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“Disney’s Dolls” by Kathi Maio Essay

The article "Disney's Dolls" by Kathi Maio is possibly the best illustration of how one could

assess children's art from a suffragist point of view. The author offers her own, personal

assessment on Disney studio-animated cartoons. Kathi opted to criticise films considered

important for young viewers in order to address the issue of chauvinism against girls on screen. I

would try to be objective while assessing Kathi Maio's talent, keeping in mind that modern

civilised culture finds it very popular to empathise with feminists.

In "Disney's Dolls," Kathi Maio explores the unfavourable ways that Disney films have depicted

women, using analysis of a number of films and specific examples to support her claims. As well

as critiquing the way Disney has represented women, Maio also critiques the racism and ethnic

stereotypes present in Disney films, such as those in Aladdin. She wants to show us how Disney

saw women in the 20th century as well as share with the public her opinions on the movies.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

James Baldwin

The purpose of Maio's article was to demonstrate how Disney uses ethnic stereotypes in their

films and how they viewed women, and she does a good job of achieving this goal; however,

after reading "Disney's Dolls," it is clear that this is an opinionated piece, as the reader can agree

or disagree with her. Although Maio's material is very correct, she prefers to make one broad

argument and explain how it applies to a number of Disney flicks. The central argument of her

article is that Disney portrays women as "needing" a guy to "save" them and as being hopeless

without his affection. Maio emphasises this point several times in her piece by providing

instances to bolster her argument and demonstrate that this is one of the few key topics she wants
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readers to fully comprehend. Maio uses ad hominem attacks to buttress her point as she critiques

the portrayal of racism and women in Aladdin by Disney.

"Be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul. Fuel yourself with positivity and let that

fuel propel you into positive action." -- Steve Maraboli

When she examines Disney's representation of women and racism in Aladdin, Maio briefly

reveals her values (Towbin et al., 2004). Disney does not want to insult or offend anyone, even

after producing the picture, but in this portion of her post, Maio appears to express her anger

with Disney's conception of women and race. Without a guy, women would be completely lost

and their lives would be devoid of significance, according to Disney. Although some individuals

could disagree with Maio's views on Disney's Aladdin, the validity of Maio's ideas in numerous

Disney films is evident to readers, thus they are likely to agree with her. She contends that the

skin colour or gender of a person should have no bearing on how they are evaluated based on

their appearance. I agree with her criticism of Disney's Aladdin due to its stereotypical

generalisations. Although Disney did get a few things culturally correct, they stereotypically

portrayed a number of things, as Maio explains in her essay about Aladdin.

Maio gives more proof for her theory by addressing the similarities between Aladdin and an

American-looking guy, as well as Jafar, and comparing him to the majority of villains. She

continues her discussion of her most important point - how Disney regarded women in the 20th

century - by stating that women are not housewives seeking men to save them. I fully agree with

the arguments she makes in her piece on women's independence, which is what Maio wants her

readers to grasp after repeatedly emphasising this subject. The tone of Maio's piece regarding

Disney's portrayal of women constitutes an indirect assault against Disney, which may be

discerned by observing Maio's writing. As a feminist film critic, she adds these arguments to her
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thesis by demonstrating how Disney's stories incorporate her points about women. Disney films

are intended for amusement and viewing by individuals of all ages; but, many people, unlike

Maio, watch them without knowing the details (Chow, 2013). It is excellent to read an essay like

Mao's, which opens the reader's eyes and enables them to see that even Disney expresses

concepts in diverse ways, because I fully agree with those who enjoy Disney films for fun.

“Constantly exposing yourself to popular culture and the mass media will ultimately shape your

reality tunnel in ways that are not necessarily conducive to achieving your Soul Purpose and

Life Calling. Modern society has generally ‘lost the plot’. Slavishly following its false gods and

idols makes no sense in a spiritually aware life.”

Anthon St. Maarten

Although Maio makes legitimate comments on how Disney saw women in the 20th century, she

also sheds light on racism and racial stereotypes in her piece, which is very biased for most

readers. Her thesis against Disney's image of women is prejudiced and opinionated, since her

arguments are readily disputable by certain readers; yet, Maio gives sufficient data in her essay

to bolster her case and persuade readers that Disney has depicted women in bad ways. Utilizing

ad hominem attacks to bolster her allegations, Maio's tone as a feminist film reviewer

demonstrates that she is opposed to Disney's portrayal of women in a bad light. I am aware that

Disney's films, notably Aladdin, include a few stereotypes; nonetheless, Maio does an adequate

job of discussing this. After providing a few small examples of racial stereotypes and prejudice

and discussing them briefly, she moves on to her next point in the essay. I definitely agree with

Maio's comments on the unfavourable portrayal of women by Disney, and I feel she has argued

logically and evaluated the facts properly by defining essential terminology beforehand and

organising her ideas (Bălinişteanu, 2014).

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“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust

your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”

Garry Kasparov

Overall, Maio's argument in "Disney's Dolls" is successful in accomplishing its objective since it

focuses on the unfavourable representation of women in Disney films from the 20th century.

Maio provides readers with sufficient evidence by using logos to support her argument, which

contributes to the fact that she has many points about how Disney views women in negative

ways in addition to ethnic stereotypes, which helps to make her article much stronger. Despite

the fact that her article is entirely opinionated, Maio provides readers with sufficient evidence by

using logos to support her argument.

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Work Cited

BĂLINIŞTEANU, C. 2014. The Disneyfication of Children’s Literature. Interstudia (Revista Centrului

Interdisciplinar de Studiu Al Formelor Discursive Contemporane Interstud), 86-94.

CHOW, J. 2013. Beauty-ful Inferiority: Female Subservience in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. LUX: A

Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University, 2, 7.

TOWBIN, M. A., HADDOCK, S. A., ZIMMERMAN, T. S., LUND, L. K. & TANNER, L. R. 2004. Images of

gender, race, age, and sexual orientation in disney feature-length animatedfilms. Journal of

feminist family therapy, 15, 19-44.