Despite advances in the rhetoric on race and gender, Disney lags in advancing their portrayal of body image. Princesses and other female protagonists are displayed with size zero waists, skinny limbs, and even small feet. This unnatural, and unhealthy, body size presented in Disney's animated characters however, is what society calls for. The "thin ideal" has existed in American culture since the 1960s, and it is still increasingly prevalent today in numerous forms of media. Our society views a slender, hourglass figure as beautiful, and the media reflects that. Also, the media influences society - the impact goes both directions ("Disney Princesses & Disappearing Waistlines" 2009). Disney follows society's expectations of stereotypical beauty with its animations. If the company were to present a woman with a different body type, society may not find her beautiful, and Disney could risk losing popularity and profit from the production. Disney has continued this trend since the earliest productions with female leads. Disney movies present the idea of beauty that society seeks, but then also increase the negative influence of the "ideal" body type. Despite the negative response from a portion of its audience, Disney continues to adhere to the unchanged cultural definition of typical beauty and has made little to no effort to alter the standard over the years; Disney's rhetoric on body image demonstrates to viewers that to be beautiful and successful, one must be thin.
Elsa, one of the two female protagonists of Frozen, is known to be a strong, independent woman. There a distinct moment in the film during the song "Let It Go" when she transforms from a scared, trapped queen, to a free, powerful individual. Though this moment is positive rhetoric on her gender, the display of her body shape transforms at the same moment to appear like the stereotypical Disney princess. Before, her clothing was very conservative and did not particularly define her features; when Elsa undergoes her transformation, her attire is extremely skimpy and revealing, and does nothing but highlight her tiny waist and considerable bust. This commentary on body image essentially presents to the viewer that strong, successful women are also skinny and ideally fulfill society's perception of beauty. Her sister, Anna, by the way, has an almost identically thin figure throughout the film.
The female protagonist in Disney's production Hercules, Megara, is treated as merely a sexual interest by the men in the film. She, too, has a strong personality for a female character, as she is independent and defiant, and plays a large role by helping defeat the antagonist and saving Hercules. Yet, Meg is known as the skinniest, most outrageously shaped female Disney character of all. She has exaggerated curves with an almost nonexistent waist. Throughout the picture, it seems as if Hercules is attracted to her based on solely her appearance, rather than her character, which is apparent in their first meeting in the way he reacts to her movements and her comments. In fact, Meg is very smug and often tricks Hercules, and the plot line presents little reason for why Hercules would be interested in Meg's personality. In an episode of the TV series version of Hercules, Meg "shows very little remorse in using her sexual abilities to manipulate the young Hercules" ("Megara" 2014). In addition to promoting society's thin ideal, Megara encourages the idea of appearance over personality within relationships, and the use of sexuality to attain what one desires.
Brave, a film released by Disney but produced by Pixar, featured a young girl with a much more normal figure than a usual Disney princess. It seemed to be an improvement on Disney's depiction of beauty, as Merida, the princess, is a strong, successful female character even without the stereotypically thin body shape. The Disney company, however, took the innocent Pixar-created character, and completely transformed her in their toy line. As presented in the images above, the Merida doll is highly contrasting in body shape and overall appearance to the animated character. Her waist and arms are thinner, her hips and bust are curvier, and her face appears years older - caked in makeup. Brenda Chapman, Merida's creator, argued, "She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the 'imperfections' that all people have...By making her skinnier, sexier, and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to the girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior" (Child 2013). Disney persisted in its negative rhetoric on body image through altering Merida's appearance to adhere to society's expectations of an attractive princess. Massive criticism of over two hundred thousand petition signatures forced Disney to remove the Merida toy from its online market. Members of society have recognized the need for characters to appear like the original Merida in order to promote more positive, realistic beauty standards in the media. Even with strong popular opposition, Disney continues to promote cultural stereotypes of beauty as to not stray from their traditions.
