Running head: DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 1
From Snow White to Big Hero Six:
The Relationship Between Disney’s Animated Films and Gender Role Perceptions
Tiana Ballard
East Texas Baptist University
Honors Project
Supervisor: Dr. Laurie Smith
Other Committee Members: Dr. Robert Benefield & Dr. Marty Warren
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 2
Abstract
The relationship between Disney’s animated films and the participants’ gender role perceptions
was examined. The population consisted of East Texas Baptist University students. The sample
had 290 participants with 103 males and 182 females (5 did not list their gender). The study
consisted of two parts, a content analysis of 29 Disney movies and a survey. The content
analysis coded the masculine and feminine behavior of the lead male and female of each movie
and was used to categorize the movies for the survey. The measures used in the survey were the
Attitudes Toward Women Scale and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, both created by
Spence and Helmreich. In the content analysis, the Disney movies produced from 2000 to 2014
had a significantly higher percent of masculine behavior displayed by the lead female character
than the movies produced from 1937 to 1999. There was not a relationship between gender of
main character and screen time; however, the higher the percent of masculine behavior portrayed
by the lead female character, the more screen time the male character was given. There were
significantly more male characters than female characters. In the survey, the preferred Disney
movies by the participants had no effect on their scores, although the gender of the participants
did have an effect. Limitations of this study: possible bias by the researcher, a previous coding
scheme was used instead of a specifically designed one, and the movie sample consisted of only
29 movies. Future research should look at better defined terms, in depth coding of Disney
movies, behavior patterns of the villain and lead male characters, and possibilities of
international research.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 3
From Snow White to Big Hero Six:
The Relationship Between Disney’s Animated Films and Gender Role Perceptions
There is a body of research on child development, television exposure, and Disney. Very
few studies have examined how gender roles, whether traditional or not, in their feature length
films have any effect on gender role perceptions held by their audiences. There is research that
shows that people will hold beliefs about people groups in their social realities that closely
mirror those shown in the television shows they watch (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). Disney’s
exposure is far reaching and their movies are mainstream media, often scoring high at the box
office (International Movie Database, 2015). Many of their movies also display traditional
gender roles and even when they attempt to bend the norms, there are still set genders for their
characters. The purpose of this study is to examine Disney movie content for traditional gender
role indicators as well as to survey the students at East Texas Baptist University for Disney
exposure and gender role perceptions.
Terms Defined
Perspective of Gender
For this study, I used the social constructionist perspective of gender roles as described
by Baber and Tucker (2006) in their study about measuring attitudes toward gender. The social
constructionist perspective views gender and the assigned gender roles to male and female as the
product of cultural, societal, and historical context and does not view gender as a product of
biology. In this perspective, a person does not have a gender but instead performs gender in
relationships with other people. What may seem “normal” for male or female is actually the
result of societal expectations and historical fulfillment. This view can help show where gender
differences come from and show gender inequalities.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 4
Gender Roles
In this study, I used the terms “traditional gender roles,” “nontraditional gender roles,”
and “gender equality”. Traditional gender roles have been defined as males and females having
different gender role expectations (England, Descartes, & Collier-Meek, 2011). Males have
attributes that are considered traditional to their gender including: wanting to explore, physically
strong, assertive, unemotional, independent, athletic, engaging in intellectual activity, inspiring
fear, brave, described as physically attractive (masculine), giving advice, and providing
leadership. Females’ gender role attributes include: concerned with physical appearance
(primping e.g.), physically weak, submissive, showing emotion, affectionate, nurturing,
sensitive, tentative, helpful, troublesome, fearful, ashamed, collapsing while crying, described as
physically attractive (feminine), asking for or accepting advice or help, and victimized.
Nontraditional gender roles have been used when the character presents androgynous gender
attributes. This means that they present closer to an equal amount of male and female gender
attributes than the traditional gender roles do. Gender equality has been defined as male and
female having equal rights and representation.
