University of Michigan Sociologists: Disney films force “heteronormativity” on children
By
Wing Chun Geologist
on July 4, 2009 at 07:48 am
With all the sex and violence that kids are exposed to in the media, you wouldn’t think anybody would get upset that Disney cartoons depict boys and girls liking eagh other. But some University of Michigan pointy-head types actually took the time (and I assume funding) to write a scholarly report on how children are having “heteronormism” forced on them by Disney.
Kathleen Gilbert reports:
OK, so maybe they’re only sociologist and not real academics. But they’re still getting university paychecks.
I’m shocked….shocked to learn that boys and girls fall in love in romantic movies. I’m even more shocked to learn that boys and girls falling in love is idealized by music.
So what these Academics (see university check cashers) have against all this.
Years ago I read that sociology was the 2nd most common major for those admitted into a university without being actually qualified. If you get into college because you can throw a ball or because you fill a quota, you’ll likely major in Education of Sociology. As a major it’s considered less rigerous and intellectual than Physical Education. I’ve often fealt that sociology was a pseudo-social-science. I may have been too generous.
Kathleen Gilbert reports:
Researchers at the University of Michigan have concluded that the love stories told in classic Disney and other G-rated children’s films - such as the Little Mermaid - are partially to blame for the pervasiveness of what they label “heteronormativity.”
“Despite the assumption that children’s media are free of sexual content, our analyses suggest that these media depict a rich and pervasive heterosexual landscape,” wrote researchers Emily Kazyak and Karin Martin, in a report published in the latest issue of the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) publication Gender & Society.
OK, so maybe they’re only sociologist and not real academics. But they’re still getting university paychecks.
Kazyak and Martin said they studied the role of heterosexual relationships in several of the highest-grossing G-rated films between 1990-2005.
The results, say the researchers, illustrate two ways that the children’s films “construct heterosexuality”: through “depictions of hetero-romantic love as exceptional, powerful, transformative, and magical,” and “depictions of interactions between gendered bodies in which the sexiness of feminine characters is subjected to the gaze of masculine characters.”
“Characters in love are surrounded by music, flowers, candles, magic, fire, balloons, fancy dresses, dim lights, dancing and elaborate dinners,” the researchers observed. “Fireflies, butterflies, sunsets, wind and the beauty and power of nature often provide the setting for - and a link to the naturalness of - hetero-romantic love.”
The SWS press release on the research blamed what they called the “old ideals” of romantic relationships, specifically those found the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, which in many instances inspired the films’ storylines, for “such heavily gendered depictions and glorified portrayals of heterosexual relationships.”
I’m shocked….shocked to learn that boys and girls fall in love in romantic movies. I’m even more shocked to learn that boys and girls falling in love is idealized by music.
So what these Academics (see university check cashers) have against all this.
The team says the results point to heterosexuality achieving a “taken-for-granted status” “because hetero-romance is depicted as powerful.”
“Both ordinary and exceptional constructions of heterosexuality work to normalize its status because it becomes difficult to imagine anything other than this form of social relationship or anyone outside of these bonds,” they concluded.
“These films provide powerful portraits of a multifaceted and pervasive heterosexuality that likely facilitates the reproduction of heteronormativity.”
The SWS press release concluded: “President Obama may have declared June to be Gay Pride Month, but entertainment for children therefore continues to perpetuate a less inclusive message, leaving those outside its confines with little to build their own dreams of happily ever after.”
Years ago I read that sociology was the 2nd most common major for those admitted into a university without being actually qualified. If you get into college because you can throw a ball or because you fill a quota, you’ll likely major in Education of Sociology. As a major it’s considered less rigerous and intellectual than Physical Education. I’ve often fealt that sociology was a pseudo-social-science. I may have been too generous.
