Wildberg

Where are We? This reading was talked about how male patriarchy. Males often demonstrate dominance and patriarchy. “Patriarchy is male dominated in that positions of authority-political, economic, legal, religious, educational, military, domestic-are generally reserved for men,” (page 5). Men often hold positions of power and hold important positions of power in business and communities. I think this article to the Disney movie //Pocahontas.// In the movie Kocoum was one of the main male characters, he held a position of power in the tribe. While Pocahontas was the daughter of the chief and her father and Kocoum wanted her to get married and take care of her people. “A wife at home needed to perform the vital support work of taking care of the children, doing house world, and making sure there’s a safe, clean comfortable haven for the rest and recuperation from the stress of the competitive male-dominated world,” (page 7). Pocahontas was held to this standard. Everyone held her to the standard of following the “woman role.” Kocoum was appointed to marry Pocahontas. She did not have feelings for him and Kooum viewed her as a prize. She was the daughter of the Chief and she held a place of importance in the tribe. In the reading “women are often prized for their beauty as objects of male sexual desire, for example, but as such they are often possessed and controlled in ways that ultimately devalue them.” (page 7). This is also how Pocahontas was treated in the tribe. She had to choose between the approval of her family or she could follow her heart and help John Smith and his people. The reading describes this idea that “women must choose between two very different cultural images of who she wants to be,” (page 8). She must display stronger characteristics to break away from the culture that tired to keep Pocahontas from following her heart. The reading explains “women to have to be tougher, more decisive, more aggressive, more calculating, and more emotionally controlled than most men around them,” (page 8). Pocahontas had to calculate every move, and have to be very decisive to her father and had to control her emotion in order to try and save John Smith from her father and her people who wanted to kill him.

Pretty in Pink: What Girls Wear From Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes May 9th The reading “Pretty in Pink: What Girls Wear” was about how the clothing of today is targeted at younger and younger girls. “Many brands now market clothing in sizes 4 to 16, which means your little girl can be very much the big girl when it comes to that halter, camisole, or denim mini-skirt. She can go from diapers to the cute little briefs that have replaced thongs.”(page13). Little girl’s clothes has really transformed just like Disney movies have transformed. Girl’s clothes have become more sexy, pink, full of animal prints, and include matching tops and bottoms. While, Disney movies have started to rebuild their movies to look brighter and have more features. I know this doesn’t exactly relate to the target audience but they both use new and attractive marketing tools to appeal to kids and their parents. The article says that parent’s “daughters can choose their identity, but the choices are frightfully limited: Professional Drama Queen, Spoiled, Paradise Princess, or Pretty Princess Beauty Queen,” (page 16). Disney Princess movies have helped shape the way little girls view their fashion choices. As the article states girls have their options of pursuing their identity in dressing like a princess. They can wear clothes that has princess pictures or sayings. These ideas are reflected off the movies. But, even though Disney does sell clothes with princess on them their movies to not reflect the fashions statements. In many of their movies the girls are dressed very plain. The characters don’t wear clothes with sayings or everything they wear is all pink. In Penny’s they advertise clothes such as “ hip-hugging, flair-legged jeans with little purses attached in red, pink, or pink-and-black leopard pattern,” (page 16). Many of these styles are not reflected in the Disney movies. Even in the Disney shows such as __Evens Stevens__ Ren, the older sister in 7th The Disney show characters often wore clothes that were simple. grade, does not wear clothes that are revealing or “low-rise denim miniskirt with chains,” (page 16). In one Disney movie called __Double Team__, was about two twin girls and their ability to play basketball. They when to a new high school and joined the basketball team. They were very talented and lead their team on the state championship. I thought this was a good example how the movie showed that girls’ sports are competitive and important. In the clothing world girls sports are often portrayed as not really sports. and “if you do find something sporty, it is balanced by some pink, some glitter, or some other indication of a girliness diva. The basketball movie really showed how girls can be talented and sporty without having to wear pink. Introduction and chapter 7: Let a Woman Jump From Games Black Girls Play May 2, 2010 This reading described the relation of dancing, double-dutch, and hang clap games among young black girls. “It was a story about the performance and politics of race, gender, and the body in African American vernacular and popular music,” (p. 2). “African American girls embody the ideals of black music-making in the games they play,” (p.2). The girls apply these games to their culture and pass new games and songs onto other generations. These girls use their music and games to tell stories and express themselves. “The games black girls play is about how African Americans learn the ‘rules’ of black social identity and musical practices beyond the dance floor and the music video. It reveals the connection between girls’ hand clapping games, cheers and double-dutch. I assert that there is a whole would of insight about the ethnic identification within African American culture that is hidden within the seemingly trivial maneuvers of games,” (p.14). I think these ideas can relate to a Disney movie name //High School Musical.// There is also another Disney movie that involves double-dutch called //Jump In//. I have not watch //Jump In//. But, in //High School Musical// the main character Troy Bolton was on the basketball team and in the movie he uses basketball as a way to relive stress but, he finds music as a way to express his emotions. He joins the school musical and learns dances and songs. Troy sings about different problems and emotions he is facing. Troy using music and dance to express himself just like the black girls use hand clap games and dancing to express their culture. “For many African American’s, the bodily stylization that assert ‘somebodiness’ have remained a critical mode of expressing our inalienable rights to freedom embodied as social memory and action, even when freedom and democracy were being denied African American citizens in other realms,” (p.5). The black cultural used these games and songs to give themselves an identity. Troy fought with his father about what he wanted his identity to be because his father wanted Troy to be the basketball player and Troy wanted to sing and dance. Troy was denied his freedom to choose what he wanted to become. Another example that correlates with the reading is the Disney show __Sister Sister.__ The show is about two black girls who are twins, they are always finding new adventures together and in one episode they decide to join the double-dutch team at school. Tia and Tamera found double-dutch to come very easily to them and soon they found themselves performing better than all the white girls on the team. Tia and Tamera decided to join a local competition but, entering they have to leave one of their friends out and wonders if it is because she was white that she wasn't good enough to be on the team. The show portray the girls talent and natural because of their skin color. I think this is a great example of how the show portrayed the girls as being good at double-dutch just because they were black.