Media
Gender Roles
The media of the present time reflects the gender role expectations found in the American
culture (Dill & Thill, 2007; Kahlenberg & Hein, 2010; Vecchiato et al., 2014). In Vecchiato et al.
(2014), the very goal of ad marketing is to use subconscious gender roles and stereotypes that
target genders differently. In this small study of 28 participants, neuroscience researchers
analyzed the participants’ perception of the TV advertisements and the how they are designed
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 5
based on the consumer’s gender (Vecchiato et al., 2014). This gendering of commercials is also
apparent in children’s toy commercials found on Nickelodeon (Kahlenberg & Hein, 2010).
Kahlenberg & Hein (2010) found that the toy commercials were gender-specific and showed the
children in stereotypical play; for example, boys were more aggressive and played outside while
girls were more cooperative and played inside. Video games also reinforce the ideal hyper
masculinity and hyper femininity (Dill & Thill, 2007). The females in games are typically weak,
wear little clothing, are submissive, and are sexual. Men portrayed in video games are
aggressive, strong, and accepting of violence.
Advertisements
Women in advertisements are typically gender stereotyped and sexualized (Eisend, 2010;
Gaucher, Friesen, & Kay, 2011; Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). In a content analysis of previous
studies conducted on gender stereotyping in advertisements in different countries, it was found
that the highest occurring stereotype depicted women in traditional occupational roles (Eisend,
2010). This study also found that advertisements are a mirror that reflects the society’s view of
gender equality instead of society reflecting the advertisements’ portrayed view of gender
equality. Marketers use the current views of gender roles to sell their products and rarely try to
alter the view for marketability. Morgan and Shanahan (2010) studied the effects heavy
television viewing had on people’s perspective on social reality. They found that heavy
television viewers were more likely to hold social reality beliefs that were similar to the
television shows they were watching. This included beliefs about gender roles, ethnicities,
behavior related to age, and drug usage among others. Gaucher et al. (2011) studied the effects
of gendered wording in job advertisements and found that in male dominated jobs, masculine
words were more often used to describe the position. The outcome demonstrated that women
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 6
were less likely to apply for a job with more masculine wording, and men felt a stronger sense of
belonging when masculine words were used to describe the job.
Magazine Advertisements
In magazine advertisements, women are often depicted in some sexual manner; the focus
is on body and sex (Graff, Murnen, & Krause, 2013; Hust et al., 2014; Stankiewicz & Rosselli,
2008). Stankiewicz & Rosselli (2008) found that a little over half the magazine advertisements
in their sample portrayed women as sex objects. Men’s magazines were also more likely to
portray women as sex objects than any other magazine genre. Graff, Murnen, and Krause (2013)
looked at the change over time in the sexualization of women and girls in the magazines
Seventeen and Girl’s Life. Since the 1970s the amount of sexual characteristics portrayed in
Seventeen have tripled, and girls in Girl’s Life are 15 times more likely to have sexual
characteristics now compared to its beginning in the 1990s. In a 2014 study by Hust et al.,
college students were tested for influence from men’s and women’s magazines and their sexual
consent practices. Men who read men’s magazines were less likely to ask for sexual consent and
also less likely to follow sexual consent decisions. Men’s magazines tend to portray men as the
sexual aggressors who desire to engage in sex. Women who read women’s magazines were
more likely to turn down unwanted sexual activity. More modern women’s magazines are
portraying women as sexual beings instead of objects who are in charge of their own sexuality
(Hust et al., 2014).
