Phrase 2: Cover Letter
The second phrase was really interesting. I got to write my research paper and pick a topic that intrigues me the most. Of course, the main idea was not only to educate me, but it is also to inform a wide variety of audiences about the topic of Disney discrimination. While many people understand Disney is not displaying the right picture, many might not know how Disney is doing it. Whereas the Disney topic is closely related to “analyze and discuss the role that race, ethnicity, class, gender, language, sexual orientation […] play in world cultures or societies.” These affect the daily perceptions of children into developing counter societal moral thoughts or actions. The readers need to understand the effect of children’s films (not only Disney) in the future society; to prevent additional disagreement, protest, and even wars!
Unlike the first phrase, the writing was full of ethos, pathos, and logos. Phrase two includes more focus on the audience and the argument I am trying to present. I developed skills to extend and analyze other writers’ research into supporting Disney discriminates on Language and other societal stigmas. This was done by producing a “well-reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions.” I collected seven difference scholar and non-scholar online sources to support my arguments in each body paragraph and strengthen my claim. This also helped me to develop a better conclusion because I can certainly state that Disney is teaching children to discriminate; and do not have to be passive like I was in the introduction.
In the FIQWS topic and writing section, the class went to the library room to learn how to access and use the college online library system. During those sections, I learned to find my scholarly peer-reviewed articles for the English Exploratory essay. However, finding the best supporting source was not easy, I browsed through articles that were amazing but irrelevant to my topic, and articles that match my topic but does not include the keyword “language.” At last, I “gather, interpret, assess, and critically evaluate information and arguments from a variety of sources and points of view” to find the best fit for my topic. I did the command F to find keywords to approve the source and carefully read through the article. In the readings, I can see the viewpoint on Disney discrimination of professionals. It helped me to question the statement but at the same time agreeing on it. The skills I acquired at the courses in a computer lab will be used for my future research paper. Hopefully, discover new things I can do in the college library system.
The Hidden Message of Disney
Disney played a significant part in most of our youth lives here in the US, but could you imagine there is a hidden message in the films that can potentially be one of the causes of stereotypes and racism? Matter of fact, there are many discussions on how Disney and other films are fueling discrimination against race, language, gender, and class. Linguists have closely analyzed the Disney films and found traces of erroneous messages in the language of the characters. In the United States, children gazing into televisions and realize they are different because they are dissimilar from the fictional Disney world. Consider Aladdin where, noticeably, only the main characters speak Standard English, although they are in “Agrabah” — a city of mystery and enchantment in India. The main question is, do people in India speak Standard English? And why do only the minor or villainous characters in Aladdin have accents? Various Disney films regularly display protagonists and heroes with British or Standard American dialects, whereas the subordinate characters and villains are more often portrayed with Black English and other marginalized languages and accents. Many of us grew up watching Disney cartoons as an entertainment source, during the stage where we intake the most information. Consequently, it will influence our daily perception of others. Children will most likely be affected by this “illusion” that there is only one acceptable English, and it is Standard English. In this essay, I will be exploring how in US society the media plays a big role in children’s development.
The article “Challenging Prejudice in the Classroom” published in the journal Teaching Tolerance in 2013, Walt Wolfram, the sociolinguist at North Carolina State University, discusses how Disney is teaching children to discriminate, arguing that “the voices in Disney’s animation reinforce stereotypes—main characters speak in Standard American or British dialects and mean or ignorant animals tend to speak in African-American English or Southern English” (28). Wolfram exemplifies the language difference between the Disney characters that are degrading the African American and Southern English dialects by having only the “chief” characters to speak Standard English. Therefore, the message Disney provided to children is creating a problem that children at a young age will be influenced to believe that Standard English is more acceptable.
