Comments on: The Boys and the Mouse http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/ As narrated by the most charming and vicious women on the internet Sun, 02 Jun 2013 05:22:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Hill Rat http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6033 Hill Rat Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:50:11 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6033 @BeckySharper and @sarah.of.a.lesser.god

True, true . . . but the race and class elements of this strategy serve to reinforce the gender roles.

]]> By: Froufrou http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6020 Froufrou Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:42:22 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6020 Something must have missed my generation here, because I still happily watch Disney movies (well, some of them, excluding Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, and Snow White-I’m not that princess-y, I guess) with my friends, male or female (all between 20 and 25). My boyfriend likes them more than I do. Maybe it’s not quite the same here in Europe -much less merchandise available for sale, definitely- but everyone I grew up with saw all the movies, whether they were aimed at girls or boys. And we all know the boys cried when Bambi’s mother died :)

But now, I have to admit Hannah Montana is not something boys would want to admit watching-although neither would I, I can just hear my father’s scathing tones “What stupidity are you watching now?” That cured me from a lot of girly fluff. Although he wasn’t impressed by my brother’s love of Power Rangers either.

Sorry, i ramble.

I just dislike seeing such vapid, silly role models for little girls in all the Disney shows, whether they’re the lead or secondary characters. As if “girls are stupid” needed reinforcing.

]]> By: sarah.of.a.lesser.god http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6017 sarah.of.a.lesser.god Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:05:00 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6017 @HillRat: But of course! Remember, Disney is the conglomerate that made Jafar significantly darker than Aladdin, that had the “urban” hyenas in The Lion King, and the “classic” song “What Makes the Red Man Red?” from Peter Pan.

]]> By: Laughingrat http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6015 Laughingrat Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:52:03 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6015 [mild threadjack]

The gendering of children’s entertainment is such a self-fulfilling prophecy. Believe me, it infects books as well, and now there’s a trend in children’s librarianship to simply accept that status quo as natural, as a given, rather than question it. Well, that’s just like the rest of society, eh? The Patriarchy is the norm. No questioning of the Patriarchy!

But yeah–these people don’t look to the root of why boys won’t watch “girl” movies, why boys won’t read “girl” books. They pretend that it has nothing to do with the fact that boys are taught that girls are an incompetent, less-than, boring Other. I had a fellow librarian tell me the other day, in a puzzled tone of voice, “I don’t understand–boys won’t read girl books, but girls will read boy books!” Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Well of course–a girl is a shameful thing to be, while being a boy is something to aspire to.”

It’s like talking to a wall, though. The trend is too big and too stupid. It’s resistant to reason.

]]> By: Suze http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6014 Suze Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:42:50 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6014 You may find this rather caustic blog post by a former children’s television producer an interesting counterpoint to the New York Times article:

http://sidneyiwanter.blogspot.com/2009/04/disney-has-found-its-eighth-dwarf.html

]]> By: Kivrin http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6005 Kivrin Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:56:25 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6005 My ex-bf knew all the words to “Gaston” (and loved to sing the part about expectorating), but I think that’s because he had two older sisters who made him watch the movie. I wonder if he would have liked it without their influence?

]]> By: AuntieEm http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6004 AuntieEm Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:23:25 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6004 @sarah.of.a.lesser.god @afteriris: YAY for Oliver & Company!!! I wore that soundtrack out and sing terribly and unabashedly along to the movie when I watch it. I had a ton of the toys too. Why is it so overlooked?!?!? Billy Joel for ceiling-cat’s sake!!!

]]> By: afteriris http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6001 afteriris Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:03:35 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6001 I am very happy to jump on the bandwagon with some Oliver and Company love, it’s one of my favourites!

My 25 year old brother know all of the words to every song from The Little Mermaid, a fact that he proved this weekend by singing them very loudly to my daughter in the garden when he thought we weren’t listening. He’s definitely what some (not me, I hasten to add)would describe as ‘a man’s man’, which is evidence for nothing, but gives me a lot of satisfaction when I see him gleefully confounding various gender stereotypes.

]]> By: BeckySharper http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-6000 BeckySharper Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:41:55 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-6000 @Hill Rat: Since when has Disney ever catered to any other demographic?

]]> By: Hill Rat http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/14/the-boys-and-the-mouse/comment-page-1/#comment-5998 Hill Rat Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:31:09 +0000 http://www.harpyness.com/?p=4741#comment-5998 At least as troubling as the gender aspect of this market research, is the fact that this research is focused on upper-middle class (probably) white boys.

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