Furthermore, there is a stark contrast in the appearance of Disney villains compared to the female protagonists. Ursula, from The Little Mermaid, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Mother Gothel from Tangled, and Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, for example, are female antagonists of their films and all possess traits culturally defined as unattractive. In both their facial features and their body shape, these characters are specifically designed by Disney to appear ugly and frightening. Ursula is a giant octopus and completely contrasting in figure to Ariel's size zero body. Maleficent and Mother Gothel (as an old woman) are not necessarily larger in body size than the princesses of their films, but their body features, including hands, face shape, and hair, are quite eerie. Mother Gothel, in her younger form, however, and Lady Tremaine each possess a normal body shape, but seem almost overweight in comparison to the princesses.The female antagonists of Disney animations are strikingly presented in a similar unattractive manner. The intimidating features do add to the character, but the larger body shape often has no purpose. Through the villains, Disney comments on body image, demonstrating that beautiful is good, and ugly is bad. Yet, these generalizations are not related to what the individual viewer may imagine as beautiful or ugly, but instead based on society's stereotypes. The distinct presentation of the villains' unappealing look highlights Disney's rhetoric on body image, as it promotes and worsens society's negative outlook on the ideal body.
In 2012, Disney released a line of "designer collection" villain dolls. Described by a Disney blogger to "capture the essence of evil at its best dressed," these dolls present the villain's bodies essentially placed in a Barbie doll-shaped mold ("Introducing the Villains Designer Collection at Disney Store" 2012). Regardless of their previous features, the dolls of the female characters all have bodies just like those of the classic princesses. Even Ursula, perhaps Disney's largest female character ever created, was slimmed down to look similar to the size of Ariel. Consumers interested in dolls are more likely to purchase one that looks similar to Barbie or other popular toys. A doll based off a giant octopus would not adhere to cultural standards of what a doll should look like. As it seems to be a marketing technique to sell more merchandise, Disney's adaptations to the villain's bodies contributes negatively to their rhetoric on Disney, commenting that for beauty to sell, it must be the beauty society expects t0 see - thin and flawless.
Slam poet, Melissa May criticizes Disney's actions of promoting cultural stereotypes in her piece "Dear Ursula."
Slam poet, Melissa May criticizes Disney's actions of promoting cultural stereotypes in her piece "Dear Ursula."
Disney's rhetoric on body image both reflects and impacts society's perception of beauty. The ideal of a thin body that is so deeply ingrained in our culture and outlets like Disney only worsen the prevalence of the stereotype. Though many women have spoken out against the negative body image promoted by Disney, the main audience affected is young girls. In fact, a 2009 experiment conducted by Professor Hayes and Professor Tantleff-Dunn revealed "that a third of girls under the age of six admit to worrying about being fat, and when asked to select the "real princess" from a choice of ballerinas, 50% of the girls chose the thinnest one" (Davidson 2014). When girls are led to believe a cultural definition of beauty at a young age, it easily follows them into adolescence and adulthood and continues to affect their ideas of the ideal body. The abundance of identically skinny Disney princesses and other female heroines causes young girls to grow up idolizing these "impossibly thin" protagonists, and then "become young women who perpetuate and buy into the idea that thin is the only acceptable form of beauty" ("Disney Princesses & Disappearing Waistlines" 2009). Cultural expectations of beauty will never change unless the media, particularly outlets like Disney that impact young viewers, promote more positive standards - standards encouraging beauty in all shapes and sizes. A blogger questioned, "Why can’t we have an average sized princess, or even an overweight princess? Disney has made a great step in attempting to break down racial [and gender\ stereotypes, now, why can’t we continue that momentum to encompass weight [as well\?" ("Disney Princesses & Disappearing Waistlines" 2009). For any societal progress on the matter, it is essential that Disney restructure its rhetoric on body image. Jewel Moore, an American high school student began a Change.org petition for Disney to create a plus-size princess; the petition, entitled 'Every Body Is Beautiful' gained over 22,000 signatures. Moore recognized the need for a positive role model in the media to promote a healthy body image in young girls (Beaumont-Thomas 2014). Disney, as a leading media company, must stand up and act on this stagnant issue; it is unacceptable for every Disney princess to appear absurdly slim. If Disney altered its presentation and commentary on body image to promote a variety of body types, other forms of media may very well follow their lead, and overarching cultural perceptions of beauty could be influenced in response.