses
 October 24, 2008 12:05 am
Target Women is a recurring segment on infoMania, a weekly television show on Al Gore’s Current TV cable channel. In each episode, Sarah Haskins takes a look at the ridiculous ways the media reaches out to women. |
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She poked fun at the conventions without overdoing it or making it an argument. That was pretty enjoyable.
That was very funny. I especially like the part about true love: it will just show up and you don’t even have to make any effort.
Do you think if a prince kissed Sarah Haskins she’d turn from a frog into a princess?
I don’t think Mulan should have been included – she’s the one character Disney got right – but other than that, pretty good.
Bahahahahha – this link has lolz.
Ha! Priceless! According to the Disney way, I’ve been doing everything right….now I just need the Prince to randomly show up, and I’m set! =D
….*sob*
I’ll half-agree Nina:
Mulan shouldn’t be included. Not a princess (even though she gets a fairy-tale ending and pals around with wildlife.)
Mulan was just a warm-up for Nani and Lilo -the best written and best drawn female characters Disney ever put on screen and the only ones with real-world problems.
Hey Chuck R. and Nina Paley! I have to disagree with you both about Mulan.
No, she’s not a princess, but she’s been MARKETED as a Disney princess. “Target Women” isn’t primarily about entertainment aimed at women, it’s about marketing aimed at women. Mulan is packaged and sold like other Disney characters, namely to sell sing-a-long videos and dresses.
Disney isn’t going to stop selling merchandise to children any time soon. What they should do – and are just beginning to do – is make their role models more in-depth and diverse. Nani and Lilo from “Lilo and Stitch” are a large improvement because they have more realistic body types and personalities, but the film is nowhere near as popular as most Disney musicals. Disney still has a ways to go.
I’d also say that Belle (another “never was a princess” princess) shouldn’t have been included, but as she was hardly in it and about half of her snarks didn’t apply to her, I guess I got my wish.
And rather heavy reliance on princesses from the 50s. Too easy.
When I was 6 or 7, I really looked up to Belle. In other Disney movies, I think identified with the male characters more (e.g. Peter Pan vs. Wendy, also, I dressed up as Aladdin-not Jasmine one Halloween), but when Beauty and the Beast came out, I was actually really into Belle as a female character I could identify with. She reads, she’s smart, she’s brave, she refuses marrying a pompous ass…and on top of all that, she’s pretty :)
I thought about sending this in, but didn’t think it’d get posted…
“…And you know what single women are like.” That part really made me laugh. This was fun to watch, she also pointed out some things about Disney Princesses I never really thought about till now, ie the Daddy issues or lack there of.
@Chuck R.
If you considering extraterrestrials that karaoke Elvis songs real-world problems, it means my life is pretty boring…
Disney’s fairy tale life are pretty nice… I wish I was a princess! I mean prince!
Seriously, what is UP with all the missing mothers?
Nicely done little nugget of funny!
That was a rather enjoyable video. Ha ha! :D
Thanks, Jerry!
Thanks for the link! I deal with lots of this Disney Princess stuff at the retail store I work at and I definitely agree from looking at all these things that they’re all the same. And with that upcoming Princess film and those fairy films coming soon I bet we’ll see more of this.
Remember, if you want big bucks target the young/tween girl audience! Look at this weekend’s box office receipts and you’ll see.
The ironic thing to me is that most women….scratch that, EVERY woman I’ve worked with or that my wife has worked with DO want to find a “true love” or soulmate. So I don’t see that Disney is that far off with the whole “princess” thing.
Yay, I’m so glad you posted this!! ^_^ This video reminds me of my younger sister, who’s freakin’ nuts about these Disney Princesses… Very good observations all around : )
It´s nice to remember that Disney itself has made (a huge lot of) fun of the fairy tale princess stereotype in Enchanted.
I am currently TA’ing an Intro to American Culture Studies class and the posting of this clip coincided with the conclusion of our chapter on gender and stereotypes. I used it in class on Friday – it was perfect. Thanks, guys!
> Mulan was just a warm-up for Nani and Lilo -the best written and best drawn female characters Disney ever put on screen and the only ones with real-world problems.
There’s only a certain leeway Disney has with classic and beloved story tales, as are mostly featured in the Disney Princesses brands, while also making the characters realistic. Then again, the whole premise of fairytales has been fantasy storylines, mythical creatures and stories of prince and princesses – Lilo and Nano are the only ones actually rooted in a real-world setting and not belonging to monarchy.
Right now, I’m doing a speech in front of class about disney princess. Man, this is good a sample of my video about disney princess. very funny.