Balancing Gender and Power
How Disney's Hercules Fails to Go the Distance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5933192 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cassandra Primo (McDaniel College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 240 |
| Publication date | 2018-11-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/socsci7110240 |
| OpenAlex | W2901875143 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 28 |
Disney's Hercules (1997) includes multiple examples of gender tropes throughout the film that provide a hodgepodge of portrayals of traditional conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Hercules' phenomenal strength and idealized masculine body, coupled with his decision to relinquish power at the end of the film, may have resulted in a character lacking resonance because of a hybridization of stereotypically male and female traits. The film pivots from hypermasculinity to a noncohesive male identity that valorizes the traditionally-feminine trait of selflessness. This incongruous mixture of traits that comprise masculinity and femininity conflicts with stereotypical gender traits that characterize most Disney princes and princesses. As a result of the mixed messages pertaining to gender, Hercules does not appear to have spurred more progressive portrayals of masculinity in subsequent Disney movies, showing the complexity underlying gender stereotypes
Aesthetics · Art · Character traits · Femininity · Gender identity · Identity (music · Masculinity · Power (physics · Sociology · Stereotype (UML · Trait · Cinema and Media Studies · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |