Course:CSIS200/2025/The Implications of Heteronormativity in Disney Princess Movies

Introduction

The Walt Disney Company logo

Both children and adults alike are familiar with the world of Disney, the franchise consisting of perfect fairytales of a man and a woman falling in love (sometimes perpetuated as the man “saving” the woman) and living happily ever after. Disney movies and characters have become a staple in pop culture today, and has a heavy influence on societal norms and opinions. Heteronormativity is a massive part of society today, Kane (2020) argues in “"Your father wouldn't like it": The social construction of heterosexuality in early childhood” that heteronormativity “defines heterosexuality as the normative sexual orientation, and reinforces the foundation on which that socially constructed orientation is built." Furthermore, in the chapter “Theoretical Perspectives” Seidman (2006) notes that society pushes the idea that “sexual instinct is, by nature, heterosexual. There is said to be a natural attraction between men and women.” Living in a society where being heterosexual is the norm and expected, it is interesting to see and understand how these norms are created and reinforced.

In this project, I would like to dive deeper into the question: How do the “staple” Disney princess movies play a role in heteronormativity and how does this impact society? My hypothesis as to why heteronormativity is highlighted in these specific Disney movies is because that's what society has painted as being “right”. Society has constructed this type of relationship/sexuality to be the norm and in order to be seen as socially acceptable I believe Disney had to adhere to this in order to be successful and create films that the general public would watch and be interested in.

Heteronormativity and the Concept of Marriage

Ariel and Prince Eric Wedding Attire

Heterosexual relationships are frequently depicted in Disney princess movies, along with the end goal, typically the closing scene, of a wedding. These depictions paint the picture of what a marriage should look like to the audience, in their case a man and a woman.

One major scene that encapsulates the concept of heteronormativity and marriage in a Disney princess film is the wedding scene of Ariel and Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. As noted by Christiansen and Fischer (2016) in “Working in the (social) construction zone”, heteronormativity is a socially constructed concept, “a phenomenon or category created and developed by society through its cultural and social practices” and this storyline shows a practice enforcing this norm. This scene and overall ending shows that for Disney, living “happily ever after” involves being in a heteronormative relationship and getting married, linking your love forever. The idea of this couple being portrayed as the ideal couple reinforces heterosexual relationships as normal or the ideal. This scene overall might not be seen to be too big of an issue in reinforcing these harmful societal constructed ideas, though it is one of many, all of which build off of one another to normalize heterosexuality within the Disney franchise.

101 Dalmatians Wedding

Despite not being a princess movie, I wanted to include 101 Dalmatians in this argument as it is considered by many to be a staple in the Disney franchise, and highlights the idea of heteronormativity and marriage being present even outside of human characters. Disney princess movies heavily portray heterosexual relationships as normal, and the wedding of two dogs in 101 Dalmatians continues to normalize heterosexuality, as well as the concept of marriage in non-human characters. The normalization of marriage can be understood through the concept of amatonormativity. In the article “Asexuals negotiate the ‘onslaught of the heteronormative,’” Tiina Vares describes amatonormativity as a term “coined by Elizabeth Brake (2012) to refer to the privileging of exclusive, enduring amorous relationships associated with, but not limited to, marriage.” and “is based on the assumption that, a central, exclusive, amorous relationship is normal for humans, in that it is a universally shared goal.”

The idea of weddings being the end goal of a love story, and the beginning of the “happily ever after” narrative, is one that is seen frequently in classic Disney films. The storyline of Ariel and Prince Eric also fit into this concept. A big white dreamy wedding is such a staple in heteronormative discourses that it even finds its way to animals in many films, especially Disney. Ingraham (2008) notes this in “White Weddings: Romancing Heterosexuality in Popular Culture” as the overall “heterosexual imaginary”, the classic story where “a handsome prince met a beautiful maiden, swept her off her feet, married her in a perfect white wedding ceremony, and carried her away to a land of fairy tales and dreams where they raised three gorgeous children and lived happily ever after.”

Power Relations and Heterosexual Relationships

The idea of a “true love's kiss” is a recurring theme in the “staple” or iconic Disney princess films. In The Little Mermaid the audience watches Ariel give up her voice in order to grow legs and go out into the world where she must find a man to love in order for her to be “saved”. This idea of men of saviours also appears in the film Sleeping Beauty where a “true love’s kiss” is what awakes Aurora from her slumber, “saving” her. Both of these storylines depict women as inferior and in need of men in order to be safe and secure people in the world.

