IntroductionA. Defining Gender Roles A gender role consists of characteristics that refer to a set of social and behavioral norms widely considered appropriate for both males and females. Gender roles are different in society and cultures. One obtains gender roles unconsciously, consciously, or genetically due to cultural rules (Princeton).B. How Movie Characters Are Seen by Audiences Many people see women as weak in hopeless movies and men as strong and heroic in movies. Male characters are considered more physical, functional, sexual, intelligent and independent. Female characters are seen as dependent, weak, silent, graceful and innocent (Planned Parenthood). For example, in the film Tangled (2009) Rapunzel is seen as a woman trapped in her house where she paints, cleans, and reads; when her prince arrives, she hits him with a frying pan. In the movie The Little Mermaid, Prince Eric is seen as a tough man and hero after saving Ariel and taking control of a ship during a violent sea storm.Disney and Gender RollsA. Article One: “Disney Princesses Are Not the Role Models They Appear to Be” by Cassie Schmidt The author of this article argues that classic Disney princesses are not great role models for young children. “Children learn by example and Cinderella teaches that finding love is easy, which is far from the truth.” So what the author means is that growing up, children basically play "follow the leader" every day. What children see is what they will do and apply to their daily lives. Cinderella finding true love at a ball is completely fictional, but it can teach girls to be hopelessly romantic. Another statement made by the author of this article concerns Snow White: "After being thrown out of her ki... middle of paper... by the components that made it, I believe it is necessary to do a fair research on both the male than female gender roles in Disney films. You need to have more insight into how children portray each princess and prince. Works Cited England, Dawn, and Lara Descartes. “Welcome to Human Development and Family Studies.” human and family studies. Gender Roll Portrayal and Disney Princesses, February 2011. Web. 19 December 2013. England, Dawn, Lara Descartes and Melissa Collier-Meek. "Gender Representation and Disney Princesses". . Web."Gender and gender identity. Planned Parenthood and Web. 16 December 2013. "Gender roles. Princeton and Web. 19 December 2013. Schmidt, Cassie they are not the role models they appear to be." http://www.familystudies.uconn.edu/, Jan. 21, 2010. Web. Dec. 19. 2013.