Cartoon
Breaking Gender Roles
Not all cartoons, animated shows with the intended audience of children, have fallen into
portraying decades old gender stereotypes (Banet-Weiser, 2004; Burguera, 2001). In an essay
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 7
examining an episode from Tiny Toons that dealt with the topic of feminism, Burguera (2001)
found that the co-lead Babs Bunny was breaking some of the stereotypical gender roles and was
also acting out the journey of feminists at that point. Before this point, cartoons displayed
female characters as domestic and in need of rescuing (Burguera, 2001). However the Babs
character was mischievous, adventurous, and rough, although she did still display typical female
characteristics including her outfit design, interest in makeup, and spending hours on the phone
(Burguera, 2001). Nickelodeon has also been recognized as a channel that empowers girls and
represents them as strong protagonists and intelligent (Banet-Weiser, 2004). This study looked
at several shows that premiered on Nickelodeon including Clarissa Explains it All, As Told By
Ginger, and Nick News. These shows and others were used as examples that show that strong
female leads could be successful; they had female roles that broke conventional gender roles and
other non-traditional characteristics.
Television Viewing Effect on Children
Not all studies agree on how much influence television viewing has on developing
children and their behaviors (Agarwal & Dhanasekaran, 2012; Blumberg, Bierwirth, &
Schwartz, 2008; Hapkiewicz & Roden, 1971). The results of Hapkiewicz & Roden’s 1971 study
found that there was no difference in aggression in the interpersonal play of children who viewed
aggressive television and children who did not. They did, however, find prosocial behaviors
such as sharing, could be affected negatively by aggressive television. Blumberg, Bierwirth, and
Schwartz (2008) also found that violent television may not necessarily cause aggressive
behaviors in children due to children’s moral consciousness that may help them recognize that
cartoons aren’t real. However Agarwal & Dhanasekaran (2012) indicate that media does have an
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 8
influence on a child’s development and behaviors including drug abuse and risky sexual
behavior.
Disney
Disney Exposure
Disney is a large corporation that has produced movies, TV shows, TV channels,
musicals, and other forms of media. It would be rare these days to find someone who has not
been exposed to Disney at some point in their life (Abel, 1995; The Walt Disney Corporation,
2014; International Movie Database, 2015). Abel (1995) found that Disney shows often show
gender roles in close proximity to the public perception of gender norms. Disney has also led the
way for gender norms for the rest of the cartoon world. In The Walt Disney Corporation 2014
Annual Report, Disney had 3 domestic channels, which had an estimated 251 million combined
subscribers, and 3 international channels that had an estimated combined 408 million subscribers
(The Walt Disney Corporation, 2014, p. 2). According to the United States Census Bureau, in
2014 there were 318.9 million people in the United States; that means that over 2/3 of the
population should subscribe to at least one of the domestic Disney channels. The combined
international channels have a higher subscriber rate than the United States. The last 5 Disney
movies to be released, Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-it-Ralph, Winnie the Pooh, and Tangled, have
had a combined total of $1,039,800,317 in box office sales (IMDB).
Gender Roles
Anyone who watches Disney movies would be provided with stereotypical gender role
models (Baker-Sperry, 2007; England, Descartes, & Collier-Meek, 2011; Lee, 2008). England et
al. (2011) found that the first three Disney princess movies, released in the 1930s and 1950s,
showed more traditional gender roles. This study found that even later movies that were released
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 9
focused on the traditional outcome for a woman which included being paired up with her prince.
Lee (2008) looked at how young Korean immigrant girls perceived the gender roles in Disney
movies. One of the gender differences that the girls noticed involved how easy it was for the
princes to decide who and when they would marry without external conflict. For the princesses,
it was not as easy and involved external conflicts including controlling parents and laws that
could only be negated by self-sacrifice and abandoning her own desires (Lee, 2008). Baker-
Sperry (2007) conducted a study that examined how children in elementary school who read
Walt Disney’s Cinderella understood messages about gender and peer interaction related to
interpreting the messages. Baker-Sperry found that the children interpreted the gender messages
from the book to be traditional. The children identified Cinderella as “beautiful, nice, deserving
of friends, and as skilled in domestic tasks”. Even though the prince is never described in the
text, the children still identify him as being handsome or charming. Baker-Sperry also found that
the children were more likely to interpret the message as truth if they could identify with the
story; the girls were able to identify more with Cinderella than the boys were and so they held
the messages from the story to be true.
