The Sexualization of Disney Charaters Research Paper

The Sexualization of Disney Charaters - Research Paper Example The problem, is that Disney has began marketing itself as a brand that reaches out and entertains family members of all ages. The company also uses unrealistic depictions of the physical image of their princess characters in the sense that rather than having a little girl playing a role, the character is always a young woman whose figure and actions depicts that of an unrealistic fashion model rather than that of a real world child dealing with image issues. In other words, Disney sexualizes their characters to the point that instead of inspiring little girls to love themselves, they instead learn to self-loathe because they do not meet the standards set by the Disney characters that they admire the most. They do not learn to love themselves as they are because the Disney characters are not depicted in a realistic manner. The problem with this situation is that Disney princess characters carry a tremendous amount of influence over the minds of little girls. Peggy Orenstein explains that: â€Å"The company’s wares reflect the changing taste of their demographic and it’s the change that’s disturbing. â€Å"Think of their memory as a blank slate that is ready to be written upon. Little girls know nothing about demographics, what is right or wrong, or even how a girl should perceive herself. That is something that is influenced by the mass media marketing that is controlled by Disney. That writing becomes the impression by which the child leads her life afterwards. In the case, Disney, through its artists rendering influences the little girl into believing what they want her to believe in order to move their products and sell their movie tickets and videos. Previous Disney incarnations of their princesses were mostly passive females who looked to men in order to be saved. However, D isney decided to go a different route in an effort to keep up with the feminist cause. Hence the empowered and sexually charged portrayal of their current crop of princesses (Greenfield, Beth â€Å"Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral†). Let us remember that starting with Ariel, the little mermaid, Disney began serving up young women who are basically self-centered and with a knack for getting themselves into trouble. Ariel as a princess of the sea thought only of herself and her dreams and her ambitions. When she came across her prince charming, she then set her sights on snagging him to the extent of endangering herself in the process.

The Iliad (selections), and The Poem of my Cid Essay

The Iliad (selections), and The Poem of my Cid - Essay Example To begin with, the Iliad is full of heroes. Indeed even as Homer tells the story of both the Greeks and the Trojans, it is clear this story is more a tableaux about heroism than a morality play involving good guys and bad guys. Both sides of the conflict have their villains and heroes and indeed some heroes are more heroic than others. The two most immediate heroic figures that leap from the pages are Achilles, on the Greek side, and Hector, on the Trojan side. In the entire epic, most people would agree that Hector is the more heroic and honorable, even though he is killed by Achilles. Part of these lies in the fact of what Achilles does to Hector after killing him—tying him behind his chariot and dishonoring his body. Even many Greeks believe this is an unpleasant and unbefitting thing to do, although there is no reasoning with Achilles. We see in Homer’s depiction a very complex figure. Achilles is the strongest and best fighter for the Greeks, but he is also impatie nt, childish, and brutish. No one can beat him and everyone is afraid of him, but he is not necessarily a great person. He does however sometimes have a sense of honor as when he is forced back into battle by the death of Patroclus. When he finally decides to reengage with the Trojans he does it not out of his own self-interest but to avenge his best friend. So we see that sometimes Achilles acts selflessly—a quality of heroism—and sometimes he acts selfishly as when he stops fighting and allows Greeks to be killed in battle (including Patroclus) because he is angry at Agamemnon and just decides to sit in his tent and to sulk. We can contrast this behavior to that of the honorable Hector who is defending his home and his family. He is defending his father, Priam, the king of Troy, but he is also deeply concerned about his family. When his wife Andromache tells him not to fight, he answers: "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but