"Disney Is Not Sexist" by Susie Kopecky,

In the opinion piece, the Disney label came under fire for alleged subliminal sexism. It was argued that the classic Disney movies of the last 70 years have been inherently sexist; I couldn’t disagree more.

In the 20th century, Disney was called a revolutionary entertainer; in the 21st century, Disney is called sexist, up high in its ivory tower of misogyny. The great irony is how people seem to be missing the greater point: All of the classic Disney movies that we all grew up on, like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, are character-driven stories. And more than that, they are uniquely female character-driven. With the exception of The Lion King, all of the highest grossing classic Disney movies are about women, and generally women who are significantly disadvantaged. The women of these stories are clever, and somehow manage to overcome great odds, sometimes with a little help from friends, and often with their own cunning. Therefore Disney is not a suppressive tool for women but it enables them to succeed in society which is said to be the main focus of the films.

In Disney’s Pocahontas, is it not Princess Pocahontas who saves John Smith and truly brings the term “roughing it” to new light? In Cinderella, the eponymous heroine has everything working against her: Her only ally is deceased, her step-mother and step-sisters are cruel and domineering, and she has no visible hope of ever raising herself up in society. And yet, her unflappable optimism and refusal to give in to cynicism (and a little help from her fairy godmother) are ultimately the keys that allow her to end up with everything she had ever dreamt of, and more. And don’t forget: Cinderella wanted a wonderful prince of a man (like every girl dreams of), but she wasn’t the one chasing the prince out of the ball, and she sure wasn’t the one making every woman in the kingdom try on a slipper made out of possibly the very worst material with which to construct a slipper, glass! Snow White is a very interesting story, as the drama entirely revolves around the beautiful, young Snow White and the beautiful (but crazy) Queen. Really, the prince of this story is little more than an afterthought; his only role is giving Snow White a kiss – yup, that’s about all. Of course, the message of love is celebrated, but the Prince has no direct impact on Snow White, as Snow White’s character is forged by her own life experiences, and her decisions to think positively, regardless of the fact that her only remaining family member wants nothing more than to see her dead.

Clearly, these stories never really happened, and there was never a Snow White to eat a poisoned apple. Such fables were constructed long ago to pass on a positive message of the endurance of the human (and perhaps specifically female) spirit, and the ability to change the playing field, even when the game appears set. In summary: The Disney women faced terrible odds, and through their positive character traits, intelligence, deep sense of humanity, understanding and innate cleverness and cunning, they triumphed. Even Peter Pan was not much of a hero until his contact with Wendy. Overall, the main message of Disney films is that men depend on women to succeed, without a female touch the men would be failures.