Fatphobia in Disney Movies: Implications and Imprints on Children’s Wellbeing
Keywords:
Fatness, Disney characters, Fatphobia, Eating Disorders, Body positivityAbstract
Walt Disney Movies is one of the leading and most influential media giants in the world. They play a pivotal role in shaping children’s perspective of cultural ideals, gender roles and body image through their visual representations. Most Disney protagonists, especially the princess characters, project unrealistic body standards and are highly sexualised in their actions. Fatness has always been associated with ugliness. Fat Disney characters are either funny, clumsy, foolish or aggressive. An analysis of a few famous Disney characters would help to further establish this argument. The stereotypical representation of fat characters is in fact problematic, leading to fat bullying among youth. This tendency also increases the chances of development of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia among children. Contrary to this discrimination, what we need currently is an acceptance of all people, irrespective of their body size and weight.
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