Name: Alexia Ernest

Assignment: Outline
Course: English
Exploring Disney's "The Little Mermaid" to uncover the hidden issues of race, feminism and
stereotypes.
In scattered memories of younger days I can remember many times being glued to our
tiny television screen, watching the little mermaid which I found so captivating, I would hold my
breath in anticipation as the storyline unfolded , wanting so desperately for the prince to rescue
and whisk the princess away. Is that not what all children wanted- to be the handsome prince or
the beautiful princess? That was long before 'pure' minds could become aware of these hidden
social issues that are prevalent in these "children films". As children, we did not see the different
skin tones. And we definitely did not notice stereotypes of gender and race, not the fact that
young minds were being shaped by forces much larger than us. We did not grasp the "real" moral
lessons of the story- never looking beyond the fairytale. With the use of this story I will attempt
to magnify and critically assess the underlying issues of racism, sexism and stereotypes
evaluating how these issues are all very much, albeit subconsciously, a part of movies that we
watch.
"The Little Mermaid" is about a young mermaid Ariel, 16 years old to be exact, who feels that no
one understands her or her desire to be part of human world. She collects many 'antiques' from
the surface and even dreams about having legs. By chance, Ariel encounters a human and it is
love at first sight. She becomes even more obsessed with having legs and being with the Prince.
Eventually she forsakes her lifestyle to be with him, paying the price of her voice to acquire feet.

But in the end, as with all fairytales she eventually ends up with the happy ending - in this case,
with feet and her father's blessing,
In the months and even years after its screening, The Little Mermaid was and is still at the
receiving end of a large amount of ' hate mail' from feminists, who view this movie as an
extremely poor example of a figure that young girls should aspire to be. In Charles Champlin's
Article, " Diving Into the 'Little Mermaid' Sexism Issue ", he discusses the outrage expressed by
women after the screening of "The Little Mermaid". With the central point being that the film
promotes what they call the "Some-Day-My-Prince-Will-Come" Syndrome". They also called to
question the fact that Ariel, who in the beginning was seen as a rational, determined,
adventurous and completely independent individual, became, after meeting the prince as a
woman who was satisfied to live, without a voice, solely dependent on the prince. Is this saying
that, no matter how independent and self -sufficient women may seem, the ultimate goal for a
woman is to find a man that will be willing to take care of her financially while she remains
'voice-less'. The film, in this light, calls then for even non - feminists to inquire on the motives of
Ariel's other choices and actions.
Expanding on the theory of Ariel's choices, brings about the ultimate sacrifice that she
makes to be with the prince. She places more emphasis on having feet than her voice, which is
clearly seen when she makes the trade of her voice for feet. But what does her voice literally
represent? Does it says that a woman should give up who she is, her entire being, her voice (in
the form of her rights) for the man that she loves? We listened to the song Ursula (the witch
who Ariel made the deal with) sings to Ariel when Ariel comes for help. She emphasizes
her point that a voice is useless, but a pretty face coupled with pretty legs is even more
essential to capturing "your man". When looking at these lyrics, we begin to ask ourselves

the question, (even if we are against the view of hidden messages in film), what does this
support, except for the saying that is as old as time and is still the highly refuted quote of
feminists; "Women should be seen not heard"?
"The men up there dont like a lot of blabber. They think a girl
who gossips is a bore.
Yes, on land its much preferred For ladies not to say a
word, And after all, dear,
What is idle prattle for?
[Come on]
Theyre not all that impressed with conversation. True gentlemen
avoid it when they can.
But they dote and swoon and fawn
On a lady whos withdrawn. Its she who holds her
tongue
Who gets her man".
The script continues," "But if you take away my voice," said Ariel, "what is left for me?" Ursula
replies, "Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these
you can enchain a man's heart..." " After Ariel's voice was taken away, she is really only left with
her bashful smile and beauty to charm the prince, who, even if he can't understand her, is
completely smitten an enamored with the silent Ariel. What then does this say about a woman?
That all she needs is her amazing smile and beauty and that silence instead will win her her man.
As an opposing argument, one might bring up the point that Ariel, unlike the other
Disney characters of Snow White and Sleeping beauty, is no doormat. Instead she is portrayed as

the opposite- extremely rebellious. She completely rebels against her father- King Triton. But
rebellious for what cause, and at what price- to be with a man? And even the rebellion seen is
only up to a point. After which she is content to depend only on the male character. Why after
all that rebellion and bravery, must the girl still be rendered helpless and in need of rescuing
from the prince?
When talking about the issue of racism, we can view the characters of color, or more
specifically, the characters which we are left to insinuate to be colored. Observing the character
of Ursula, it can be clearly seen that the character has "purple skin". Let us consider now what
race was and is still insultingly referred to as purple- Africans or African Americans of course.
Why is it that the one 'colored' human/mermaid character in the film turns out to be the evil
character?
The fact also, that there is no racial diversity, except for Ursula and a Jamaican-sounding
crab, Sebastian, in itself , speaks volumes about racism in film. Dorothy L Hugley, in her article,
"Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess", speaks about children's
psyche and that studies have proven that children are very much aware of the absence of racial
diversity in film. And this awareness usually stems from printed as well as electronic media. The
images then, 'shape' us, from a young age as to what the princess should look like in a fairytale
and consequently how children view themselves (222). Hugley further states that the character
who is of color- Sebastian, is a crab who is the trusted servant of King Triton. But he also noted
that Sebastian is also one of the most insignificant figures in the book, relative to size, who is
never taken seriously (226).

