摘 要

女性主义思潮从女性主义出现起就至今不断地冲击着父权制社会的规范，把女性从传统规则的束缚下解放出来。各类传播媒介中所呈现出的女性形象也从最初纯粹依赖男性的妻子、母亲的角色刻板印象逐渐发生转变，成为能够独当一面的个体。1937年，迪士尼第一部公主动画片《白雪公主和七个小矮人》上映并取得巨大成功，到如今公主系列电影已经经历了80多年。而在这80 年间，公主电影的内容背景基本都是处于“很久很久以前”的中世纪，但是这些背景时期相近的女性角色不论外在形象还是内在心理都并不相同。由此可见，这些影片更多地与其创作时期相关，电影中的女性人物塑造在一定程度上受到电影制作时期所处社会环境的思想观念和意识形态的影响，从而导致了不同时间段的影片中角色的不同。

论文基于女性主义视角，结合女性主义在该阶段所处的环境及其发展情况来分析这 80 多年以来迪士尼在不同时期塑造出的截然不同的公主角色。将迪士尼公主们根据其所处的时代背景进行划分，论文通过讨论各个电影中公主展现出来的性别特征来研究迪士尼公主在不同时期呈现出来的不同状态。

三个阶段，三种女性主义状态：从完全依赖男性、崇拜男性的传统贤妻良母到挑战传统、突破传统的女性勇士形象，再到主动反思、完善自我完成个人梦想的追梦人。迪士尼公主动画电影中所展示出来的公主如同现实社会中的女性们一样，在不断成长、突破，成就自我。

关键词：迪士尼动画、性别表征、女性主义

Abstract

Since the emergence of feminism, the feminist trend of thought has been constantly impacting the norms of the patriarchal society, and freeing women from the bondage of traditional rules. The images of women in the various media have also gradually changed from the stereotypical roles of wife and mother, who were originally purely dependent on men, to the role of the individual. In 1937, Disney's first princess animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was released with great success, and it has been more than 80 years since the princess series began. In these 80 years, the content background of the princess movies is basically in the middle ages of "a long time ago" , but these female characters with similar backgrounds and periods are not the same whether the external image or internal psychology. Thus it can be seen that these films are more related to their creative period, and the female characterization in the films is to a certain extent influenced by the ideology of the social environment in which the films are made, which leads to the different characters in the films at different times.

Based on the feminist theory, this paper combines the environment and development of feminism in this period to analyze the distinct princess characters created by Disney in different periods over the past 80 years. Dividing Disney princesses according to their historical background, the paper studies the different states of Disney princesses in different times by discussing the gender representation of the princesses in each movie.

In three stages, there are three kinds of feminism: from the traditional wife and mother who depend on men and worship men completely, to the female warrior who challenges the tradition and breaks through the tradition, and then to the dreamers who reflect and perfect themselves to realize their dreams. The princesses shown in the Disney princess cartoon movies is just like the women in the reality society, who are constantly growing, breaking through and achieving themselves..

Key Words：Disney animations, gender representation, feminism

Contents

1 Introduction 4

1.1 Research Purposes 4

1.2 Research Significance 5

1.3 Research Methods 5

2 Literature Review 6

2.1 Theoretical Foundation 6

2.2 Researches on Disney Princess Movies 7

3 Analysis on Disney Princesses 10

3.1 The innocent princesses without feminist consciousness 10

3.2 Feminist consciousness and ethnic princesses 11

3.3 The princesses of the new age 14

4 The Significance of Disney princesses’ growth 17

4.1 The significance to the individual 17

4.2 The significance to society 18

5 Conclusions 19

References 20

Acknowledgements 22

From Snow White to Frozen：The Research on Disney Princesses Animations’ Gender Representation

1 Introduction

Research Purposes

Disney can be said to be a mirror of the times, its changes, in fact, have witnessed the rise and fall of the feminist movement. From the first princess film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to the latest, Frozen, the princess has spanned nearly 80 years, the princess image with rich layers and different characters is an important role in the Disney animated films. The choice of theme, the description of gender representation and the design of the plot, all embody Disney's tolerance and acceptance of the concepts of women in society. These films reflect the development course of American feminism and the promotion of women's status from the side. It is also precisely because of the social issues involved in the animation that Disney's animation can become a enduring classic. At the same time, some contents of the works have caused controversy in later generations. Therefore, it is meaningful to understand the presentation of contemporary feminism dominated by the United States through Disney's princess animated films. Just like Ellen. B. Chinen(1999) pointed out: all fairy tales, in essence, are adult fairy tales, which include not the psychological needs of children, but the psychological metaphors of adult society.

From the perspective of feminism, this paper combines the female symbols in Disney princess films of different periods with the development of feminist thoughts in real life, so as to show the readers the growth of Disney princesses with the development of feminist trend of thought. On the one hand, this paper can help readers more intuitively understand the development of cultural phenomenon under the influence of feminism and the change of cultural image caused by feminism. On the other hand, it can also make people understand that feminism is not just to help women pursue higher social status and personal interests, but to pursue harmony and equality between the genders.

Research Significance

In real life, for a long time, married women have had to do housework and raise children in addition to the burden of work. What's more, this is taken for granted by most people, who believe that women ultimately must take care of their families. But by spending so much time with their husbands and children, women are slowly becoming appendages to their husband; and the love that men say has also become a kind of bondage, it is like a chronic poison doing double damage to women's bodies and minds. On the other hand, unmarried women are afraid to wear the dress they like because they are afraid of being violated. They face sexism when looking for a job. If being older and not married, they are talked about behind their backs. When women stand up for themselves on the Internet, there is always controversy and verbal abuse.

with the rise and development of feminism，it is hoped that the research on the gender representation of Disney princesses can make the public gradually break the traditional cognition of women and urgently express the desire of women to master their own discourse sovereignty. On the other hand, "princess" includes women's expectation and yearning for beauty. The change of Disney princess sets up a reference for the majority of struggling women, and it is of great value to rewrite the definition and identity of women.

1.3 Research Methods

Literature Research:

Through reading and collecting the relevant literature of feminist theory, the author analyzes the historical evolution of feminism and the development of feminist theory in different periods. In addition, the author explores and summarizes the development of feminism, thus sorts out the information of feminist theory schools.

Narratology Analysis: