Aladdin

Gender roles in today's media play a major part in television shows and movies. Too often, men and women roles portray an acceptable inequality between genders. The children's animated movie, Aladdin, is a great example of where gender discrimination is present. Published by none other than Disney, the movie shows actions, words, behaviour and even clothing to be stereotyped, both masculine and feminine. Unfortunately, millions of kids have viewed this movie along with countless others that send the same message. In the Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary it attempts to explain how Disney is so famous through its image of magic and fun, yet so harmful in ways within representations of gender. Due to popularity, it is easy to see that the movie Aladdin can be very enticing towards children of all ethnicities, and because of this, gender roles can effortlessly be misinterpreted (Gabler, 12).

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” is a quote we've all heard before and points directly at the fact children are growing increasing more prone to stereotypes present in movies such as Aladdin. Believing what is presented in the film is something most young children will do without thought, and in combination with other stereotypical media their mind is altered in a powerful way. Moreover, if children were constantly bombarded with the gender stereotype Aladdin presents about males and females they would most likely grow up believing such inequalities are normal and a part of everyday life. Because of this, some children feel the need to conform to certain gender stereotypes without being aware of its influence and perceptions. Obviously, children don't look into the film as much as many scholars and adults do, but the gender stereotyping and even racism is often so subtle and so well interwoven into the movie theme it is often looked past and rarely considered to be meaningful (Mosley, 71).

In the movie, the issue of agency and power is centered primarily on the role of the young street tramp, Aladdin. He accidentally meets Jasmine, when she tries to steal an apple from a merchant in the city. The merchant suddenly tries to chop off her hand but Aladdin soon rescues her. They eventually fall in love with each other, but she can only marry a prince, because she is a princess. In Aladdin and nearly all other Disney movies females are represented as very dependent on the male, however strong they may be. This creates a “pseudofeminism” notion that children often interpret as normal where the male figure is needed to guide and ultimately save them from any danger. Children often learn the lessons they are taught in media, and the more entertaining it is, the more the child learns through attention. Since much of our time is spent watching media, it is an effective way of representations of genders (specifically feminine) in the movie (Eliot, 8).

Indeed, Disney movies such as Aladdin are sublime and absorbed in young children's minds as mere entertainment. For this reason a lone, ...