Cinderella / Brave

Do films for children reflect a change in gender roles over the past half century or so? It is a truism that gender roles have changed in that time period: the feminine mystique of the 1950s has gradually yielded to greater egalitarianism, such that we now live in a moment when a female presidential candidate is plausible in a way that would not have been possible in the Eisenhower era. I propose to examine the change in gender roles by examining two animated films with central female leads -- Walt Disney's 1950 "Cinderella" and Pixar's 2012 "Brave." I hope to demonstrate that, while each film expresses certain aspects of gender roles that are common to the decade in which it was made, there are elements which make the story slightly more complicated. "Cinderella" may seem like it is more retrograde in terms of gender roles, but my...
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