The Disney Effect (Media's Portrayal of Women) - by Chris Williams

There’s very few sit-coms I watch on TV, but one I do enjoy is Two and a Half Men. It has some great one-liners, the young boy is hilarious, and fantasizing being Charlie is definitely a part of the program’s draw. I got to thinking about the overt connotations made in the program toward men, women, and sexuality. The program feeds directly into the myth that most women are fairly stupid, easy lays looking in the wrong places for meaningful relationships while the protagonist, Charlie, is a borderline alcoholic who defines a relationship by the number of times he gets the same woman in bed and not by its length in months or years but days.

Charlie’s brother becomes a sympathetic character whose ex-wife is depicted as an unfeeling woman who has destroyed his masculinity, self image, and financial stability. The thing that struck me was the division of characters and the depiction of each. Charlie’s numerous sexual encounters (sometimes more than one in a day with different women) are not exactly condoned, but since boys will be boys, he’s not held to any moral standard.

Now if you reversed the situation and used a woman in Charlie’s place, this type of behavior would be condemned, labeling the woman with many of society’s terms for a woman with this type of sexual appetite and lack of interest in long term commitment: slut, whore, nymphomaniac etc. Ironically, the only really strong, independent, self confident woman in the program is Charlie’s mother who is depicted as an egotistical opportunist who failed miserably as a mother, and wife. In other words, it’s OK for the guys but not for the women.

Most of us grew up with Disney films. Look at each blockbusting Disney animated film and the myth of the needy woman being rescued by the white knight is repeated over and over. The scariest depiction is in The Beauty and the Beast. A young boy watching this film will see that various forms of abusing women, both physically and emotionally is part of what a man does. This is repeated several times during the film. Even after the abuse the fair maiden suffers at the hands of the ‘beast’, it is still her duty to forgive and give him time to change his behavior and attitude towards her. The film essentially tells us that his behavior is mostly her fault to begin with. This is the exact wrong message to send to young boys or men in general. Any female victim of abuse will tell you that the abuse only gets worse, and that the abuser is in deep psychological trouble.

These are just a few examples I’ve been pondering, but the ramifications of messages sent to us via the media, especially as it concerns our traditional view of women are quite disturbing.