Stereotypical and derogatory language representations will eventually be contradicting to what the political and educational system is trying to teach children; everyone is created equal and so as their language. To extend this idea, Joao “Jota” Rosa, a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, in his text “Discourse, Linguistic Production, and Subjectivity: Disney-fying Language” exemplifies “The main “good characters” are projected as being able to flexibly adjust their social languages in creating varied socially situated identities, and the “evil” characters are projected as in a hyper-corrective mode that becomes “abnormal” in its linguistic inflexibility” (130). Joao “Jota” Rosa adds on to Wolfram’s example of how characters are being portrayed antagonistically in Disney films in a contradictory way.
Figure 1: The language used percentage for Disney films
Children are exposed to Disney films regularly, and these films portray racial and other differences that can have a significant impact on youth and society at large. As shown in figure 1, forty-six percent of Disney characters only speak U.S. English (Standard English) in comparison to the foreign-accented English being used by only fifteen percent. For children who speak Standard English, this might lead them to the perception that they are speaking a more favorable language. Worse, of course, is the societal stigma of racism and language that is being taught in the film and how minorities are depicted.
Disney films are making the point that only righteous characters can speak Standard English, whereas children will start changing the way they talk in their unconscious mind. The language difference, ultimately, creating the attitude of one language is better to one race that speaks Standard English is superior. On the American Icons website, the article “Walt Disney’s Linguistic Portrayal of Aladdin and America”, written by Hilary Lowe further connected Disney’s language discrimination to racism by demonstrating “language discrimination is another reason to undermine someone when one is already discriminating against race and culture, as language is immersed into one’s culture and can be defined by culture through dialect” (2). Lowe clarifies Language discrimination being a type of discrimination on top of racism and prejudice. Children will come across to meeting the mixture or multicultural population in the United States; while remembering they were once told Standard English is what makes a person literate. So how is it acceptable for Disney to broadcast the idea that everyone is not created equal and so as their language to children?
society is having debates and protest on racism and language discrimination, yet for decades, Disney is introducing prejudice and judgments on language to the next generation. On top of Wolfram, Rosa, and Lowe’s intention of showing Disney films are using language discrimination, Kat George, the author of the article “The Disney Movies You Grew Up with Are Incredibly Racist” in VH1 News website claims that in the film “Pocahontas [it] enforces the idea that there are two types of Native American: the noble savage and the violent savage, which is a damaging and offensive categorization” (7). George analyzed the general idea shown in the movie about the Native Americans. The Native Americans are an endangering race that its history has been whitewashed by the Americans. Many children do not have the chance to learn about the authentic historical event until college. Meaning many wrong assumptions about the indigenous people will be made by the children. The racism in Disney films are also presented in the book English with an Accent published in 1997, Lippi-Green Rosina, holds Ph.D. in linguistics from Princeton University shows how racism is being projected to the audience by stating “the majority of children who see this movie [Groove]– many more than once – will retain Disney’s version of Incan culture because it is the only version they will ever be exposed to ” (111) Lippi-Green has reinforced the idea that Disney films are injecting the misleading information to the Americans or the next generations, in this case, the false image of the Incan culture. The children will very likely intake the Disney version of the Incas people based on the limited children’s film on the race. The image of the Incas might stick with them forever. Hence, Lippi-Green asserts Disney is “one of the primary storytellers in the life of American children of all colors and ethnicities,” and “Disney’s films have a deep and long-lasting effect on socialization and the development of identity – for both self and other.” Lippi-Green’s research helped her developed the idea that Disney films are highly deceptive. Children will either be insecure of themselves because they are discriminated in the films or judge others with the influence of Disney films. Catastrophically, this will cause the next generation to be more divided and even potentially more hateful towards each other. It is challenging to develop a sense of respect with the immense commercialized messages. It will lead to a paradoxical situation where many arguments and debates start happening about racism.
