Disney princesses don’t slay dragons, play sports, or save the world. Disney princesses are merely required to wait for their Prince Charming to come on a galloping horse and rescue them from distress. It is a fantasy that never needs to be questioned. Walt Disney has created a powerful and enormous market of entertainment that has quietly become a crucial part of American society today.
An aspect of Disney that has differentiated itself from other corporations is that it has created a spectacle of innocence. It hides behind innocence in a way that allows itself to be tremendously powerful. It also has a kind of romance that allows audiences to treat Disney as the ultimate form of fantasy. However, behind the scenes, Disney has successfully encoded an ideology to young girls of how women ought to be treated and defined solely through a man. Is this not true? The first Disney princess to be created, Snow White (1937), is killed as her burgeoning sexuality is a threat to another woman. Her only asset, her physical beauty, is what saves her in the end as a prince decides to kiss her. Cinderella (1950) is saved from terrible living conditions by a prince. He does this, not because she is such a hard worker, but because she is beautiful. Sleeping Beauty (1959) is betrothed at birth and is killed by another woman. Her fiancé saves her with a kiss. Sexuality is her only salvation. Jasmine (1992) must marry to satisfy the requirements of the law. Her reluctance to do so causes her father much trouble. She is then enslaved by an evil man and is only saved by the wit of a street rat.
It may be strongly argued that Disney has successfully embedded a capitalist foundation beneath the romanticized world of Disney princesses. Gayle Rubin, author of The Traffic in Women, writes, “Women are oppressed in societies which can by no stretch of the imagination be described as capitalist” (Rubin 773). Rubin continues to examine the oppression that women have dealt with and continue to deal with in the society today. He provides an example in the Amazon valley and the New Guinea Highlands where “women are frequently kept in their place by gang rape when the ordinary mechanisms of masculine intimidation prove insufficient” (Rubin 773). Although Disney does not take it to the extreme with “rape” as an event in their stories, female oppression is clearly evident.
Aladdin is Disney’s 1992 retelling of the famous tale from 1001 Arabian Nights of a poor “street rat” who finds a magical lamp that holds a genie who will grant his fondest wishes. The boy’s wishes are to be free of his status so that he may woo the love of his life, Princess Jasmine. In the end, the boy gains wealth and successfully woos Jasmine as he also wishes to become a prince. However, he must fight his adversary, Jafar, to gain the right to marry Jasmine.
The overall theme of Aladdin may be argued to be the idea of “freedom.” Each dynamic character of the story seeks a form of freedom. Aladdin seeks to be free of his state of poverty and is dazzled by the possibilities that become available to him with the genie. Jafar seeks to be free of always being “second-best.” When he grabs a hold of the genie, Jafar wishes to become Sultan and then a powerful genie to be able to control the world. Jasmine feels trapped by her royalty position and seeks to be set free into the outside world. The Genie is trapped in his lamp with a lifetime of servitude and wishes to be set free and become his own genie.
Although each character attains their freedom in some shape or form, Jasmine is the only character that remains trapped although she, too, appears to be set free. Jasmine makes it clear from the beginning of the story that she does not agree with the ways of royalty. She seeks to escape the world of rules and laws as she daydreams about life outside of the palace. She wishes to be independent and free but comes to a halt, as she is required by law to marry by her next birthday. She appears to be disgusted by all the suitors that come asking for her hand in marriage. By the end of the film, Jasmine is granted the freedom to marry the man she falls in love with and lives “happily ever after” as she and Aladdin fly away on a magic carpet. Everything appears to be magical, dreamy, and perfect. However, Jasmine does not gain the freedom she desires. The only chance at independence and individuality diminishes as she flies off into the moonlight with her husband. She is still under a man and identified through a man. This goes along with the Indian tradition of “Sati,” the forced or voluntary killing of a widow once her husband has passed away. This act greatly defines women in relation to their husbands and reinforces the idea that women must submit to men and cannot exist without their husbands.
This concept of female oppression still exists today, only to be covered and veiled by religion or tradition – the same way Disney movies veil female oppression through innocence and magic. Khalid, an Islam, speaks on a defensive point-of-view regarding the head-coverings that women are required to wear any and every time they step out of their homes.
He says, “The women covering their heads is not oppression. Their husband did not tell them to do that. Their father did not tell them to do that. Their son did not tell them to do that. God said for the Muslim ladies, ‘Draw your clothing across your bosoms and do not allow your natural ornaments to be shown except to those within your family circle.’” Although Khalid proves a strong point in his argument and further defends his point by comparing the lifestyle of nuns, a counter-argument drawn from a capitalist point-of-view is just as strongly present. He states that nuns are not of Islam but as women who have committed themselves to God, they cover themselves in honor of their religion and beliefs. However, Rubin writes, “Capitalism is heir to a long tradition in which women do not inherit, in which women do not lead, and in which women do not talk to god” (Rubin 773). Thus, the argument against the Islam tradition and culture would be that women do not talk to god and are unable to have such a relationship with god. How, then, would Islamic men convince outsiders that female oppression does not exist?