Newer Disney movies attempt to modernize their stories and protagonists but their
movies still contain traditional gender roles (Dundes, 2001; Dickens, 2001; Towbin, 2003).
Dundes (2001) analyzes the Disney movie Pocahontas and finds that even though Pocahontas is
supposed to be a new kind of heroine, different from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, her
priorities still include love and a mixture of selflessness and selfishness. When Pocahontas
disobeys her father and saves John Smith, it is because of her love interest that she does this
(Dundes, 2001). At the same time, she is also showing selflessness by deciding to stay with her
tribe instead of returning with John Smith. These opposing ideas send out changing messages
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 10
about whether the female gender role should be selfish or selfless (Dundes, 2001). Dickens’s
(2001) paper focused on Beauty and the Beast and its portrayal of male transformation caused by
an innocent and virtuous female. Dickens views this movie as one that propagates the gender
role of women being virtuous. One study looked at 26 Disney movies and found that for women,
appearance was valued more than intellect in 15 of the movies (Towbin, 2003). In 11 of the
movies there was a theme of women being helpless and dependent on someone to save them.
Out of the 26 movies, only 2 had a goal other than marriage while 15 of the movies showed the
women in domestic roles.
Hypotheses
Content Analysis
The content analysis portion of this project explored three hypotheses related to Disney
animated movies. The first hypothesis looked for a shift in portrayed gender roles in Disney’s
movies with earlier movies having more traditional gender roles and the latest movies having
more nontraditional gender roles. The second hypothesis predicted that male characters will
outnumber female characters in Disney movies. The third hypothesis predicted that male
characters will have more screen time compared to female characters.
Survey
Four hypotheses were examined for the survey portion of this study. The survey was
given to East Texas Baptist University students after the content analysis is completed. The first
hypothesis predicted that females who pick the traditional Disney movies as their favorites will
have higher feminine scores on the Personal Attribute Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, &
Holahan, 1979). The second hypothesis predicted that females who picked traditional Disney
movies as their favorites will have lower scores on the Attitudes Toward Women scale than the
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 11
females who picked the nontraditional Disney movies as their favorites. The third hypothesis
predicted that females will prefer the nontraditional Disney movies more than males. The fourth
hypothesis predicted that males will favor more traditional Disney movies and will have lower
scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale while females will favor more nontraditional
movies and will have higher scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale.
Methods
Content Analysis
The first part of this project involves a content analysis of 29 Disney movies. I used a
method similar to the one in England et al.’s (2011) study on Disney princess gender role
portrayals. This method measured how traditional or nontraditional the gender roles portrayed in
each Disney movie are and looks at masculine and feminine characteristics portrayed by the
characters. The masculine characteristics are: curious about princess, wanting to explore,
physically strong, assertive, unemotional, independent, athletic, engaging in intellectual activity,
inspiring fear, brave, described as physically attractive, giving advice, and providing leadership.
The feminine characteristics are: concerned with physical appearance, physically weak,
submissive, showing emotion, affectionate, nurturing, sensitive, tentative, helpful, troublesome,
fearful, ashamed, collapsing while crying, described as physically attractive, asking for or
accepting advice or help, and victim. The Disney movie list was decided by using only Walt
Disney Animation Studio movies between 1937 and 2014. The list was further reduced by
removing movies where the main character or characters were not human at any point in the
movie. There were twelve princess movies (41.4%) and seventeen non-princess movies (58.6%).
The movies that were included are; Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella
(1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Jungle Book
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 12
(1967), The Black Cauldron (1985), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and The Beast (1991),
Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997),
Mulan (1998), Tarzan (1999), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire
(2001), Lilo and Stitch (2002), Treasure Planet (2002), The Incredibles (2004), Meet the
Robinsons (2007), Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), The Princess and The Frog (2009), Tangled
(2010), Brave (2012), Wreck-it-Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014).