April 25, 2010 “It’s a Girl Thing”: Tough Female Action Figures in the Toy Store By Sherrie Inness The development of action figures started when companies wanted to target sales of Barbie looking dolls to boys. They were “over-muscled plastic figures that look as though they spent the last decade in the gym” (page 75). Many of the Disney characters do not have this appeal. Most of Disney’s characters show more signs of beauty. In movies that have price roles they do not look muscular or physically fit. I don’t believe that Disney uses these futures to draw in young boys. The action figures are usually portrayed as men. “The few female figures that exist (Wonder Women is the most famous, but there are others, including Batgirl, Elektra, Catwomen, black Canary, and Supergirl) are largely outnumbered by the hordes of males (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Captain America, Daredevil, Spiderman, Wolverine, Thor, Hawkman, the Hulk). When women do appear, they are frequently secondary to men” (page 78). In Disney movies such as //The Incredibles//, Mr. Incredible held the main role and even though his wife, Elastia opGirl, was also a super hero herself, she was the family member who was forced to girl up her super hero role. Mr. Incredible kept working as a hero and took on more cases without telling his wife. Mrs. Incredible was given a secondary role to Mr. Incredible. “Males, are usually the ones who, play important roles as superheroes” (page 78). This has an effect on children. This gives characters gender roles. “Gender stereotyping of toys is one way that boys and girls learn about the separate roles that are relegated to them as males and females, and the behaviors that they learn have an impact far past when the children grow too old to play” (page 79). When children learn these ideas that males have the role of being a tough and powerful male figure and females always hold complimentary roles to their males authority figures. In //The Incredibles// Mrs. Incredible holds the complimentary role of her husband. She plays the role of the mother and care taker. She was forced to give up her career to raise their children. I think that gender stereotyping in movies is the same as gender stereotyping toys. They use these stereotyping to market the movies and toys to genders. When marketers research what to put on boxes and DVD covers they look at the audience they are trying to target. If the company is looking at advertisings a Princess movie they will put the Princess on the cover along with bright, pastel colors. These ideas that girls and boy are attracted to different toys and character is what dives marketers to look at different advertising to attract boys or girls to their products. April 24, 2010 Anit-Barbies By: Sharrie Inness Sharrie describes in the reading how expensive American Girl dolls are. For one doll cost $50. They include clothes, accessories and toys. There are options to create your own doll to look like how you want. “Rowland wanted to move away from the ‘Barbies that wore spiked heels, drove pink Corvettes, and looked as if they belonged in strip joints” (p 166). Rowland wanted to create the dolls to have an all American feel and not look like a Barbie. Rowland gave each doll her own character. This idea relates to some Disney movies. Many of the Disney movies such as //Herbie Fully Loaded// and //Zenon// are two examples of movies that have the main characters who are women with personal powerful characteristics. In //Herbie Fully Loaded// Maggie Payton is not the average teen age girl. Maggie was given a car from her dad and she discovers its racing talent. Maggie uses the talent of the car and discovers her own passion. In the movie //Zenon,// Zenon is s girl living in space with her family. Zenon over comes challenges in her life by handling her problem’s and the problem’s of the ship by discovering her inner strength and trusting her own decisions. They are two get examples of girls who have their own individual characteristics. The development of the dolls were even connected to girls’ development. One person wrote “ you’re missing a line of high-quality toys and accessories for young girls that really delivers on the promise to entertain and educate” (p 166). But these ideas were developed without intelligent marketing. “The popularity of the American Girls items is partially explained by the fact that the books and dolls lie at the heart of a carefully planned and executed advertising campaign. One of the reasons for the success for Pleasant company is its astute use of direct marketing” (p 167). The company used many strategies to help increase the sales of their dolls. Pleasant Company didn’t only advertise the dolls they sold many different items including books. Disney doesn’t only sell movies, they also market books, toys and clothes. Disney’s movies are heart of every collection. “The American Girl Doll books are the heart of The American Girls Collection” (p 168). Disney uses creative marketing ideas to help lure in boys and girls, to try and sell movies, toys, and clothing. Every multimillion dollar company requires brilliant and strategic marketing. These ideas are as small as what to place on DVD covers to movie trailers.

