On 7th March, The Stag had the pleasure of collaborating with DisneySoc and LitSoc at their Femininity Workshop, where we were privileged to have a presentation by Dr Robyn Muir, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology who has recently published her book, The Disney Princess Phenomenon.
In her talk, Robyn described her experience with Disney studies research. With a background in politics, it was seeing Frozen in cinema in 2013 that was her turning point. As the plot broke the expected formula, she was inspired to research Disney princesses for her undergraduate dissertation. Arguing her case that Disney’s representations of gender was political, she studied the subject for her PhD, which resulted in her first book.
She brought up the big question; why are some Disney women crowned in the ‘Princess’ pantheon, and others are sidelined? Contrary to popular assumption, there were just twelve characters under the Disney Princess franchise. Anna and Elsa? Actually, not ‘Princesses’, in the eyes of executives. They are traditionally franchised separately - due to their overwhelming recent success. Whereas the Princesses are stronger when brought together as a collective, the Frozen franchise does just as well (if not better) when marketed alone.
With the complexities regarding each princess's context, storyline and the response to them in academic literature, it’s important to find out about how the audiences make meaning of gender from the Disney Princesses. That’s where Robyn came in. We need to understand how children understand their gender through these representations. This goes beyond just the target market. We all grew up under the influence of Disney. She needed to speak to tweens, young adults and adults. In focus groups, she asked about their interpretations of Disney Princesses, princesshood, and gender. Attendees were then privileged to hear sneak peeks from her findings, which form her newest project.
With the complexities regarding each princess's context, storyline and the response to them in academic literature, it’s important to find out about how the audiences make meaning of gender from the Disney Princesses.
We then discussed the representation of Jasmine, Aladdin and Ariel, from the animated films to their live action remakes. Attendees brought up their complex feelings around the binaries often constructed by the films, and how they choose to engage with them.
After Robyn’s presentation, attendees from DisneySoc, LitSoc and The Stag shared a slideshow about various female Disney characters, and explored their experience with them.
We’re thankful for our Science and Technology Editor, Luana Vasconcelos, who as President of the Disney Society, put on a fantastic event, and Dr Robyn Muir, who was extremely gracious with her time in speaking to us about her research.
You can read The Disney Princess Phenomenon from the University of Surrey Library, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @DrRobynMuir.
More information about the Disney, Culture and Society Research Network can be found here.