I also counted the number of male and female characters in each movie and measured the
screen time of the main male and female characters. The movies were split up based on the
percent of masculine versus feminine attributes the lead female displayed in the movie. The
movies with a low percent of masculine behavior, defined as less than 40%, were labeled
traditional. The movies with a high percent of masculine behavior, defined as more than 40%,
were labeled nontraditional. The movies were also split into eras by separating the movies into
four time periods. The first era was from 1937 to 1967 and included six movies, the second era
was from 1985 to 1998 and included eight movies, the third era was from 1999 to 2007 and
included eight movies, and the fourth era was from 2009 to 2014 and included seven movies.
One of the reasons behind this particular grouping was to have a roughly equal number of
movies in each period. It also worked out that the third era (1999-2007) had no princess movies.
After the movies were cut down to the chosen 29, they were coded. I randomized the
attributes on the sheet that was used to count for the lead characters, to prevent any bias by only
checking female or male for the respective characters. This way I was unaware which ones were
coded male or female. For the movies, I randomized them so that I would not be tempted to
code the older movies one way and the newer movies another way. This helped to prevent any
bias I may have about the time period that the movie was made in.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 13
Survey
Participants
After my content analysis I used the students at East Texas Baptist University as my
population and administered a survey. I collected data from 290 undergraduate students. The
gender breakdown was 103 males (35.5%) and 182 females (62.8%). The data was collected
from 83 freshman (28.6%), 88 sophomores (30.3%), 72 juniors (24.8%), and 43 seniors (14.8%).
While there was an outlier, the mean age was still 20.25 years.
Measures
I surveyed the students about movie preference, exposure information and demographics.
I used the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1978) which measured the
participant’s attitudes toward women and includes questions about women swearing, a woman
proposing to a man, women’s rights, a father’s authority in the family and others. Cronbach’s
alpha for this scale was .81. The wording on two of the scale’s questions, numbers four and
fifteen, were changed to be more easily understood. On question four, “prerogative” was
changed to “privilege”. On question fifteen “locomotive” was changed to “pilot” and “darn
socks” was changed to “laundry”. Another scale used was the Personal Attributes Questionnaire
(Spence, Helmreich, & Holahan, 1979) which had a subscale of communion attributes (gentle,
helpful, emotional, understanding, devotes self to others, kind, warm and awareness of others’
feelings), that was used to measure the feminine attributes of the participants. Cronbach’s alpha
for this subscale was .74.
Procedure
I recruited the students by gaining permission from East Texas Baptist University
professors to use their classes for my study. I focused on entry level classes and emailed
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 14
professors that I knew had large classes or a variety of students. The email contained a copy of
the informed consent and the survey and detailed how long the survey should take and its general
content. Once in the classroom, I handed out the informed consent and survey together,
explained how to take the survey, and when they were done I collected the survey and informed
consent and immediately separated the two documents. I took steps to avoid any students taking
the survey more than once by asking if the students had already completed the survey and asking
them to not repeat it. After I collected the surveys, I placed them all together and numbered
them. The informed consents remained separate and though counted, were not numbered.
Results
Content Analysis
An independent groups t test was performed comparing the mean percent of behavior by
lead female that is masculine for Disney movies released in the years 1937 to 1999 (M=34.14,
SD=11.11) with that for Disney movies released in the years 2000 to 2014 (M=44.29,
SD=15.98). This test was found to be statistically significant, t(26)=-1.95, p < .05, indicating
that the newer Disney movies have a significantly higher percent of behavior by the lead female
that is masculine. The strength of the relationship between the percent of masculine behavior
displayed by the lead female and the year the movie was released, as indexed by eta
2
, was .13.
A correlated groups t test compared the mean male character screen time to the mean
female character screen time. This test was found to not be statistically significant, t(28)=-1.11,
p>.05, indicating that the average male screen time (M=49.34, SD=21.33) was not significantly
different from the average female screen time (M=41.62, SD=22.42). However the means do
indicate that the males had a higher average screen time.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 15
A correlation between the percent of the lead female’s masculine behavior and the
percent of the male lead’s screen time was found to be statistically significant, r (28) = -.50, p <
.05. A higher percent of masculine behavior displayed by the lead female character was
associated with a higher amount of screen time for the male lead character.