In the same manner, Jasmine is repeatedly seen as a victim of female oppression throughout the story of Aladdin. A Feminist critique of Jasmine is present in the way she appears to be naïve and clumsy without the aid of a man. She does not understand the basics of life in the real world. Her first venture outside of the palace results in a disaster as the audience immediately realizes that she cannot survive in the real world outside of the palace. She has been too sheltered. She needs Aladdin to rescue her just moment after entering the market. ThinkQuest, an education foundation, writes, “The Indian women’s mortality rate is the second-highest in the world. More than 60 per cent of Indian women are illiterate. For every 1000 men, there are only 933 women in India, while the world’s average is 990 women for every 1000 men. Every year, of 15 million baby girls in India, almost 25 per cent do not live to celebrate their 15th birthday. Adult women take in approximately 1,000 fewer calories for one day than men in India. Every 34 minutes, a rape occurs” (ThinkQuest 1). Jasmine qualifies each description of the Indian woman. Although Jasmine is keen to her senses, she is never recognized for it by any character in the story. She swiftly jumps over a gap between buildings thousands of feet in the air, to which Aladdin does not verbally respond to at all. During Jasmine’s venture into the marketplace, she could easily have been killed without a moment of hesitation if it were not for Aladdin. Throughout the story, Jasmine does not eat once. Although she is given an apple, which is snatched from the dirty hands of a monkey, without taking a single bite, she hands it back to the monkey. Towards the end of the story, Jafar becomes Sultan. Once Jafar gains this power, Jasmine appears to wear a red, sultry outfit that signifies Jafar’s intentions with Jasmine to be purely sexual. Jasmine undoubtedly represents the realities of the oppressed Indian woman hidden behind the romanticized curtain of imagination and fantasy.
Along with the sexual connotation of the Feminist critique of women, Rubin states that there is an “implicit theory of sex oppression” when it comes to the construction of women (Rubin 777). Aside from Jasmine, women are only decoration in the background of Aladdin. There are the matronly types and the scantly clad sexy girls in the market scenes, as well as the large woman who tries to be sexy ("still I think he's rather tasty") but is played for laughs. The Genie plays with gender stereotyping for laughs ("do I look fat?"), but we always understand that the Genie is male. Jasmine's mother is only mentioned once by the Sultan, who says she "wasn't nearly so picky” (IMSDb 1).
Focusing on Jasmine’s appearance throughout the story, her outfits may very well stir up a controversy with Indian traditions but go hand-in-hand with the Feminist critique regarding sex oppression. The automatic impression of an Indian woman is a fully clothed woman with a shawl that gently rests on her head. Jasmine reveals exactly the opposite. Regardless of the occasion, Jasmine is always wearing a top that covers only her breasts and leaves her stomach and shoulders bare. She is presented in tiny clothes that correctly fit her tiny frame. Her head is covered with a shawl only when she leaves the palace and walks through the marketplace to appear “normal” and not of royalty. Rubin writes, “Sex as we know it – gender identity, sexual desire and fantasy, concepts of childhood – is itself a social product” (Rubin 774). This highly incorrect and sexualized image of the Indian woman is hidden behind the magic and fantasy that young audiences are enchanted by. In the same sense, the idea of sex and the business of sex slaves in India are hidden extremely well. A.K. Jayasree writes in his article, Searching for Justice for Body and Self in a Coercive Environment: Sex Work in Kerala, India, “There are no visible brothels in Kerala state in India, but commercial sexual activity goes on in numerous places. There is also very little documented information on the conditions in which sex workers live and work. Sex work is hidden very well” (Jayasree 58). Jasmine is also objectified. Ultimately, while Aladdin claims that Jasmine is not a "prize" and that she should have freedom and choice, it shows the viewer that for her there is no choice. Marriage is still a woman's ultimate and best destiny, and that the best that can be hoped for is a good and loving husband, not a separate life of one's own. And even in marriage, even though she gets the man she loves, it is not through her choice, but through her father's, who changes the law so that "the Princess shall marry whomever she deems worthy." Jasmine has no power; she cannot be Sultan, only the wife of the Sultan. In the end, Aladdin eventually wins Jasmine in a highly romanticized way so that the audience forgets her earlier claim as she says, “How dare you, all of you, standing around planning my future. I am not a prize to be won!” (IMSDb 1). Rubin writes, “The exchange of women does not necessarily imply that women are objectified, in the modern sense, since objects in the primitive world are imbued with highly personal qualities. But it does imply a distinction between gift and giver. Women are the gifts and the men are the exchange partners” (Rubin 779). Again, Jasmine is not the one with power. Jasmine is under the hand of a man from beginning to end, from Sultan’s daughter, to Sultan’s prisoner, and then to Sultan’s wife. Never is she seen to be the one "winning" another man and having power over them.
Although Aladdin has won two Oscar awards along with fifteen nominations, the overall audience fails to take notice of the hidden Feminist and Capitalist foundation that is set in the story. Many young girls grow up wishing and fantasizing themselves as Princess Jasmine, waiting to be swept away by a prince on a magic carpet when in reality, they are wishing to become a victim of Capitalism.
Works Cited
Aladdin: The Complete Script. N.d. MS. Aladdin Script at IMSDb. Internet Movie Script Database. Web. 10 May 2010.
Jayasree, A. K. "Searching for Justice for Body and Self in a Coercive Environment: Sex Work in Kerala, India." Reproductive Health Matters 12.23 (2004): 58-67. JSTOR. Web. 10 May 2010.
"Man & Woman: The Age Old Struggle :: Female Oppression." Oracle ThinkQuest Library. ThinkQuest, Aug. 2007. Web. 11 May 2010.
Rubin, Gayle. "The Traffic in Women." Literary Theory: an Anthology. By Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. 770-90. Print.
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