The idea of stereotypes merges very much with both the issues of racism and sexism. Let
us use the villain and the heroine in the story and connect them to children viewing the movie .
The obese Ursula versus the 'Victoria Secret'-model appearance of Ariel. Anna Escher, in her
article, "Disney 's Racism and Sexism" discusses the issue of gender stereotyping and how these
projected images have become what is expected of women from both men and women. She
discusses the fact that women were expected to have "disproportionately skinny waists.. "
resembling what she calls "cinematic Barbie dolls". She further stated that these unrealistic
expectations from women act as a "template" for what romance should be. But what does this
say about accepted physical appearances? Ursula, the villain on the hand is painted as this
grotesque evil figure who is not only a large sea creature but and over made-up witch with short
white hair. Ariel, on the other hand encompasses all the characteristics of a beautiful girl (which
appears to be a constant in Disney movies). Her figure is slender, with as mentioned before, a
very small waist. She has big blue eyes and long luscious hair. On contrary, Ursula, the villain, is
a morbidly obese individual who has ,compared to Ariel, breast and hips of a much larger
prportion. But stereotypes can not only be seen among females but also among the males
portrayed in the film. Is it ironic that we see the man she falls in love with and wants to abandon
her family for is a prince? Indicative of what a girl's choice in men should be influenced by wealth and status.
Elaborating on the point of stereotypes and masculinity, in the film, we see what happens to King
Triton when his trident ( which can represent his manhood) is taken away from him by Ursula. In
Mathew and Greenberg's "Ideology of the Mermaid " they describe Triton as "emasculating " as
he "takes on a whole new light for the class as they see him shrivel into a shell of a man" . Power
shifts when Ursula is in possession of the trident. But what happens next? In Scott Grant's

"Disney's Little Mermaid" he described how the power shift is linked significantly to gender
roles.(1) He describes the fact that Ursula grows to and extremely huge size and that this huge
form represents the "desire to enter a man's world", and that when Ursula's is finally transformed
she becomes "blinded by her own ambition" and does not see the prince's attack. He continues by
stating, "In the most violent image of the film, she is impaled by the prince, who re-establishes
the prevailing masculine order. This final confrontation defines male power as socially
redeeming, female power as destructive and unnatural." The main point being that when women
are granted the same power, as they become consumed by that power and unable to be
controlled. And if one is referred to as "unable to control themselves", they are most likely also
labeled irrational.
Furthering the point of stereotypes and male characters, we can link this to physical and social
expectations of men. Anna Escher in her articles states, "The gender discrimination and
stereotyping goes both ways. Prince Charming is nothing but a two-dimensional, recycled
character who exists in every Disney movie. His role is to save the damsel from whatever type of
distress she may be in, and to propel a highly unrealistic and hyper-masculine image of what
men should be like. These sexist ideals are just one facet of Disneys skewed agenda." (1).
Escher point can be compared to that of modern society, in the fact that we see women who still
feel that they need to be 'rescued' by a man, that even learning the skill of changing a tire is one
that is deemed unimportant because a man will always be there to do it.
The Little Mermaid is not alone. These very issues are astoundingly prevalent in other Disney
films. What is more astounding is Disney's ability to visibly make references to all these issues
but not resolve them. Andreas Muler-Hartmann makes reference to this in the article, "Is Disney
Safe for Kids?Subtexts in Walt Disney's Animated Films": "The films often show the

importance of friendship, of helping others or the necessity of assuming responsibility in life. At

the same time, they also work with racist imagery as in The Junge Book or Aladdin, trditional if
not sexist gender roles as in The Little Mermeaid, Pocahontas or Mulan, the one-sided and oftern
distorted representation of other cultures as well as the domination of other nations by the US.,
such as in Aladdin, The Lion King, or The Recusers Down Under, or the bland promotion of
merchadising, as in Hercules, to name a few." But what are we prepared to do? How can one
reshape the minds of so many who have been conditioned to think a certain way? In order to
resolve this we first have to acknowledge that given the evidence gathered in films like "The
Little Mermaid", it can be stated, that although the broad messages of 'the good defeating the
evil' is there, there are other larger subliminal messages and issues that rear their heads.

Work Cited
Champlin, Charles, ed. " Diving Into the 'Little Mermaid' Sexism Issue" Los Angeles Time. N.p., 05
Dec. 1989. Web.
Escher, Anna, ed. "Disney's Racism and Sexism." The Los Angeles Loyolan. 22 Mar. 2012. Web.
Hurley, Dorothy L. "Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess."The Journal
of Negro Education 74.3 (Summer 2005): 221-26. Print.
Mathew, and Greenberg. "The Ideology of the Mermaid." 9.2 (2009): 229-30. Web.
Muler-Hartmann, Andreas. "Is Disney Safe for Kids?Subtexts in Walt Disney's Animated Films."
America Studies 52.3 (2007): 401.
Scott, Grant. "Disney's Little Mermaid' Based On Outdated Feminine Stereotypes." The Morning Call
6 Apr. 1999.Web.
The Little Mermaid. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Pictures, 1989. Film.