Challenging Notions of Gendered Game Play: Teenagers playing //The Sims// April 7th This week the article talked about how boys and girls related differently to the game //The Sims.// I thought it was really interesting how the boys played a role in the game as masculine and wanted to build big houses and have friends over. I think that the role of men in these games is very similar to the role of men in Disney movies. In the movies the man character in //Ella Enchanted// had a big house and lived in a wealthy kingdom. He didn't know the hardship his kingdom was facing because he didn't care or didn't know. He saved Ella from her evil family and saw her as a prize. In the article they say that video games were often played in arcades. Those places were often considered masculine and boys dominated the population of young people who played these games. Boys are often the center of main roles of the characters. In //Disney// movies men are also defined as masculine they are portrayed as being the protectors and providers. While women are the ones who cook and clean in the house an example from the article “females often had to be fitted around domestic chores and that men were able to spend more time playing.”(p.358) The women often didn’t have time to play //The Sims// because they were responsible for chores. There is an example of this in the movie //Cinderella,// Cinderella can’t go to the ball because she is responsible for the household chores. She was given a very feminine role in the movie. Women are generally responsible for chores while men have more time for leisure. In the article it talks about how boys are more capable of having access to video games. One girl owed a Video game player, but said she didn’t use it as much as her father. The article also made the point that boys have the label of being more skilled at video games. In reality “from the outset it was evident that some of the girls were equally adept at playing //The Sims// as the boys//,// challenging the stereotype that girls are less interested of less capable players,”(Beavis, and Charles). I think this stereotype also gets placed on //Disney// princess movies. They are often directed towards the audience of young girls. Even though, I think that all princess movies could be watched by girls or boys. I think that boys could enjoy the movies just as much as girls could. There is nothing in the movies that would make them strictly a feminine movie. In all the movie there is action and a strong story line. I also think that these types of things are marketed towards genders as well. I think video games are marketed towards you boys and princess movies are marketed towards young girls. I think that if they kept the advertising and stereotyping neutral there wouldn’t be labels placed on video games or movies.