A correlated groups t test compared the mean number of female characters per movie to
the mean number of male characters per move. This test was found to be statistically significant,
t(28)=-7.90, p<.05, indicating that the average number of females in a movie (M=4.48, SD=2.28)
was less than the average number of male characters in a movie (M=10.34, SD=2.98). The
strength of the relationship between gender and average amount of characters was .69, as
indexed by eta
2
.
Survey
An independent groups t test was performed comparing the mean Communion scores,
from the PAQ, for females who preferred movies with a low percent of masculine behavior
displayed by the lead female character (M=32.59, SD=4.53) with that for the mean Communion
scores for females who preferred movies with a high percent of masculine behavior displayed by
the lead female character (M=32.15, SD=3.94). This test was found to not be statistically
significant, t(171)=.65, p > .05, indicating that the preferred movie had no effect on the
Communion scores.
An independent groups t test was performed comparing the mean Attitude Towards
Women score for females preferring Disney movies with lead females displaying a low percent
of masculine behavior (M=79.02, SD=7.77) with that for females preferring Disney movies with
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 16
lead females displaying a high percent of masculine behavior (M=78.05, SD=9.12). This test
was found to not be statistically significant, t(158)=.472, p > .05.
A chi-square test was applied to the relationship between gender and the amount of
masculine behavior displayed by the lead female in their preferred movie and found to be
statistically significant,
2
(1, N = 279) = 16.32, p < .05. As indexed by Cramér’s statistic, the
strength of the relationship was .24. This suggests that gender had an influence on the
participant’s preferred Disney movies.
The mean Attitude Towards Women scores were subjected to a two-way analysis of
variance having two levels of gender (male, female) and two levels of percent of masculine
behavior by the lead female character (high-over 40%, low under 40%). The main effects were
found to be statistically significant. The main effect of gender yielded an F ratio of
F(1,255)=14.17, p < .05, indicating that the mean Attitude Towards Women score was higher for
females (M=78.60, SD=8.34) than for males (M=73.84, SD=9.54). The strength of the
relationship, as indexed by eta2, was .0007.
The main effect of the lead female character’s percent of masculine behavior yielded an F
ratio of F(1,255)=.88, p> .05, indicating the mean Attitude Towards Women score for those who
preferred movies with female leads displaying a low percent of masculine behavior (M=77.92,
SD=8.24) was not significantly different from the mean Attitude Towards Women score for
those who preferred movies with female leads displaying a high percent of masculine behavior
(M=75.72,SD=9.80).
The interaction effect was non-significant, F(1,255)=.01, p = .93.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 17
Discussion
Content Analysis
Increasingly through the eras, the Disney movies had female leads with significantly
more masculine behavior. While there was not a significant difference between male and female
characters average screen time, the means did indicate that males had a higher average than
females. However, there was a relationship between the lead female character’s percent of
masculine behavior and male screen time. As the masculine behavior for the female characters
increased, so did the amount of screen time for the male character. There were significantly
more male characters than female characters.
Limitations.
I used a previous study as the foundation for my coding procedure. However I was still
the only person doing the coding. I could not compare the coding against any other results and
so I could not check the reliability of the coding procedure. Although I randomized the movies
and the attributes to attempt to control coding bias, I cannot guarantee that there was not any
bias. The coding scheme could have fit some movies better than others, and it was harder to get
attributes on secondary characters since they may have been on the screen for such a short time.
While the movie list had 29 movies, had other movies been included in the list, such as those
featuring nonhuman characters, the results could have been different.
Survey
There was no relationship between the female participants preferred movies and their
Communion scores from the Personal Attribute Questionnaire. There was no relationship
between the female participants preferred movies and their Attitudes Toward Women scores.
