Introductory Post: Why Decoding Disney?

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My name is Amelia Steinbach and I am a first year student at Duke University. I have created this blog for my Writing 101 course, titled "Decoding Disney." I was inspired to take this Writing 101 class after completing an independent study my senior year of high school regarding the "Implications of Gender Inequality." During the first quarter of my independent study, I focused on the role of women within the entertainment industry, but primarily in Disney princess movies. While I had heard criticisms of Disney, specifically for its portrayal of race and gender, I had not revisited the movies for several years. As I began to watch the movies and listen to the songs again, I was often left speechless. Had my parents SEEN these? Why had I been allowed to watch them? And, mostly, why in the world was The Little Mermaid my favorite princess movie? I mean, the plot is literally a sixteen year-old giving up her voice and changing her body to be with a man who made zero sacrifices in return and cannot even recognize her! What?! Who comes up with this stuff?!  As I presented the findings from this independent study to three classes of high school juniors and seniors, it became clear that they, too, had never thought about Disney through this lens. I grew increasingly furious and concerned that so many young girls and boys are exposed to such horrific messages about women, especially during an incredibly formative stage of their life.

Needless to say, "fan" would be a strong word to describe my relationship with Disney. I have seen the vast majority of the movies, and could sing along to most of the songs if needed, but I continue to be struck by the explicit racism and sexism (among other things) that are so prevalent in the films. I am really looking forward to utilizing this blog and this class to further explore the complicated messages that Disney is teaching its massive amount of young viewers, as well as why adults seem to be so complicit in advancing those messages to their children. 

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