Peter Pan

We all know Peter Pan as the story of the boy who never wanted to grow up, but when you watch the movie and pay attention closely you see much more. Overall this movie is very entertaining but at what costs, what messages are our children taking from this animated film? We can see very early in this film the sexist portrayal of women in the caregiving situation. This idea continues throughout the movie when Peter takes the children to Neverland, and asks Wendy to be there mother who will be in charge of doing laundry, spring cleaning, and telling stories. Wendy is then left to do all these things while the male children go explore the forest and play. This view is teaching children that women are the ones supposed to take care of the children and watch them which should be there man purpose in life. It also shows that females can’t be as adventurous or do the dangerous things their male counterparts do.

Not only are women portrayed as the caregivers, but also the spiteful jealous type. In the film the mermaids are mean to Wendy, and Tinkerbell even tries to kill her because they are jealous of the attention she is receiving from Peter. These situations encourage young females to act out against those they are jealous of rather than trying to find a less damaging way of solving their problem.We can also see the sexist view of writers in the character of Tiger Lily who plays the damsel-in-distress who has no lines at all. She relates to the ideal that women cannot take care of themselves and always need saving by a male.

            The Stereotypes don’t stop there within the character of Tiger Lily we see not one, but two major stereotypes. Not only is she a weak woman, but she is also Native American, who is often referred to as the “savages” by the lost boys. In the film the Native Americans are all red faced, wearing some sort of feather headdress at all times, which is the biggest stereotype of a Native American stereotype. These “savages” also play the drums, live in tepees, and smoke out of a pipe.