However, there was a relationship between gender and the participants’ preferred movies. The
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 18
females tended to favor movies with a female lead, regardless of whether the behavior displayed
was more masculine or more feminine. All but one of these movies featured a princess
character. While there was a relationship between gender and Attitudes Toward Women scores,
there was no relationship with the preferred movie’s percent of masculine behavior.
The survey results were mixed; some data supported the hypotheses, and some did not.
These mixed results could be the result of the definitions not being defined clearly. The
definitions could have been tailored more towards the study or the coding scheme that I used.
The population could also have been a reason for mixed results; the East Texas Baptist
University population could be different from the general population and the age group could be
different from the general population that I had in mind when I designed these hypotheses. It
could also be that the movies were less responsible for gender role perceptions than I thought.
The scales could have not measured what I wanted to measure as well as other scales could have.
Limitations.
I was not able to get as many people as I desired from each department at East Texas
Baptist University. I was only able to spend a few weeks getting data and the results could have
been affected had I been able to obtain more data. I only used East Texas Baptist University
students which may not generalize to other populations well unless the population is similar.
Had my variables been defined differently, the results could have been different for the
nontraditional and traditional movies. The movies could have been categorized differently. The
Attitudes Toward Women scale may not have been conducive for this population; there were
many questions over the wording used. The survey was long and people grew impatient towards
the end of the survey, putting less thought into their answers.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 19
Future Research
While there have been studies that look at the behavior of Disney characters, there has
not been much research done on how the portrayed gender roles in Disney movies affect those
who watch it, if there is an affect at all. This study was conducted by one person and could be
subject to bias. Future research should allow for multiple coders and more defined terms. The
topic could help the field to understand how widely popular media has an effect on the
audience’s gender role understanding. Another area that could be researched is the international
effect of Disney’s portrayed gender roles in other countries.
There were patterns noticed in the data that we weren’t looking for but were apparent and
would be of interest for future research. Whether male or female, the villain in each movie
displayed a high percent of masculine behavior, some displaying no feminine behaviors at all. In
contrast, the lead protagonist displayed high percent of feminine behavior. The male characters
often displayed a high percent of feminine behavior and many had equal parts feminine and
masculine behavior or even a higher percent of feminine behavior than masculine. Future
research has the opportunity to look at the behavior of the lead male characters and villains for
patterns and possible effects of those patterns.
Conclusion
This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the portrayed gender roles
present in Disney movies, the audience’s personal masculine/feminine scores on the Personal
Attribute Questionnaire, and their beliefs about women on the Attitudes Toward Women scale.
There were some gender patterns in the Disney movies: male characters outnumber female
characters and the percent of masculine behavior displayed by the lead female character
increased over the years. Though there were patterns between scores on the Personal Attributes
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 20
Questionnaire and the Attitudes Toward Women scale, the pattern was between gender and
scores, not movie preference and scores. There are implications for future research both on
Disney movies and on their effect on others.
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 21
References
Abel, S. (1995). The rabbit in drag: camp and gender construction in the American animated
cartoon. Journal Of Popular Culture, 29(3), 183-202.
Agarwal, V., & Dhanasekaran, S. (2012). Harmful effects of media on children and adolescents.
Journal Of Indian Association For Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 8(2), 38-45.
Baber, K., & Tucker, C. (2006). The Social Roles Questionnaire: A new approach to measuring
attitudes toward gender. Sex Roles, 54(7/8), 459-467. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9018-y
Baker-Sperry, L. (2007). The production of meaning through peer interaction: children and Walt
Disney’s Cinderella. Sex Roles, 56(11/12), 717-727. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9236-y
Banet-Weiser, S. (2004). Girls rule!: Gender, feminism, and Nickelodeon. Critical Studies In
Media Communication, 21(2), 119-139.
Blumberg, F., Bierwirth, K., & Schwartz, A. (2008, October). Does cartoon violence beget
aggressive behavior in real life? An opposing view. Early Childhood Education Journal.
pp. 101-104. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0280-1.
