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Balancing Gender and Power: How Disney’s Hercules Fails to Go the Distance

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  • Cassandra Primo

    (Departments of Business and Sociology, McDaniel College, Westminster, MD 21157, USA)

Abstract

Disney’s Hercules (1997) includes multiple examples of gender tropes throughout the film that provide a hodgepodge of portrayals of traditional conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Hercules’ phenomenal strength and idealized masculine body, coupled with his decision to relinquish power at the end of the film, may have resulted in a character lacking resonance because of a hybridization of stereotypically male and female traits. The film pivots from hypermasculinity to a noncohesive male identity that valorizes the traditionally-feminine trait of selflessness. This incongruous mixture of traits that comprise masculinity and femininity conflicts with stereotypical gender traits that characterize most Disney princes and princesses. As a result of the mixed messages pertaining to gender, Hercules does not appear to have spurred more progressive portrayals of masculinity in subsequent Disney movies, showing the complexity underlying gender stereotypes.

Suggested Citation

  • Cassandra Primo, 2018. "Balancing Gender and Power: How Disney’s Hercules Fails to Go the Distance," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-13, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:11:p:240-:d:183438
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Benjamin Hine & Katarina Ivanovic & Dawn England, 2018. "From the Sleeping Princess to the World-Saving Daughter of the Chief: Examining Young Children’s Perceptions of ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Disney Princess Characters," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Michael Macaluso, 2018. "Postfeminist Masculinity: The New Disney Norm?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-10, November.
    3. Heather E. Harris, 2018. "Queen Phiona and Princess Shuri—Alternative Africana “Royalty” in Disney’s Royal Realm: An Intersectional Analysis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-8, October.
    4. Lauren Dundes & Madeline Streiff & Zachary Streiff, 2018. "Storm Power, an Icy Tower and Elsa’s Bower: The Winds of Change in Disney’s Frozen," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-29, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lauren Dundes & Madeline Streiff Buitelaar & Zachary Streiff, 2019. "Bad Witches: Gender and the Downfall of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos and Disney’s Maleficent," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Pimpatchanok Manaworapong & Neil Evan Jon Anthony Bowen, 2022. "Language, gender, and patriarchy in Mulan: a diachronic analysis of a Disney Princess movie," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Benjamin Hine & Dawn England & Katie Lopreore & Elizabeth Skora Horgan & Lisa Hartwell, 2018. "The Rise of the Androgynous Princess: Examining Representations of Gender in Prince and Princess Characters of Disney Movies Released 2009–2016," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-23, November.
    4. Lauren Dundes, 2020. "Elsa as Horse Whisperer in Disney’s Frozen 2 : Opportunity “Nokk”s to Quash Gender Stereotypes," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-11, May.

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