Craven, Allison (2002) Beauty and the Belles: discourses of feminism and femininity in Disneyland. European Journal of Women's Studies, 9 (2). pp. 123-142.

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Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of Disney’s animated film and stage production of Beauty and the Beast, especially of the heroine, Belle, within a more general historiography of the fairy tale. It is argued that Disney’s version displaces the heroic focus from Belle (Beauty) to Beast, while also narrating a response to feminism that involves compressing feminist ideology into conventions of popular romance. The broader representation of femininity in Disney is also examined with reference, particularly, to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and with reflections also on non-fictional characters from media with a relationship to Disney, specifically, Diana Princess of Wales, (Mrs) Lillian Disney and Ellen DeGeneres. Teresa de Lauretis’s ‘elsewhere of vision’ is introduced to disrupt and rewrite the domesticating effects of Disney’s feminism on its heroines.

Item ID:	5144
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1461-7420
Keywords:	beauty, bestiality, différance, Disney, fairytale, feistiness, glass coffin, motherless, spectatorship
Related URLs:	http://ejw.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstr...
Date Deposited:	31 Aug 2009 03:02
FoR Codes:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200205 Culture, Gender, Sexuality @ 60% 20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200212 Screen and Media Culture @ 40%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9502 Communication > 950201 Communication Across Languages and Culture @ 20% 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9502 Communication > 950204 The Media @ 80%
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