Abstract
Moana (2016) continues a tradition of Disney princess movies that perpetuate gender stereotypes. The movie contains the usual Electral undercurrent, with Moana seeking to prove her independence to her overprotective father. Moana’s partner in her adventures, Maui, is overtly hypermasculine, a trait epitomized by a phallic fishhook that is critical to his identity. Maui’s struggles with shapeshifting also reflect male anxieties about performing masculinity. Maui violates the Mother Island, first by entering her cave and then by using his fishhook to rob her of her fertility. The repercussions of this act are the basis of the plot: the Mother Island abandons her form as a nurturing, youthful female (Te Fiti) focused on creation to become a vengeful lava monster (Te Kā). At the end, Moana successfully urges Te Kā to get in touch with her true self, a brave but simple act that is sufficient to bring back Te Fiti, a passive, smiling green goddess. The association of youthful, fertile females with good and witch-like infertile females with evil implies that women’s worth and well-being are dependent upon their procreative function. Stereotypical gender tropes that also include female abuse of power and a narrow conception of masculinity merit analysis in order to further progress in recognizing and addressing patterns of gender hegemony in popular Disney films.
Highlights
The financial success of Disney’s princess franchise has resulted in concerns about how its characters might influence audiences, developing youth (Coyne et al 2016; England et al.2011; Do Rozario 2004)
The repercussions of this act are the basis of the plot: the Mother Island abandons her form as a nurturing, youthful female (Te Fiti) focused on creation to become a vengeful lava monster (Te Kā)
He wriggles through a slit (1:53–55) to enter Te Fiti’s dark cave (symbolic of a vagina (Somerville 1922)), and after returning to his human form, he uses his fishhook to pry out her “heart” which holds the power of creation and at times looks remarkably like an egg
Summary
The financial success of Disney’s princess franchise has resulted in concerns about how its characters might influence audiences, developing youth (Coyne et al 2016; England et al.2011; Do Rozario 2004). Sci. 2017, 6, 91 promotes a mask of masculinity (Pollack 1999) that encourages rigidity in gender performances and identities commonly found in Disney movies (Spencer 2014) Another principal character, the antagonist, Mother Island (a Mother Earth equivalent), known both as Te Fiti and Te Kā, raises concerns about portrayals of females; she wreaks destruction when angry, misusing her power, until. Resolution occurs when Moana is reunited with her father and Maui regains possession of his fishhook, while the Mother Island goes dormant These elements of the plot explored in this paper support hegemonic masculinity that is associated with compromised health and well being (Courtenay 2000; Dundes and Dundes 2002; Juvrud and Rennels 2017; Pascoe and Bridges 2016). The application of Freudian thought provides one possible reading of the gender patterns that are repeatedly employed in Disney movies, probably unconsciously, but in accordance with patriarchal hierarchy and hypermasculinity, as explored in the authors’ prior analyses of Disney movies (e.g., Dundes and Streiff 2016; Streiff and Dundes 2017)
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