Did Feminism really brought a change in the 90s cartoons?
Credit: Seventeen Magazine
Editorial cartoonists around the world are helping to end
this gender discrimination with spirited and thoughtful depictions of the
inequalities and injustices women face. They do this often at the cost of
risking their own lives, as they face increasing opposition for the work they
create.
With the rise in feminism, animated movies acted as our very
first introduction to feminism. There were times when women were depicted
through the features like 'Lips red as the rose' and 'skin white as snow'.
The animation changed through time with the arrival of
feminism and women empowerment which is why attempts were made to depict it on
television as well. The 1930s ended with the Disney fairytale Snow White and
The Seven Dwarfs. The movies lead character Snow White was presented as weak
and humble even when she ran away from her house and reached the place where
seven dwarfs live, there also she used to work at home and do household chores
and seven dwarfs go out to work. In the movie, the evil queen wants to kill
Snow White just because she is fairer than her! (Here we have seen being fair
is part of beauty, being pretty is important and this message is shown which
makes kids misunderstood that only fair-skinned people are beautiful) so by the
end of their 30s young children use to copy these specific ideas in their day-to-day life which encouraged colorism and patriarchal society.
Credits: Google Chrome
When came another sexist fairytale by Disney in the 40s. The
movie shows Cinderella living in a terrible condition with her stepmother and
stepsisters and was forced to be a house servant by her evil stepmother. And
then one day she met her dream prince charming and all her problems go away. It
clearly depicted that every woman needs a man to complete them and end their
problems. Another movie, Little Mermaid is depiction somewhat similar to
Cinderella. The idea of love is somehow shown as an interrelated part of patriarchy
and societal standards. By the end of the 1980s, the representation of female
characters in animated movies began to change.
The 90s bought some strong female lead characters in the television
industry. The Beauty and the Beast, the movie’s character Belle was a clear
depiction of modern women. In one of the scenes of the movie, Belle says “I
want much than this provincial life”. Belle read books and take care of her
mentally challenged father by herself. She was represented the educated and
self-sufficient modern woman.
Credit: Pinterest
This is followed by the 1992 movie Aladdin. In this
fairytale, princess Jasmine wants to be
the queen of her Kingdom and is capable enough to do that rather than let
another man rule her Kingdom who would not even know the people her Kingdom,
her pet was a Tiger which depicted power and humbleness both at the same time.
Mulan's movie represents a strong female character who defies gender norms. She
even joins the military and performs better than all males in the military
during training. She also defeats the villain with her bravery and saves her
Kingdom. Also, Mulan was not a princess. She is a girl from a normal family
without any high status which makes it easy for us to relate to her. Movies
like Pocahontas, Brave, The Princess, and the Frog and The Incredibles featured
strong, independent, educated, and self-sufficient women characters.
In Brave movie, Princess proved that she was stronger than
all the men who wanted to marry her. Movies like these also show us that
females also have dreams and goals for which they work hard to be fulfilled one
day. In the Princess and The Frog, Tiana dreamt to open her own restaurant one
day. Mulan wanted to be a warrior. Recent movies like Frozen and Moana shows
female saving male characters and shown as courageous characters. Cartoons that
elaborated more about feminism includes :
++ Daria Morgendorffer- Daria was smart, iconic, deeply intellectual, but also coolly detached. She was an empowered teen who understood the importance of friendship and pizza
Credit: Tv Guide
++ Powerpuff Girls- In this show, a scientist is shown whose experiment was to create “perfect” little girls gone wrong and results in three tiny superheroes that no one wanted to mess with.
++Lisa Simpson, The Simpsons- Lisa is still going strong on Tv today, but the ‘90s introduced this iconic young woman into pop culture history. Her unwavering intelligence and forward-thinking attitude have made Lisa a character who could never be forgotten.
These are some of the famous examples of how the trend changed and feminism comes to the view of kids as well and make them realize being weak, dependent and house woman is not necessary (it's basically your choice) when you can enjoy every moment and choice which men enjoy in their daily life. Good day. Leave comments if you want me to write on any other topic.
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