Natalie Romanoff
Dr. Jones
0150ZH
Essay 4-final draft
The Media’s Little Puppets
Susan Douglas uses her daughter as the example in her essay, ‘‘Where The
Girls Are". She discusses the problems of mass media, which limit the presence
of good female role models. While there is a lot of truth to what she is saying
her opinions tend to be general and stereotypical at times toward groups she
despises. Douglas uses Disney movies, other movies and TV shows to support her
ideas of bad female role models for children.
I always thought there was something wrong with ‘‘The Little Mermaid" when I
was younger. All I can remember is I really didn’t enjoy the movie and I never
wanted to watch it. At first the main character Ariel seems like a good role
model because she
. . . is indeed brave, curious, feisty, and defiant. She stands
up to her father, saves Prince Eric from drowning and stares
down great white sharks as she hunts for sunken treasure.
But her waist is the diameter of a chive, and her salvation
comes through her marriage--at the age of sixteen no less--
to Eric (76).
If the Disney people wanted to make a good role model for little girls it makes
more sense if Ariel goes to dry land because she wants to explore the land and
not to simply find a husband.
Douglas goes on to state that the only great female role model portrayed in
a movie for children was made over fifty years ago, "The Wizard of Oz."
[Dorothy] runs away from home, flies to Oz in a cyclone,
kills one wicked witch and then another--although never
on purpose--and helps Scarecrow get a brain, Tin Man get
a heart, and Lion get some courage, all of which Dorothy
already has in spades. Throughout the movie, Dorothy is
caring, nurturing, and empathetic, but she’s also
adventuresome, determined, and courageous. She tells off
Miss Gulch, slaps the lion while her male friends cower in
the bushes, refuses to give the witch her slippers, and chastises
the Wizard himself when she feels he is bullying her friends. (77).
Yes, Dorothy seems pretty great, but I always thought she was ditzy and quite
annoying. Don’t forget about the part in the movie when she cries because she
didn’t get her way. Remember when the imperial doorman denies them entry and the
only reason why he let them in eventually is because Dorothy started to cry.
That doesn’t sound like a great female role model to me.
"The most important quality of these [Disney] characters [still] remains
their beauty, followed closely by their selflessness and the ability to sing"
(77). I have to disagree with Douglas when it comes to Beauty and the Beast.
Yes, Belle is beautiful, thin, and vocal, but Belle is also smart, literate,
strong, and independent. Doesn’t Dorothy (the best female role model in Douglas
opinion) have all of these qualities, too. If Belle just wants to get married,
s Douglas suggests about all Disney characters, she would have married Gaston
(the cute town idiot). Belle takes the place of her father in order to save his
life. She is a prisoner in the enchanted castle and is not happy with it. She
becomes friendly with the beast on her terms and puts him in his place. Belle
and the beast never get married in the Disney version. They were together at the
end off the movie, but there was never a wedding. Marriage or love was not
something Belle was looking for. All she wanted was a better life than the
village was providing. I completely identify with Belle because I was not
looking for love or a relationship when I met my boyfriend, but now I have him.
I also wanted a better life and now that I’m with him, I think my life is
complete. Does that make me selfless?
Douglas is complaining that the media is still portraying women in the
old-fashion, stereotypical sense. Yet she goes on to portray heavy metal in the
stereotypical 1988 fashion. This is where I lose some respect for Douglas. She
is complaining about a stereotype that bothers her and then she goes and
stereotypes another group. Yes, some metal bands still depict women as sex
objects, but Douglas’s statement "little girls who all too soon will be awash in
the misogyny of heavy metal" (82), is too vague and general. Heavy Metal music
is changing because of great women such as Terri B. from Tura Satana and Karyn
Crisis from Crisis. They use the stage and the loudness of the music to express
their hatred toward sexism.
While heavy metal is trying to produce better female role models,
television is doing the opposite. You can’t walk far anymore with out hearing
the words Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and the infamous Pokémon. Instead of
getting better I think television is getting worse. When Douglas wrote her essay
Japanamation had not hit the mainstream yet. There is something seriously wrong
with cartoons primarily made for children that 15-30 year old men watch to
masturbate. The girls in these cartoons are drawn hardly wearing any clothing.
This is made for children’s viewing? I know that the cartoons I used to watch
with superheroes were not wearing much clothing either, but at least they were
of age. These Japanamation characters are all young--under 18. What are these
cartoons saying to young boys and girls
The mass media slowly is trying to change the public’s views. Douglas wants
the media to change its views and beliefs too quickly. It will take time because
society is stuck on their belief system--no matter how wrong it is. Probably by
the time my daughters are 4 the media still will not have changed dramatically.
I fear for all those girls who don’t have a strong mother with feminist views.
How will they grow up to believe and behave? We see in Douglas’s essay that she
wants to raise her daughter up unisexually, she teaches her daughter what sexism
is and also feminist views. Even with all this, Douglas’s daughter after
watching plenty of Disney movies wants to be a stereotypical little girl. What
does that say about the power the media has over our little girls?
Work Cited
Douglas, Susan. "Where The Girls Are." Speculations: Readings in Culture, Identity, and
Values. 2nd ed. Ed. Charles I. Schuster. Ed. William V. Van Pelt. New Jersey:
Ablair Press Book, 1996. 75-84.