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Gender Differences in Disney Princess Movies: a Linguistic Study of Six Movies in 66 Years

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Gender Differences in Disney Princess Movies: a Linguistic Study of Six Movies in 66 Years Gender Differences in Disney Princess Movies: A Linguistic Study of Six Movies in 66 Years Bertović, Matea Master's thesis / Diplomski rad 2019 Degree Grantor / Ustanova koja je dodijelila akademski / stručni stupanj: University of Zagreb, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet Permanent link / Trajna poveznica: https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:131:831454 Rights / Prava: In copyright Download date / Datum preuzimanja: 2021-10-06 Repository / Repozitorij: ODRAZ - open repository of the University of Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Academic year 2019/2020 Matea Bertović Gender Differences in Disney Princess Movies: A Linguistic Study of Six Movies in 66 Years Master Thesis Advisor: Asst. Prof. Anđel Starčević, PhD Zagreb, December 2019 Abstract This thesis analyses the speech of male and female Disney characters in six Disney Princess movies. The aims are to discern whether the characters use features of speech characteristic of their particular gender, and whether their speech patterns have changed over time, as the movies are interspersed over a span of 66 years. The movies analysed are Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Pocahontas (1995), Tangled (2010), Frozen (2013) and Moana (2016), divided into three periods of Disney Princess development: the Pre-Transition, Transition and Progression periods. The features investigated are four features of male and four features of female speech, based on a thesis by Li Hedenmalm (2012). The results reveal that part of the speech of Disney’s characters did not at first correspond with previous sociolinguistic research, particularly interruptions, commands and insults, but later on grew more in line with it. Disney’s male characters start using more features of male speech in the Transition and Progression periods, supposedly due to being constructed with more substantial personalities, but they also start using more features of female speech. Disney’s female characters display increasing resistance over the years, with features considered stereotypical becoming less frequent in their speech. Both male and female characters use linguistic features ascribed to their gender, but they also use features associated with the other. In conclusion, although a large part of the results remains inconclusive, female and male speech in Disney movies seems to have grown more similar over time. Keywords: gender differences, female speech, male speech, Disney Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1 2. Aim and research questions ............................................................................................................3 3. Background ...................................................................................................................................3 3.1. Disney and Gender .................................................................................................................3 3.2. Language and Gender .............................................................................................................5 3.3. Disney, Gender and Language ................................................................................................7 4. Material .........................................................................................................................................8 5. Method ..........................................................................................................................................9 5.1. Parameters ..............................................................................................................................9 5.2. Presentation ............................................................................................................................9 6. Qualitative results ........................................................................................................................ 11 6.1. Interruptions ......................................................................................................................... 11 6.2. Commands ........................................................................................................................... 14 6.3. Insults .................................................................................................................................. 17 6.4. Resistance ............................................................................................................................ 19 6.5. Politeness ............................................................................................................................. 26 6.6. Compliments ........................................................................................................................ 31 6.7. Insecurity ............................................................................................................................. 33 6.8. Empty and Hyperbole Adjectives, Intensifiers and Female Exclamations .............................. 42 7. Quantitative results ...................................................................................................................... 44 7.1. Interruptions ......................................................................................................................... 44 7.2. Commands ........................................................................................................................... 45 7.3. Insults .................................................................................................................................. 46 7.4. Compliments ........................................................................................................................ 47 8. Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 49 9. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 53 Works Cited...................................................................................................................................... 55 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................................ 55 Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................................ 56 Appendix 1: Tables for Interruptions, Commands, Insults and Compliments ..................................... 60 Appendix 2: Graphs for the total of Interruptions, Commands, Insults and Compliments ................... 65 Appendix 3: The complete collection of quotes used for the results ................................................... 66 1. Introduction Nowadays it is hard to find an individual in Western society who hasn’t heard of the name and brand of Disney. The images springing to mind immediately are of a fairy tale castle, talking animals, beautiful princesses, vivid animation and happy endings. These images have been cultivated for a long time, dating back to the release of Disney’s first feature film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs in 1937, and even before that with Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Company today is a “powerful economic and political empire” (Giroux 1994:24) and Disney’s long legacy of animated movies has left a great impact not only on American, but also world-wide audiences. Withstanding the test of time, it has influenced the lives of many people, particularly children who grew up with its products. It has evolved from an animation studio and become exponentially more in today’s world – it has become a way of living. Forgacs (2008) aptly coined the term “Disney Baby”, referring to children born after 1925 who consumed Disney-related products throughout their formative years and beyond, who later “turned ideally into Disney adults” and who would go on to have children whom they entertained with Disney movies, theme parks and other marketing products (361). Growing up in such a culture, it is quite understandable to wonder what impact the animated movies had on our understanding of the world, and whether it has been negative or positive. “Film is a powerful storyteller; employing narrative, visuals, and music enhances it power to communicate” (Ward 2002, cited in Pelton 2015:10), creating a framework of ideologies in which audiences “interpret, understand and make sense of some aspects of social existence” (Hall 1993, cited in Wilde 2014:132). Since Disney’s animated movies target primarily children and young adults as an audience, one has to take into account that children not only consume but also learn from the depictions of social norms presented to them, “forming their moral vision of what good and evil are, what gender roles one can aspire to, and how other ethnicities and cultures can be viewed” (Müller-Hartman 2007:400). They are “are highly susceptible to such learning” (Pelton 2015:3), which is why Disney in recent decades has fallen under the scrutiny of many a researcher analysing its depictions of gender, racial and other stereotypes. There is also the factor of Walt Disney Company’s long life span, which allows for a look into the past and a comparison
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