How successfully has animation been used to represent gender and/or otherness? Refer to specific examples in your response

This essay will address the question of gender and how gender equality is a big issue in today’s but, before talking about that, this essay is going to explain to you what topics will be discussed throughout this essay. Some of the topics will be; how we interpret gender through society and get it mixed up with the sex of a person. Why we argue over equality and what makes men better then women at doing some things but then women are better then men at other thing. Looking through the history of women in animation, what they have achieved and discuss about women’s characters looks and societies expectations on how women’s characters should be in animation. Also how Disney has been portraying women and men in their feature films and how their characters are suppose to be role models for young children when they are growing up.

‘Gender’ and ‘sex’ do get misinterpreted amongst other people, but these two are quite different from one another. Sex is biological and physiological characteristics that describe a man and a woman, where as gender is a social reference which determines someone’s personality, activities and behavior between a man and a woman. Another way of thinking about this is that the sex of a woman means that she has menstrual cycles and breasts which lactate milk for a newborn baby.  Men, however, have testicles and also, in the main, have bigger bones than women. However, with regards to gender, men in some countries earn more money then women even though the job is similar. In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive cars and, in another example, some people might say that women do more house work then men do (World Health Organization, 2015).

In modern society gender is becoming less of an issue compared to the 20^th century because women can achieve a lot more in life and they can change a bit of society around them as well. For example, women are allowed to vote now, drive cars and be independent in their careers. But this is not allowed in the Middle Eastern i.e. Arab women, because the men want them to be traditional, stay at home and raise the children. They are not able to say what is on their mind and, if they want to go travelling, the women have to get permission. However, in the Western part of the world you often see women in the stereotypical jobs like receptionists, personal assistants, nurses, teachers and housekeepers. Also if a woman has the same job as a man she sometimes receives a lower salary but this does not happen if the roles are reversed. Some stereotypical jobs for men are; fireMAN, policeMAN, milkMAN,  and mailman.

In animation there are many different job roles you can go into and oddly enough men and women tend to work in different groups in the industry. This quote by Linda Simensky director of the cartoon networks programming explains what is meant by different groups in the animation industry “First, imagine you were attending a large party for members of the animation industry. After a round of toasts to, say, Bob Clampett or Shamus Culhane, everyone went off to the lavatories at the same time. The line into the women’s room would be comprised of a large number of network executives, studio management types ranging from producers assistants, colour and background designers, and perhaps an occasional director. The line into the men’s room would include studio owners, business types, directors, artists, show creators, designers, and a significant number of other animation artists.” (Women in the Animation Industry—Some Thoughts)

Looking at the history of women in the animation industry you can see that they have had some success throughout the years, some women have even created popular animated TV shows and full-length feature films. For example, a woman called Bianca Majolie worked on projects such as Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and fantasia’s Nutcrackers Suite. Another female animator you may have heard of is Retta Scott. Retta ‘s hobby was going round her local zoo drawing the animals and this led to her being asked to work on the feature film Bambi. The scary dogs at the end of Bambi were Retta’s first attempt at animation.

Bianca Majolie was the first female Walt Disney hired for the story department, Hollywood Citizen News heard about this and then did a story about her but they left her name out. This article was passed round her office and so she sarcastically wrote, “who is this girl?” Silly Symphony’s Elmer Elephant was one of her most recognizable pieces of work and was said to be the inspiration for Dumbo, so two of the famous nine old men gave credit to her for enhancing storytelling at Disney. They said “we could not have made any of the feature films without learning this important lesson: Pathos gives comedy the heart and warmth that keeps it from becoming brittle.” (A History Of Women in Animation: Mothers of a Medium, 2014).

Retta Scott was the first female animator Disney hired because of her works at CalArt. Throughout her time there she spent most of her free time going to the local zoo and drawing all the animals she could. Whilst Scott was at Disney some animators would say that she was incredible at drawing animals.  At the end of the film Bambi, where the dogs are chasing Bambi’s girlfriend, she made the dogs so realistic that it was actually scary.

