Gender Differences in Disney Princess Movies: A Linguistic Study of Six Movies in 66 Years

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Rodne razlike u filmovima Disneyjevih princeza: Lingvistička studija šest filmova u 66 godina
• Author: Matea Bertović
• Mentor: Anđel Starčević (mentor)
• Committee member: Marina Grubišić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Ivana Bašić (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Anđel Starčević (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2019-12-18, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

This thesis analyses the speech of male and female Disney characters in six Disney Princess movies. The aims are to discern whether the characters use features of speech characteristic of their particular gender, and whether their speech patterns have changed over time, as the movies are interspersed over a span of 66 years. The movies analysed are Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Pocahontas (1995), Tangled (2010), Frozen (2013) and Moana (2016), divided into three periods of Disney Princess development: the Pre-Transition, Transition and Progression periods. The features investigated are four features of male and four features of female speech, based on a thesis by Li Hedenmalm (2012). The results reveal that part of the speech of Disney’s characters did not at first correspond with previous sociolinguistic research, particularly interruptions, commands and insults, but later on grew more in line with it. Disney’s male characters start using more features of male speech in the Transition and Progression periods, supposedly due to being constructed with more substantial personalities, but they also start using more features of female speech. Disney’s female characters display increasing resistance over the years, with features considered stereotypical becoming less frequent in their speech. Both male and female characters use linguistic features ascribed to their gender, but they also use features associated with the other. In conclusion, although a large part of the results remains inconclusive, female and male speech in Disney movies seems to have grown more similar over time.

• Keywords: gender differences; female speech; male speech; Disney
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:831454
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Linguistics; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2020-01-25 10:45:51