Disney movies about beautiful princesses don’t affect the body image of young girls according to a new study.
A new study suggests that the average Disney movie about beautiful princesses doesn’t have much effect on body image among young girls.
Researchers at the University of Central Florida studied 121 girls, ages three through six, asking them questions about appearance and how they see themselves. They showed one group of girls clips from children’s movies that involved beauty and appearance – while the other group watched material that didn’t include those subjects. Both groups then spent time in a playroom that included costumes and a vanity set.
The researchers found that all the girls spent about the same amount of time on grooming and noticing their appearance. The movies seemed to have little to no influence on them in terms of worrying about how they looked.
But, this recent study is a contrast to studies showing how often teenage girls are affected by advertising and imagery of beautiful models.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I agree. I grew up watching all the disney princess movies, and I have a healthy body image. Hell, I still love those movies. I think there’s a basic understanding that they are cartoons, and therefore human proportion is irrelevant.