Disney isn’t known for it’s political correctness. Walt Disney himself was an anti-Semite, and we can’t forget that line in "Shake it Up" where one of the models says, “You’re adorable! I could just eat you guys up. You know, if I ate,” followed by laughter from everyone around them. As one of the biggest celebrity advocates for eating disorder awareness, Demi Lovato made sure Disney knew that this comment was anything but funny.
However, last night my opinions of Disney changed. My little sister was watching one of Disney’s newer shows, "Live and Maddie," and I was overjoyed and slightly shocked by what the theme of the episode was -- gender inequality in Hollywood.
One of the main characters on the show, Liv, plays an actress, and the episode follows her realizing that all of the questions she’s asked on the red carpet are about her appearance, or as the marvelous guest star Kristen Bell says, “They’re just variations of: Clothes! You wear clothes! Why these clothes? Hair!” while her male co-star is asked about acting and their performance.
So Liv and Kristen Bell team up to “change the conversation,” and show the interviewers and fans watching at home how sexist red carpet questions, and Hollywood as a whole, can be.
When one reporter asks Liv to talk about how she’s the “prettiest superhero on TV,” she responds with one of Disney’s best feminist monologues to date and says, “Actually, I would like to talk about something more. Not one reporter has asked me how I feel about playing a superhero, or how I do the stunts, or what heroes have inspired me. You guys have only asked me about my dress and my hair.”
When the reporter responds with some socially constructed answer about how she’s America’s sweetheart and those are the kind of questions viewers want, Kristen Bell, the bad ass she is, replies, “Or is it what they’re told to expect by a group of people who don’t think to dig a little deeper.”
Liv finishes this push for equality with a heartfelt and inspiring message to her fans. She says, “Don’t we have an obligation to encourage our fans to expect more? I love fashion, but that is not the only thing women in show business care about. Ask us more. Girls. You are you, and you are so much more than your appearance.”
I was so ecstatic that my little sister was listening to this, that hundreds of little sisters and little brothers, and even parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents were listening to this. Disney took a current event and transformed it into something accessible and easy for kids to understand. In this instance, Disney is acting as a model for what all children’s networks should be doing. They should be addressing gender inequality, racism, and other social issues that are extremely relevant today, that children have already faced or are going to face in the near future to prepare them and make sure they know that it's not only affecting them.
Preserving childhood innocence is important and a respectable pursuit I'm in favor of, but not at the cost of injustice. There are ways that inequality can be discussed without being too adult or overwhelming. Disney manages to point out sexism in a way kids can relate to. They love this character, they think she’s wonderful, funny, charismatic and a great singer, so they're going to be rightfully confused and upset when they see the double standard. Then eventually they’ll begin to recognize small instances of inequality in real life. Recognizing there's a problem is half the battle, seeing as many people still refuse to see it’s even there.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I want this generation of children to grow up to be compassionate. Maybe it’s naïve to think it could actually happen, but inequality isn’t innate, it’s taught. These children, depending how young, might not have any prejudice in their hearts, and if more media stations started using their ability to persuade America to do good rather than evil, it could be a reality. It's going to take a lot of small steps from everyone to change an ideology that has been around as long as sexism has, but Disney took a big one. Disney, on behalf of a feminist who was once a little girl learning lessons from your shows, thank you for changing the conversation.