Burguera, X. F. (2011). Muffled voices in animation. Gender roles and Black stereotypes in
Warner Bros. cartoons: from Honey to Babs Bunny. Bulletin Of The Transilvania
University Of Brasov, Series IV: Philology & Cultural Studies, 4(53) 2), 65-76.
Dickens, F. (2011). "The guy with the problem": reform narrative in Disney's Beauty and the
Beast. University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Research Journal, 5(2), 79-85.
Dill, K. E., & Thill, K. P. (2007). Video game characters and the socialization of gender roles:
young people’s perceptions mirror sexist media depictions. Sex Roles, 57(11/12), 851-
864. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9278-1
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 22
Dundes, L. (2001). Disney's modern heroine Pocahontas: revealing age-old gender stereotypes
and role discontinuity under a facade of liberation. Social Science Journal, 38(3), 353.
Eisend, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of gender roles in advertising. Journal Of The Academy Of
Marketing Science, 38(4), 418-440. doi:10.1007/s11747-009-0181-x
England, D., Descartes, L., & Collier-Meek, M. (2011). Gender role portrayal and the Disney
princesses. Sex Roles, 64(7/8), 555-567. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9930-7
Gaucher, D., Friesen, J., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Evidence that gendered wording in job
advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal Of Personality And Social
Psychology, 101(1), 109-128. doi:10.1037/a0022530
Graff, K. A., Murnen, S. K., & Krause, A. K. (2013). Low-cut shirts and high-heeled shoes:
increased sexualization across time in magazine depictions of girls. Sex Roles, 69(11/12),
571-582. doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0321-0
Hapkiewicz, W. G., & Roden, A. H. (1971). The effect of aggressive cartoons on children’s
interpersonal play. Child Development, 42(5), 1583. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep7251737
Hust, S. T., Marett, E. G., Ren, C., Adams, P. M., Willoughby, J. F., Lei, M., & ... Norman, C.
(2014). Establishing and adhering to sexual consent: the association between reading
magazines and college students’ sexual consent negotiation. Journal Of Sex Research,
51(3), 280-290. doi:10.1080/00224499.2012.727914
"International Movie Database." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
Kahlenberg, S., & Hein, M. (2010). Progression on Nickelodeon? Gender-role stereotypes in toy
commercials. Sex Roles, 62(11/12), 830-847. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9653-1
DISNEY FILMS AND GENDER ROLE PERCEPTIONS 23
Lee, L. (2008). Understanding gender through Disney’s marriages: a study of young Korean
immigrant girls. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(1), 11-18. doi:10.1007/s10643-
008-0260-5
Morgan, M., & Shanahan, J. (2010). The state of cultivation. Journal Of Broadcasting &
Electronic Media, 54(2), 337-355. doi:10.1080/08838151003735018
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity and femininity: Their psychological
dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L., & Holahan, C. K. (1979). Negative and positive components of
psychological masculinity and femininity and their relationships to self-reports of
neurotic and acting out behaviors. Journal Of Personality & Social Psychology, 37(10),
1673-1682.
Stankiewicz, J., & Rosselli, F. (2008). Women as sex objects and victims in print advertisements.
Sex Roles, 58(7/8), 579-589. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9359-1
The Walt Disney Company. (2014). Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Financial Report And
Shareholder Letter. Retrieved from
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/10k-wrap-2014_1.pdf
Towbin , M., Haddock, S., Zimmerman, T., Lund, L., Tanner, L. (2003). Images of gender, race,
age, and sexual orientation in Disney feature-length animated films. (2003). Journal of
Feminist Family Therapy, 15(4), 19-44. doi:10.1300/J086v15n04_02
Vecchiato, G., Maglione, A. G., Cherubino, P., Wasikowska, B., Wawrzyniak, A., Latuszynska,
A., & ... Babiloni, F. (2014). Neurophysiological tools to investigate consumer's gender
differences during the observation of TV commercials. Computational & Mathematical
Methods In Medicine, 1-12. doi:10.1155/2014/912981