In The Little Mermaid, the idea of Ariel giving up something as important and powerful as her voice in order to seek love from a man can be seen to prove how “heterosexuality is used to invoke and reinforce particular gendered, sexual power relations between men and women” as noted by authors Dean & Fischer . The film shows Ariel as inferior to the Prince when it comes to love, she must seek out his love and please him rather than the other way around. Additionally, this aspect of the story reinforces gender hierarchies which is a huge part of heterosexual discourses. The idea that women are to be passive, submissive beings on a search for male approval and love not only reinforces heteronormativity and gender hierarchies but also the patriarchy. What makes these harmful concepts present in the film even worse is the fact that this is primarily being marketed towards children.

Sleeping Beauty Kiss

Additionally, in Sleeping Beauty, the idea that a man’s kiss is what saves Aurora plays into the idea of heteronormativity as in order to live, the woman needs a man to love. This places heterosexual relationships at the top of a hierarchy as it normalises the need for a woman to get the love, or a kiss from a man in order to save her. In the chapter “Heteronormativity”, author Scott Morgenson emphasizes the idea that “Heteronormativity refers to a social method for arranging sexual status unequally.” This is shown through this scene not only through the woman’s need for a man but the hierarchy where the woman is placed lower on a sexual hierarchy and is in need of “saving” by a man. Both the man and the idea of heterosexual love is being portrayed to the audience as having the power and being the way life is supposed to be. When portraying this to an audience consisting of many children, it enforces these power hierarchies and heteronormativity in their minds as they can grow up to believe this is the only “right” way to love. Both of these films prove that Disney not only centers heteronormativity in their Disney princess films but under the umbrella of heteronormativity they also reinforce harmful gender norms and gender power hierarchies.

Marketing and Impacts on Society

Disney Princess Logo

The Disney franchise is well known for its incredible widespread marketing and impact on people of all ages alike. For the case of this writing, Disney Princesses are specifically marketed towards and heavily influencing young girls. The term “happily ever after” is often associated with the Disney princess archetype, painting the image of what “happily ever after" should ideally look like. Across all of the “staple” Disney princess movies, the audience sees the same theme reiterated over and over. The idea of a heterosexual, passive, head-over-heels woman deep in love with the “perfect” prince. The overemphasis on finding the perfect prince in the stories of Disney princesses as well as in Disney’s marketing strategies reinforced the social construction of heteronormativity. Suggesting to their audience, mainly made up of young girls when it comes to the princesses, that their ideal future and “happily ever after” will be met once they find the perfect prince. From a young age, these young Disney viewers begin to build up ideas of who they should be, what they should be looking for in life and what to value, a man.  

A specific example of this is the content of a popular Disney children’s book titled “Happily Ever After Stories”. All couples portrayed in the book meant to be encompassing the term “happily ever after” all are heterosexual couples. This book is marketed towards children, enforcing the idea of heterosexual as normal and the only form of relationship shown to them from a young age. In “Postfeminism at play: Pretend play with Disney princess transmedia in the early childhood education classroom.” Valade (2024) examines how this franchise supports pretend play within young girls that continues to perpetuate heteronormative culture and problematic themes connecting back to feminism, gender roles, and self worth relating to relationships. From her direct research at two childhood education sites, she claims that “Children regulate, uphold, and transgress gender norms to generate a sense of belonging, and position themselves within power hierarchies in the classroom” that reproduces heteronormative behaviours and structures such as passive, submissive identities that seek out approval and love from men. The Disney franchise and its princess movies/stories model behaviour that influences these children to follow the behaviours and values of the characters, much of which includes the importance of finding a prince and “true love”.

Conclusion and Notes on Representation

Throughout staple or iconic Disney princess films, heteronormativity is a universal that can be seen across all films in this category. The lack of representation of queer couples is evident and in need of introduction as Disney moves forward as a company. As said by Stuart Hall, representation is the “the organisation of signs, which we use to understand and describe the world, into a wider set of values of ideologies”. All language and signs/symbols in Disney princess films lead toward heterosexuality and lack meaning in the context of sexualities that deviate from heterosexual. In a research project by David Buckingham and Sara Bragg called “Young People, Media and Personal Relationships” they find that young people believe that “there should be more information about lesbian and gay relationships in the media” which can be interpreted as if they are wanting more, there is therefore not enough representation currently.

Media is a huge part of our lives, creating memories and teaching us lessons about life and giving us ideas for a “perfect” future to dream of. Representation is important, and with Disney being such an enormous franchise globally for all people, I believe that both the lack of queer representation and the heavy emphasis on heteronormativity in Disney princess films has played a huge role in how society normalizes heterosexuality.

About the Author

Alyssa (she/her) is a third year student at UBC, majoring in Psychology. She was born and raised in Vancouver, though has spent much of her life traveling in her free time. As a queer woman it is important for her to understand the world through her identity and bring attention to the ways in which the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is impacted by society, both the good and bad. Disney movies are something she grew up watching, like many other children. Looking back, she wants to understand how the emphasis on heteronormativity in classic Disney movies may have impacted her throughout her life until getting to the point she is at today.