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Argumentative essay example

Disney Female Lead Characters: Then and Now

Subject
Film Studies, Gender & Women's Studies
Type
Argumentative essay
Citation style
APA 7
Length
4 pages

About this sample

The paper argues that the prominence of female lead characters in Disney films has changed over time, with classic films often limiting women to beauty and rescue roles. It compares Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989) with the heroines of Frozen (2013), focusing on speaking roles, appearance versus achievement, and marriage plots. The paper concludes that Disney's recent films show development toward portraying women as bold, strong, and resolute.

  • Gender representation in Disney films
  • Ariel in The Little Mermaid
  • Speaking roles and dialogue time
  • Appearance versus achievement in praise of heroines
  • Frozen and changing portrayals of marriage and independence

How it opens

There has been a change in the prominence of female lead characters in new Disney movie. Classic animated Disney movies were significantly regressive, and the only aspects that surrounded Disney princesses are their beauty and being rescued by a male character. This paper intends to reveal the disparity that exist between the female lead characters of the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid (1989), and Frozen (2013).

Most columnists applauded the modern heroine when The Little Mermaid was released in 1989 by Disney. Different from her forerunners, Ariel is exhibited as a completely accomplished female character that is rebellious and independent in her thinking and acting (Guo).

However, upon close review, it is evident that The Little Mermaid signified a regression in the production of princess films. This is because the movie is based on a young woman but is excessively filled with talking by men. Some studies indicate that this was the first Disney animated film where the male characters substantially outspoke the female characters (Guo).

This practice initiated a particular trend on the prominence of men talking more than the women. It is evident that in The Little Mermaid, the plot concerns the challenge of Ariel losing her voice. Still, Disney worsened this situation by giving female characters even fewer chances to speak in subsequent films. In these movies, it was found that male lead characters have three times as many lines as female lead characters (Guo).

The opening section, transcribed from the PDF. The full paper continues below.

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Using an example well

Read it for how the paper is built, not for wording to reuse: how the introduction frames the question, how each paragraph moves from a claim to evidence, and how sources are cited in APA 7. Submitting any part of it as your own work would be plagiarism, and it is written for a different brief than yours.

Writing one yourself? Read the guide How to write an argumentative essay and the APA format guide.

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