Disney Racism

I decided to write my last blog post for this race, gender and mass media class similar to that of my first post. Only this time I wanted to investigate racism and racial stereotypes among Disney films as opposed to sexism and gender stereotypes. This idea came to me after viewing in class the "Aladdin" "Arabian Nights" theme song. I honestly had no idea that the lyrics had been changed from the original song. On Cracked Entertainment website, I found a list of the "9 Most Racist Disney Characters." This article summarizes the various stereotypes that Disney portrays in its movies and each character listed is typically accompanied with a short video clip. In class we have already talked about two of the racist stereotypes including the Indians from "Peter Pan" and the merchant from "Aladdin." The most shocking character(s) to me that I'm surprised I never personally caught were the crows from "Dumbo." The 1941 Disney Classic includes among its characters a "jive-talking" band of 3 black crows. Their poor English and rowdy manner stereotypical with African Americans would not be as offensive if the main crow's name was not "Jim Crow." The crows are depicted as very poor and uneducated and are shown behaving similar to that of African American stereotypes. The Racist Characters list also includes "Sebastian" from "The Little Mermaid" and "King Louie" from "The Jungle Book."

I was happy to learn that Disney has tried to correct it's racial stereotypes through the movie, "The Princess and the Frog," and their new preschool cartoon, "Doc McStuffins." Although "The Princess and the Frog" may not have been seen as successful in many critics eyes, I believe they tried to bring a princess that all young girls could embrace. I was especially interested to read about "Doc McStuffins." Aimed at preschoolers, the show features a 6-year old African-American girl whose aspires to become a doctor like her mother. She takes care of dolls and stuffed animals when at home with her stay-at-home dad. So far the show has generated lots of positive reviews from critics, teachers and parents. Hopefully this is an indication of the future that Disney has for correcting its past racial stereotypical characters. I look forward to seeing what Disney comes up with as I hope that my children will watch Disney and learn racial equality for all.

Here is a more in depth article talking about Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" :: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/fashion/31disney.html?pagewanted=all

Here's a good video I found on Youtube that was made for an English project getting more in depth with Disney Racism.

Gender Stereotypes through Toys

As the holidays are quickly approaching, I have spent a great deal of my spare time online Christmas shopping. I always find the most enjoyment from shopping for Christmas gifts when shopping for my young cousins because I had some wonderful experiences growing up and playing with board games and Barbies. In search for a topic for this week's blog I looked toward the area of toys. Children as young as two and three are now able to identify gender roles and stereotypes just through their toys. By ages three and four, children form images of themselves as a boy or girl. A research paper I found by Denise Starr, a student of the University of North Carolina, explains how a local toy store, such as Toys 'R Us, and toys teach children stereotypical gender roles. Society sets "molds" of "proper adults" through stereotyped toys. Toys 'R Us even divides their store into specific "boy" and "girl" sections of toys identified by colors of blue and pink. Starr identifies that aside from the coloring of the store, the toy inventory within Toys 'R Us reveals sexism and gender stereotypes. The "girls" section includes dolls and kitchen sets while the "boys" section includes action figures and toy weapons. Young girls will learn through their toy options that they are expected to learn gender roles of taking care of the house and children. The toys options of baby dolls and kitchen sets reinforce the stereotype that women are expected to stay at home and take care of children. One of my favorite toys growing up was Barbie. It wasn't until reading more into the article that I understood how Barbie could have shaped my ideals of beauty and outward appearance. According to Denise Starr, "girls' toys (including Barbie) teach the obsessive value of appearance for societal acceptance." Barbie's image reflects ideals of maintaining outer appearances as opposed to inward beauty. In regards to electronic and board games, popular games within the "girl" section included "Telephone Tag" and "Dream Date Match Maker Service" & other games that did not challenge the mind. These games imply that girls are more social than boys and teach girls to "value socializing with friends rather than education."

 The toys found in the "boys" section were almost the exact opposite of the "girls" section. The toys offered in the "boys" section include both adventure and physical activity toys/games as well as toys that "prepare boys for the 'real world.'" Games including "Police Communication System," "My CarryAlong Briefcase," & "Fire Rescue Power Crane" all emphasize roles outside of the home through high paying "white-collar" occupations. Educational toys are also offered throughout the "boys" section unlike the "girls."This mental stimulation that is apparent in these games promote boys to explore and experiment, not necessarily having to play quiet at home. These toys and games lead children developing early stereotypical ideas regarding their roles for the future. I believe that stores like Toys 'R Us need to mix up the entire store to not promote divided "girls" and "boys" sections. Neither boys or girls should be limited to the toys that they play with, especially when it is encouraging low self-esteem. Denise Starr states that in order to prevent children from living by these stereotypes, "parents should encourage gender-neutral and cross-gender play in children at an early age." I completely agree and will definitely put that into consideration when I am purchasing Christmas gifts this season for my young cousins.

Here is the original article I read for more information: http://www.unc.edu/~dcderosa/STUDENTPAPERS/childrenbattles/toysrusdenise.htm

Victoria's Secret & Racial Stereotypes

After hearing in class the other day about the racial stereotyping made by Victoria's Secret towards Native Americans, I decided to investigate a little more into the company to find out if other stereotyping had been shown prior to the Fashion Show incident. Turns out Victoria's Secret was already on Strike No. 2 with the media. However their previous strikes involved stereotyping of African Americans and Asians. During the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, a segment titled "Wild Things" where all ethnic models, predominately African Americans, were featured. As you can probably imagine, their lingerie consisted of animal and tribal prints. The most shocking factor of this segment was that dancers accompanied the runway and performed a tribal dance and were covered from head to toe with black paint. Victoria's Secret may not have been intentionally stereotyping, but by sticking all the ethnic models within one section wearing tribal paint walking down the runway to tribal music they are subliminally reinforcing the "wild" native "slave" stereotype associated with African Americans.  

The second strike arose this past year when Victoria's Secret launched a new lingerie collection entitled "Go East." According to the website the collection was described as "a ticket to an exotic adventure." One of the pieces of the collection was entitled "Sexy Little Geisha," and was considered one of the most offensive in the eyes of the media. According to Racalicious blog contributor Nina Jacinto, the Victoria's Secret "Go East" collection enforces "a narrative that says the culture can be completely stripped of its realness in order to fulfill our fantasies of a sale and non-threatening, mysterious East." The specific outfit and the entire collection in itself takes the Asian culture out of context and is offensive to the history behind geishas. Victoria's Secret responded to the criticism by removing the entire collection from their website. After hearing about both of these strikes, I'm honestly shocked that Victoria's Secret would stretch out once again and reinforce stereotypes about Native Americans.

Here are articles to read more on all three Victoria's Secret "strikes" with the media.

http://thegrio.com/2010/12/06/why-did-victorias-secret-brand-black-models-wild-things/
http://www.racialicious.com/2012/09/06/victorias-secret-does-it-again-when-racism-meets-fashion/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/victorias-secret-geisha-outfit-photos_n_1909366.html?utm_hp_ref=style
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/13/victoria-secret-apologizes-after-use-native-american-headdress-in-fashion-show/?&