Sanitizing Puberty March 18th 2010 Talking about menstrual cycles in class describes girls as being excited and wanting to get their period. To them it showed a sign of fertility. It was something they could talk about and something all the girls had in common. They were very proud when they got their period. It showed how girls are treated differently. “A century ago, mothers would lengthen their daughter’s skirts, or allow them to put their hair up,” (page 6). “Today girls get piercings and or wear high heels,” (page 6). Today they use these differences as marketing strategies. Always changing and finding new advertisements to draw in young girls to the market. Creative advertising has become a million dollar industry. “In the 1990s the sanitary product industry was worth more than 2 billion dollars,” (page 4). These reading also demonstrated a bond between mothers and daughters. “Years ago mothers often used books and guides to explain the menstrual/developmental process to their daughters,” (page 9). Disney made a movie that was a guide to help girls understand what their body was going through and how to use the sanitary products that were offered. The guide when into detail about to deal with the changes the girl’s body was going through and not to be alarmed. Now it has become a large debt over if parents should be responsible to teach their children about their periods, safe sex, or any other developmental stage or should schools be responsible for kids to learn those topics. Years ago these changes were considered physical and today they are looked at as more mental. Girls relate their period to pain, annoyance, mood swings, and discomfort.  Besides for the guide produced by Disney there are not many movies that portray this kind of belief. In. In most of the Disney movies they apply maturity through marriage. Often there weren’t even mothers in these films to talk to their daughters about these physical changes. In the movies //Snow White//, //Pocahontas, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast,// none of the female characters in these movies had mother figures to support them in maturity. Mothers were often left out of many of the films and that left a huge motherly role that was missing from their lives. They do relate in the marketing industry. Both companies use wide varieties of advertising and target age groups to sell millions of dollars worth of goods. They target younger aged girls as a source of income. “By creating a profit-making enterprise from adolescents, the sanitary products industry paved the way for the commercialization of other areas of the body, and skin. Disney also used their films to pave the way to sell other products such as clothes, and toys. Disney uses their princess movies and merchandise to advertise to young girls. Where larger brands like Kotex targets younger aged girls to sell their hygiene products too.

“Saving the World before Bedtime” The Powerpuff Girls, Citizenship, and the Little Girl Superhero Lisa Hager  March 7th, 2010 I think the article about the //Powerpuff Girls // was really interesting. I related the article to the Disney movie/show, __Kim Possible__. Kim Possible is an average teenage girl what has a gift of saving people’s lives. She is very smart and knows when bad things are going to happen and how to fix them. She has a side kick, Ron Stoppable and her best friend Monique. Her side kick is a guy, which seems to be a common theme in many Disney movies. Ron is a person in the movie. This does go against most other Disney movies. Kim’s parents both play roles in the movie and are both involved in her life and give her advice. They are both scientists. “Like real-life children, they are subjected to the authority of adults, as they are required to do chores, go to school and abide by a bedtime,” (p.63). Those were qualities that the Powerpuff Girls had to live by and they were the same sets of rules that Kim had to follow growing up. Kim protects her town from characters like Doctor Drekken and the Dementor. Kim is also a part of the cheer leading team and gets good grades in school. I think this show is very similar to the ideas in the show the //Powerpuff Girls //. The Powerpuff Girls save the town from villains the same way Kim does with the world. They are both called on by different men. Kim has an agent named Wade who always tells Kim when someone needs her help. Just like the mayor in the movie, Wade is a male. I also noticed that in both shows none of the girls are portrayed as beautiful. Kim does have long hair and a thin body frame but, I don’t think she is portrayed as being pretty. She isn’t the popular girl at school and gets picked on by other girls. "The Powerpuff Girls are indeed cute little girls and do all the things that little girls are suppose to do, but they also repeatedly demonstrate more physical and mental strength than all of the men and almost all of the women on the show,” (p.64). Kim, like the power puff girls, is a good example for younger girls. She is a part of the cheer leading team and works hard is school. She is also good friend to Ron and Monique The Powerpuff Girls are under the control of Professor Utonium. Even though he isn’t their real father, he plays the role of their father in the show. The professor has the control in the family and is a male. Kim has parents who play the role of parents in the show and movie. The control isn’t only in the males hands in the family. Her mother shows a lot of control in the family structure. They often eat super together and take care of each other. Both of the shows show women saving the lives of other people. They are strong individuals and I believe are great role models for younger kids to watch.