During World War II she continued at Disney but, after the war finished, she left and became a freelancer and  created a book called ‘The Big Golden Book Edition of Disney’s Cinderella”, which also included Bambi, Fantasia and Dumbo. This gave her the title ‘Disney Legend’ in 2000.

Another female animator is Reiko Okuyama who was known as being the first female Japanese animator. As a child she was very ill so she spent most of her time drawing and by the time she was at college she was amazing at it. Reiko was hired has an inbetweener at Toei Doga, but was promoted to second key animator in the 1959 Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke/ Magic Boy. Then Reiko became a mother and was expected to step down and become a homemaker, but she did not like that idea. Her bosses were brushed the wrong way and tried to threaten her with the notion that her husband’s job was on the line, so she left. Reiko did come back but with the industry unions behind her and won the right for women to balance their work and family without losing their career over it. She continued to produce work and teach other people animation until she passed away in 2007.

Moving on, this part of the essay will discus how sexism has been improved throughout the years in Disney Pixar feature films. Also it will look at the songs from the films which were aimed at children and discus how it could influence them when they are growing up. For example, in the Little Mermaid, Ursula sings to Ariel about giving her, her voice so that Ariel can walk on land, but when Ursula starts to persuade Ariel she says “It’s she who holds her tongue that gets the man” (Poor Unfortunate souls, Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, preformed by Pat Carroll), this implies that women shouldn’t speak around men because men don’t care for what women say.

It is, apparently, a known fact that Disney has produced some hidden sexist and racist nature throughout their movies, and that they have portrayed most of the earlier princesses as being fragile and very dependent on males to come and save them from a bad situation. In the movie Mulan (1998) she has to change her whole appearance so that she can join the army, because women in China were not allowed to join. Also in the movie Mulan, there are two song that are sung by the army, the first one is called ‘I’ll make a man out of you’, which at the beginning has the line “Did they bring me daughters, when I asked for sons?” This states that men are better equipped at war because they are ‘braver’, ‘stronger’, and ‘faster’ but by the end of the song Mulan shows that she is all these things. The second song that they sing is ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’. In this song there is a sentence with the lyrics  “Err, how about a girl who’s got a brain, who always speaks her mind?....Ner!”. This is sexist because it is saying that men do not want a smart and confident spoken woman, they want a woman who can cook, marvel at there strength and be beautiful. This is telling little girls that you should cook and be good looking so that they can be liked be males, if not males won’t be interested in them.

Moving on to another movie now, The Little Mermaid has parts in it that are sexist with a hint of racism in there as well. A great review was done on this movie by a YouTuber called ‘Honest trailers’, where he says that Ariel only fell in love with Eric because he was hot, that Ariel should always look beautiful and that Ariel is a “half naked 15 year old” who hangs around with friends that are dumber and fatter than she is. The Little Mermaid is also racist because of the crab and how he is the only creature with an accent, and that he is “the closest thing this movie has to a black person” (YouTuber, screen junkies, Honest Trailers). The Little Mermaid also teaches little girls that it is okay to change your appearance so that a man will like you, and that it is okay for you to run off and leave your family behind with a guy you just met. There is one song as well ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ where Ursula sings to Ariel about how when she looses her voice men will find her more attractive because men are interested in women who do not talk and who are very beautiful. This also encourages little girls to use body language instead of their personalities to get boy to like them.

If you want to watch the Honest Trailer for the little Mermaid then go to this website - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-eyG7lUv8

The animated full-length feature film ‘Toy Story’ has hardly any toy women in it. This is because the child Andy is a boy so really he should have boy toys but the only girl toy he has is Little Bo Peep, who doesn’t actually have a major effect on the main plot of the story. This can be shown because as the movies progress Bo Peep gets handed down to Andy’s little sister because she is a girly toy, also Bo Peep is just there so that Woody has a little something on the side. However, in ‘Toy Story 2’ this all changed when Jessie and Mrs. Potato Head were introduced to the story but Mrs. Potato Head is automatically married to Mr. Potato Head because of the similarities of their names.