Disney’s portrayal of language also creates bad visions on gender roles to the next generation. Children can have the mindset that only a certain gender should make decisions, or there is a dominant gender. In the film, The Little Mermaid, Ariel, the main character hopes to get rid of her mermaid tail in exchange for legs so she can marry the love-at-first-sight prince. As George questioned, “The Little Mermaid has many problems. Change who you are to impress a man?” The children cannot possibly understand the fact that it is not women that always make the sacrifice. Men and women both have the same rights and authority. The mindset guide by the films could futher influence women’s behavior such as catering to the needs of men or even just being more likely to wear makeup or dress up to impress males. In addition, Joanne M. Lisosky, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Theatre at Pacific Lutheran University, in his peer reviewed article, “In search of sandbox dreams: examining the decision-making of Disney’s female and male animated heroes”, reports that “Disney captured the “new” images of young women as high-risk, decision-makers while simultaneously reinforcing the traditional stereotypes that females are less qualified for leadership roles” (5). The concept brought by Disney films through dialogue is against the intention of modern feminists–that women should have the same power as men. Disney did not have a hand on this bias but to severe the problem to the next generation. Children will have the generalization that they are limited by their gender in a particular area. In the website Today, the article “‘Toy Story 3’ called ‘damaging,’ full of ‘careless sexism’” by parents investigated decades “of research shows that kids who grow up watching sexist shows are more likely to internalize stereotypical ideas of what men and women are supposed to be like” (1). The message from children’s favorite films can determinate their future judgment on gender roles. Children will have the pre-knowledge that there are limitations because of their gender. These “limitations” will affect the way each gender does things and further expanding the gender gap. Although it is evidence in the history having men making all the decision is an oppression for women, Disney is interwinding the history.
It has been shown that Disney films are using language to spread discrimination in both race and gender, and as such, is one of the biggest influences for future generations. As demonstrated by looking at several scholarly peer-reviewed articles and non-scholarly articles that Disney is spreading negative messages to children, and it can become a part of them when they grow up. The authors Wolfram, Rosa, and Lowe remind us of how language discrimination is being portrayed in Disney film, with only the main characters to speak in Standard English. In the same way, Rosina and George expanding language discrimination into racism alongside with Lisosky and parents on sexism. The majority of the children have viewed various Disney films, and the message given will shape their automatic minds. I can see this happening after reviewing all the trustworthy sources and come to the epiphany that I was one of the victims. I always thought Americans speak Standard English until I moved to the United States 5 years ago only to observe that this country is made up of many different people and languages. While acknowledging the impact of Disney cartoons, we can also see similar issues on other mass media that display the same discrimination. Withstanding, many people disagree with the message Disney is presenting to children. The children are the future hope for changing the way of the current society with many debates and protest on human rights. Therefore, more people should acknowledge the potential cause of racism and gender inequality to prevent future problems on discrimination. With this knowledge, we can also try to convince companies like Disney to focus more on their impacts on children.
Works Cited
George, Kat. “The Disney Movies You Grew Up with Are Incredibly Racist.” VH1 News, 9 Jan. 2015, http://www.vh1.com/news/310/racist-disney-movies/.
Lippi-Green, Rosina. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. Routledge, 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=cat06118a&AN=neos.5294124&custid=s3443875.
Lowe, Hilary. “Walt Disney’s Linguistic Portrayal of Aladdin and America by Kristi Bezhani.” American Icons, 10 Apr. 2015, https://sites.temple.edu/americanicons/2015/04/10/walt-disneys-linguistic-portrayal-of-aladdin-and-america-by-kristi-bezhani/.
Matti, Carma L., and Joanne M. Lisosky. “In Search of Sandbox Dreams: Examining the Decision-Making of Disney’s Female and Male Animated Heroes.” Women & Language, vol. 22, no. 2, Fall 1999, p. 66. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=2825643&site=ehost-live.
Rosa, J. “. (2017). Discourse, Linguistic Production, and Subjectivity: Disney-fying Language. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, 10 (2). https://doi.org/10.31390/taboo.10.2.14
TodayShow. “’Toy Story 3′ Called ‘Damaging,’ Full of ‘Careless Sexism’.” TODAY.com, 28 June 2010, www.today.com/parents/toy-story-3-called-damaging-full-careless-sexism-1C7399358.
Wolfram, Walt. “Challenging Language Prejudices in Education.” Teaching Tolerance, No. 5 1996, pp. 1-4.
