From Snow White to Frozen: An evaluation of popular gender representation indicators applied to Disney’s princess films 2015 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title

Från Snövit till Frost : En utvärdering av populära könsrepresentations-indikatorer tillämpade på Disneys prinsessfilmer (Swedish)

Abstract [en]

Simple content analysis methods, such as the Bechdel test and measuring percentage of female talk time or characters, have seen a surge of attention from mainstream media and in social media the last couple of years. Underlying assumptions are generally shared with the gender role socialization model and consequently, an importance is stated, due to a high degree to which impressions from media shape in particular young children’s identification processes. For young girls, the Disney Princesses franchise (with Frozen included) stands out as the number one player commercially as well as in customer awareness. The vertical lineup of Disney princesses spans from the passive and domestic working Snow White in 1937 to independent and super-power wielding princess Elsa in 2013, which makes the line of films an optimal test subject in evaluating above-mentioned simple content analysis methods. As a control, a meta-study has been conducted on previous academic studies on the same range of films. The sampled research, within fields spanning from qualitative content analysis and semiotics to coded content analysis, all come to the same conclusions regarding the general changes over time in representations of female characters. The objective of this thesis is to answer whether or not there is a correlation between these changes and those indicated by the simple content analysis methods, i.e. whether or not the simple popular methods are in general coherence with the more intricate academic methods.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages

2015. , p. 51

Keywords [en]

Disney, princesses, Disney princesses, gender, Bechdel, Bechdel test, Walt Disney, Pixar, Frozen, children, girl, culture, gender representations, talk time, talktime, gendertimer, equality, content analysis, female, feminism, feminist, gender role, socialization model, gender role socialization model, passive, domestic, active, media, post-feminist, gender role portrayals, key measures, popular, nature or nurture, genes or environment, gender differences, expressions of gender, gender experiments, neurological, brain, plasticity, constructivist, cultivation theory, social cognitive theory, quantitative, quantitative measures, quantitative methods, stereotypes, stereotype, stereotypical, women, character count, biological sex, biological gender, metrics, femininity, textual analysis, submissive, submissive behaviour, independence, daddy's girl, patriarchy, patriarchal, patriarchal approval, wicked women, old wicked women, wicked witch, male, masculine, masculine characteristics, feminine characteristics, genders, marrying, marriage, love at first sight, empowerment, fairy tale, fairy tales, film, movie, films, movies, Mulan, Pocahontas, Snow White, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, Brave, Frozen, The Princess and the Frog, Merida, relationship, relationship formation, true love, true love's kiss, sisterhood, sisterly, Grimm, Grimm brothers, parental approval, matriarchal approval, matriarchal, matriarchy, stereotyping, evil queen, rate, rater, rating, measure, measuring, wicked stepmother, binary gender, gender binarity, binary genders, gender identities, gender identity, gender identity formation, identity formation, animation, cell animation, the Smurfette principle, strong women, strong girls, girlie, positivism, positivistic, film studies, analysis, analyses, antagonism, action, coding, cultivation effect, cultivation effects, socialization effect, socialization effects, coded content analysis, simple metrics, cognition theory, connotations, cultivation theory, socialization theory, depictions of femininity, plasticity, human brain, damsels in distress, feminist research, inequality, gender inequality, media studies, heroines, mass media, social media, images of women, woman as image, reading, interpretation, modern day fairy tales

Keywords [sv]

Disney, prinsessor, Disneyprinsessor, Disney-prinsessor, kön, genus, genusvetenskap, Bechdel, Bechdel test, Bechdeltest, Bechdeltestet, Walt Disney, Pixar, Frost, barn, flickor, kulturuppväxt, representationer, skildringar, intryck, taltid, talk time, talktime, gendertimer, jämlikhet, innehållsanalys, feminin, feminism, könsroll, könsroller, socialisering, socialiseringsmodellen, passiv, hushållsarbete, aktiv, media, post-feministisk, postfemininstisk, nyckeltal, populärvetenskaplig, populärvetenskapligt, naturen, uppväxt eller gener, gener eller upppväxt, uppfostran, genetik, könsskillnader, könsuttryck, experiment, hjärnan, plasticitet, konstruktivism, kultivationsteori, kognitiv teori, kvantitativ, kvantitativa mått, kvantitativa metoder, stereotyper, stereotyp, stereotypisk, kvinnnor, kvinna, kön, biologiskt kön, mått, nyckeltal, femininitet, textanalys, filmanalys, kuvad, underkastad, submissiv, oberoende, pappas flicka, patriarkat, patriarkisk, patriarkalt godkännande, manlig, maskulin, kön, genus, äktenskap, kärlek vid första ögonkastet, saga, sagor, bröderna Grimm, film, Mulan, Pocahontas, Snövit och de sju dvärgarna, Askungen, Törnrosa, Den lilla Sjöjungfrun, Skönheten och Odjuret, Aladdin, Trassel, Modig, Frost, Prinsessan och Grodan, Merida, förhållanden, sann kärlek, Grimm, matriark, matriarkisk, patriarkalt godkännande, matriarkalt godkännande, bedöma, betygsätta, mått, mäta, ond styvmor, binära kön, könsidentitet, könsidentiteter, animation, Smurfan, starka kvinnor, starka flickor, positivistisk, positivism, filmvetenskap, filmstudier, antagonism, protagonist, hjältinna, kodning, kultivationseffekten, socialiseringseffekten, socialisationseffekten, kodad innehållsanalys, förenklade mått, kognitiv teori, konnotationer, konnotera, feministisk forskning, könsbalans, mediastudier, mediestudier, massmedia, social media, bilder av kvinnor, kvinnan som bild, images of women, woman as image, reading, interpretation, modern day fairy tales, tolkning

National Category

Studies on Film

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-36877OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-36877DiVA, id: diva2:827331

Subject / course

Film Studies

Presentation

2015-06-18, Karlstad Universitet, Karlstad, 16:08 (English)

Supervisors

Examiners

Note

Betyg VG (skala IG-VG)

Available from: 2015-06-29 Created: 2015-06-26 Last updated: 2015-06-29Bibliographically approved

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Department of Geography, Media and Communication

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Studies on Film

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