A Closer Look at the Gender Roles Under the Sea
Have you ever taken a closer look at the Disney movies we all loved as kids? My personal favorite was The Little Mermaid because, of course, I wanted to be a mermaid. Ariel was a free-spirited girl who was desperate for a boy’s attention. At the time it seemed pretty normal for a Disney princess, but as I got older I realized that it doesn’t really display the average girl correctly.
For one thing, Ariel has to give up her voice just to be with a boy who doesn’t even know she exists. She is portrayed as this starstruck girl who is in awe of Prince Eric. Everything in her life revolves around him and she is willing to give up something so important just for a chance to be with him. Not only does this seem utterly ridiculous, but it is an extremely false portrayal of women. While Ariel is the stereotypical female character, Ursula is quite the opposite. Ursula is very undefined and does not fit into any one category. She is independent and she does not conform to social images. When Ariel meets Ursula, Ursula tries to show her all of the possibilities there are in life, but Ariel still chooses to become human and marry Prince Eric. Ursula is everything that the powerful men fear because she is such a wild card.
A lot has changed in society since The Little Mermaid was made in 1989. Now Ursula’s character might be recognized as not identifying with only one gender. She also portrays somewhat of a drag queen through her appearances. So despite some stereotypical gender role representations, The Little Mermaid also made quite a statement. They gave viewers a completely different look at the female identity through Ursula. The writers of the movie also created a much more fearless heroine in Ariel. While her end goal of marriage might be stereotypical, she is also willing to fight for her dreams and disobey the orders of her father to do that. She wants to venture out independently and explore all the possibilities of the world. Ariel is, in some aspects, a very inspiring role model for young girls.
On the other side of the gender images and stereotypes are the male characters. Most of the men in the movie are all portrayed as strong and independent. King Triton is the epitome of traditional masucline role because of his physical traits and personality. Everyone listens to him and he is not seen as just an object the way that Ariel is. Ariel and all of her sisters respect King Triton and he is the one leader of the entire community. As a viewer, Ariel is very defiant towards her father and it seems shocking because he is so powerful. In reality, why does he try to control all aspects of her life? Not only does King Triton have a dominant personality but he also quite literally dominates the conversation in the movie. According to Jeff Guo, the women spoke only about 32% compared to the men’s 68%. The men are allowed to control the conversation and the majority of the plot in the movie. One of the reasons is the number of men in the movie in general. If you think about it, whenever Ariel goes off to explore the world above the ocean her dad sends Sebastian to follow her. There are a lot of male side characters that talk just as much if not more than Ariel. Sebastian’s role in the movie has a few different interpretations. He is supposed to basically babysit Ariel because King Triton does not trust her to make good decisions for herself, but Ariel does not take Sebastian seriously. He is another male that is put in a position of power but in this case he is not really well respected. No one takes him that seriously and Ariel continues to do whatever she wants even with Sebastian around. Flounder also represents the male character differently from King Triton. Flounder is usually pretty nervous and scared to try all of the new things that Ariel wants to do. While many of the other male characters are older and presented as more mature than Ariel, Flounder seems younger and Ariel teaches him a lot throughout the movie.
One important role that is missing from the movie is Ariel’s mother because she passed away in a terrible boat accident. King Triton therefore is a widower and he has to make up for Ariel and her sister’s lack of mothering. He tries to always put on a brave face and he is very protective like a typical father would be but he is also so worried about the girls, especially Ariel because she is so free-spirited. The movie is able to create a more vulnerable side of King Triton that does explain a lot of his behavior and actions.
The Little Mermaid overall was both a revolutionary movie for Disney that introduced so many new ideas and viewpoints and a classic Disney princess movie with typical stereotypes. The blatant gender roles might just be what viewers want to see or they might be so normalized that people can’t see past them. The real viewers of the movie are young children who are so hopeful and filled with dreams (and they are definitely not analyzing the movie this much). It is important that our society creates the right atmosphere and limits the specific expectations we have. Movies are a huge part of someone’s childhood and the characters are the people that young kids want to become. The little 8 year olds that are similar to me growing up probably watched this movie and thought of how incredible it would be to live under the sea. There are so many cool fish and creatures. I mean how crazy is it that the sea creatures can talk and that mermaids exist with tails and everything. That’s what Disney and movies in general are all about. We just need to make sure we don’t leave children or any viewers with too many underlying ideas about the kind of society we live in. Growing up adults love to tell kids that they can be anything they want to be, so the movies and TV shows that they watch should show them all of the possibilities.