Some may say that the animated film ‘Brave’ has Disney’s first female lead role that is a great representation of women in animation. This is because Merida the main character is not the typical stereotype princess. Merida isn’t committed to the idea of an arranged married to a prince and she wants to figure out her own fate without getting pressured into getting a man (unlike Cinderella, Rapunzel and Mulan). In some aspects Merida actually fails as a princess, to best get this fact across Sierra’s review of ‘Brave’ may help; “She admits it – nay, proclaims it: she hates that ladylike crap. Unlike Rapunzel, Merida is not at all afraid to tell her mother how she feels. On the contrary, she’s a frothing bundle of anger at ridiculous gender norms and the restrictions of being a role model to her clan and its allies. She throws some serious barbs at Elinor (her mother), who has spent Merida’s whole childhood telling her what a princess shouldn’t do… Merida’s rebellion is actually that: rebellion. It’s defiant and petulant and generally immature. Which is fine, since the reel plot hasn’t started yet. But it makes her a less sympathetic character to daughters of Christian patriarchy than Rapunzel because, unlike Rapunzel and unlike us, Merida doesn’t give a damn about pleasing her mother. She’s a teenager that the daughters of Christian patriarchy would have never dared to be.” (Review: Pixar’s Brave is Braver Than it Looks, 2012). Merida is a good role model to girls because she shows that she wants to keep her independence, plus Merida relates to the teen girls because she is going through the same relationship problems with her mother. This film is more about the relationship between the mother and daughter, who goes on a journey about dangerous magic and fate, than it is towards Merida and a man. This shows young girls that you do not always have to rely on men to come and save the day and they can to be more independent in there own way.     

Many people will have different views and opinions on this next film‘Frozen’. In some peoples’ opinion the full length animated feature film is a good representation of female relationships. This is because ‘Frozen’ shows small children that for true love you do not need a man you just need love from a family member like a sister.  Other people do not like the film because the animators used the same model as Rapunzel from Tangled for Elsa and Anna, so they are saying that Disney has been lazy. However, this essay can give you three reasons why the film Frozen has good female representation: the first reason is that for the first time in a Disney movie the princess has the magical powers unlike other movies where Ursula, Maleficent, Cinderella’s fairy godmother all have magical powers but are themselves either villains or maternal figures. For Elsa it is all different because she can manipulate the elements through a burst of her powers and this is shown in the very famous song ‘Let it Go’. (4 Reasons Why “Frozen” is the Most Feminist Disney Movie Ever, 2014). The other reason Frozen is a good film is that Elsa, the snow queen, is an introvert where “pop culture has deemed that, in order to stand out or be noticed or liked, you have to be a little more outgoing or have a more charming personality. Just look at all the female leads in romantic comedies. Elsa is not any of these things. She’s a full-blown introvert and is not as bubbly or as talkative as her sister Anna, thus proving that it is okay to be more of an introvert and still be awesome. (3 Reasons why ‘Frozen’s’ Elsa is a Good Role Model, 2014) Lastly, the third reason why it is a good film is that the movie has two great role models for little girls, Elsa is a powerful QUEEN not princess who rules over a land that does not care that a woman is in charge of things. Her story is about learning to overcome her shame and take pride in having a unique gift. Anna on the other hand has no powers so no unique gift for her, but what she does have is bravery, resourcefulness, determination, kindness, and she is filled with love for her family. So together they say, be proud of your unique gifts and you too can be ordinary but still save the day. The sisters show little girls that there is more that one way to be strong. (4 Reasons Why “Frozen” is the Most Feminist Disney Movie Ever, 2014).

To come to a conclusion in this essay then it would seem that, over the many years of animation and gender equality in films, the female character has gained more respect and has, therefore been given more lead roles and become more independent, “even though it is harder to animate female characters because they have more emotion to get across but keep them pretty at the same time.” (“Frozen” Head of Animation Says Animating Women is “Really, Really Difficult, Lino DiSalvo, 2013). Also it is becoming more and more acceptable for women in animation to have lead jobs and direct movies so in modern day society some people might think that women are becoming more equal with men.              

             

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-eyG7lUv8

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