The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, the Function of the Disney Princess By Rebecca-Anne C. Do Rozario February 29th In the movie Cinderella shows is a great example of the article. In the movie Cinderella is controlled by her step mother. In the movie her step mother is portrayed as evil and wicked. “The wicked Queen the power she jealously attempts to guard from her rival,” (p. 40). That sentence demonstrates that the stepmother like the queen was jealous that the prince wanted Cinderella and not one of her daughters. "The //femme fatale// attempts to keep the princess under her power, and railing that to render her unconscious thereby unable to validate the majesty of king or prince." (page 42). She attempted to guard her daughters by trying to prevent Cinderella from going to the Ball and trying on the glass slipper. She holds all the power in the house hold and controls Cinderella. Her step mother favors her own daughters instead of Cinderella. "The jealous queens(step-mothers) may not be mother substitutes; rather they may be usurpers, eager to disrupt the passage of power represented in the princess and retain authority themselves." (page 42). The step mother demonstrated jealousy and favoritism towards her own daughters. In this movie there is no motherly role for Cinderella and her father is also absent. “It is in the Disney features where male power is reduced or erased, and the greatest tension is created between women,” (p. 42). Cinderella wants to go to the ball that is held for the Prince. Cinderella is banished for attending because of her step mother’s evil plans. Cinderella doesn’t have any friends or siblings in the movie that support her. She befriends animals in the movie that help her complete her tasks. Even the animals show gender roles. The males do a lot of the hard work and the female animals help with the cooking and the cleaning. Cinderella is not portrayed as daddy’s little girl and the movie doesn’t reference him as ever even being a part of her life. In the article it talks about how “the interdependence of father and princess identified in Propp’s morphology can be re-construed in the primary positioning of the princess as ‘Daddy’s little girl.’”(page 42). I don’t think the movie portrayed this idea at all. Cinderella did not have any role models in the movie. Cinderella was helped by her fairy godmother. She used her magic to help her get a dress to go to the ball. While at the ball Cinderella does not share her identity with the Prince. In the article it talks about how characters mask their identity. In the movie the portray love as love at first sight. As soon as the Prince sees Cinderella he knows she is the one and takes her glass slipper all over the kingdom to try and find her. In the movie they portray love as very unrealistic. Once he saves her from her wicked, evil step mother they live happily ever after. It puts a very unrealistic impression of what love really is and how it happens. They never date and hardly talk before they are getting married. I think that is one thing that kids hold on to when they are younger. Little girls always want to have their prince come and fall madly in love with them and they live happily ever after together.

Ella Evolving: Cinderella Stories and the construction of Gender-Appropriate Behavior By: Linda Parsons My idea is Disney movies. This directly relates to the topic this week. The movie I picked was //Snow White// and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White fits in with the fairy tale movie criteria very well, and obviously because she is one of the princesses. Snow White was a princess that was controlled by an evil ruler who took over the kingdom. The evil queen displays women in power are evil and ugly and while asking the magic mirror on the wall who was the most fairest of the land. When the mirror replied Snow White the evil queen was very upset and set a man out to kill her. Snow White was released by the man and ran away in the woods. She found the seven droves’ house and befriended them. Snow White took care of them like a mother. She would cook and clean for all seven of the droves all while she waited for the day her price would come.

This movie demonstrated Parson's ideas. “Fairy tales in the patriarchal tradition portray women as weak, submissive, dependent, and self-sacrificing,” (137). This was how Snow White was portrayed in her movie. She couldn’t stand up for herself and was kicked out the kingdom by the queen. She held no power as a individual. The evil queen controlled the power and took advantage of Snow White. It showed how she was so easily tricked by the queen to eat the apple. The queen was portrayed as being evil and ugly. In the article describes "women who have power or seek it, are nearly always portrayed as repulsive,” (p. 138). Snow White had the beauty appearance. She was beautiful. “Women are positioned as the object gaze, and beauty determines a woman’s value,” (p. 137). “When a heroine is beautiful she need not do anything to merit being chosen by the prince; she is chosen simply because she is beautiful,” (p.137). In the movie Snow White always sang songs about finding her true love and waits for the day he will come and they will begin their happy lives together. Parsons made the point in her article saying “A primary goal of gender construction in patriarchal culture is to prepare young girls for romantic love and heterosexual practices,” (p.136). Snow White never meets her price before he kisses her to wake her up for her eternal sleep. Her prince was described to be powerful, active, and dominate. There also weren’t any other strong roles that influenced Snow White’s decisions, such as a fairy godmother or other mother figure. In Parson’s writings it stated that women must suffer before they are rewarded to their prince. This is true in this movie because Snow White ate the apple and fell into a deep sleep. She laid in the glass case for months before her prince came and saved her. They said in the movie the droves couldn’t bury her because of her beauty. Which is another reference to women's beauty keeping her alive. I think that Snow White follows a lot of the same traditional ideas like Cinderella. I think Snow White follows a lot of the same guide lines as Parson talked about. Although I don’t think princess are bad for kids. I know when I was younger I loved dressing up like a princess but I understood that it was just a fairytale. It sparked my imagination and fired my drive to become anyone I wanted to become.