Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
The fear of aging and the loss of beauty is a pervasive societal issue that transcends cultural boundaries, often manifesting in the media and film industry. This paper examines the 2010 animated film “Tangled” and an Indian Film “Yashoda” (2022) through a feminist lens, focusing on the themes of fears of aging and loss of beauty. It analyses how the antagonists, Gothel (Tangled) and Madhubala (Yashoda) navigate their journey in maintaining their beauty and youth which is a stereotypical expectation of the society. This study examines the portrayal of societal fears regarding aging and the loss of beauty through a feminist lens in the Disney film “Tangled” and the Indian film “Yashoda.” Both films, while culturally distinct, navigate the complex terrain of beauty standards, aging, and female autonomy. “Tangled” presents the narrative of Rapunzel, whose magical hair symbolizes youth and beauty, coveted by the antagonist, Mother Gothel, to prevent her own aging. This dynamic serves as a metaphor for the societal obsession with youth and the lengths to which individuals will go to preserve beauty.
The paper employs a feminist film analysis methodology to uncover how these narratives contribute to and critique the cultural discourse on aging and beauty. It investigates how the films’ portrayal of female villains against the backdrop of societal beauty standards speaks to larger themes of female agency, body autonomy, and the commodification of women’s bodies. By comparing the Western and Indian cinematic contexts, the study reveals the universal and culturally specific aspects of how women’s aging and beauty are depicted and the implications of these portrayals for feminist discourse. This analysis contributes to a broader understanding of how cinema reflects, reinforces, and challenges the societal fears of aging and loss of beauty.
References
Ashley, T. (2022). The Feminine Fear of Aging. Medium. https://medium.com/write-like-a-girl/the-feminine-fear-of-aging-22f92e8201d1
Barrett, A. E. (2005). Gendered experiences in midlife: Implications for age identity. Journal of Aging Studies, 19(2), 163–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2004.05.002
Bell, J. (1992). In Search of a Discourse on Aging: The Elderly on Television. The Gerontologist, 32(3), 305–311. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/32.3.305
Bouson, J. B. (2016). Shame and the aging woman: Confronting and resisting ageism in contemporary women’s writings. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31711-3
Butler, R. N. (1969). Age-Ism: Another Form of Bigotry. The Gerontologist, 9(4 Part 1), 243–246. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/9.4_Part_1.243
Dobson, A. S. (2016). Postfeminist Digital Cultures. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137404206
Gopalakrishnan, A. (2020, December 7). Why granny power works: Around the world, older women have confronted strongmen with calm authority. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/to-name-and-address/why-granny-power-works-around-the-world-older-women-have-confronted-fascists-with-calm-authority/
Greno, N., & Howard, B. (Directors). (2010). Tangled [Video recording]. Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures.
Grimm, J. (2020). Complete grimms fairy tales. Fingerprint! Pub.
Gullette, M. M. (2005). Aged by culture. University of Chicago Press.
Halberstam, J. J. (2012). Gaga feminism: Sex, gender, and the end of normal. Beacon Press.
Hari–Harish (Director). (2022). Yashoda [Video recording]. Sridevi Movies.
Jeffreys, S. (2015). Beauty and misogyny harmful cultural practices in the West. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315771458
Jimenez, S. (2022). The representation of women in Disney animated films [Bachelor thesis, University of Nebraska at Omaha]. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/university_honors_program/181?utm_source=digitalcommons.unomaha.edu%2Funiversity_honors_program%2F181&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
Lewis, D. M., & Cachelin, F. M. (2001). Body Image, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Attitudes in Midlife and Elderly Women. Eating Disorders, 9(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/106402601300187713
Madan, S., Basu, S., Ng, S., & Ching Lim, E. A. (2018). Impact of Culture on the Pursuit of Beauty: Evidence from Five Countries. Journal of International Marketing, 26(4), 54–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031X18805493
Maio, K. (2017, July 5). Disney’s dolls. New Internationalist. https://newint.org/features/1998/12/05/dolls
Perry, M. G. (1999). Animated Gerontophobia: Ageism, Sexism, and the Disney Villainess. In S. M. Deats & L. T. Lenker (Eds.), Aging and identity: A humanities perspective (pp. 201–212). Praeger Publishers.
Putri, W. L., Putri, L. G. S., & Siscawati, M. (2023). The Beauty Myth, Cosmetics Industry, and Instagram**. In S. M. G. Tambunan (Ed.), Proceedings of the fourth Asia-Pacific Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, Arts and Humanities Stream (AHS-APRISH 2019) (Vol. 753, pp. 568–580). Atlantis Press SARL. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-058-9_44
Quadagno, J. (1999). Aging and life course. McGraw-Hill.
Smith, S. L., Choueiti, M., & Pieper, K. (2015). Gender bias without borders: An investigation of female characters in popular films across 11 countries. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/gender-bias-without-borders-fullreport.pdf
Smith, S. L., Pieper, K., & Choueiti, M. (2015). Gender bias without borders: An investigation of female characters in popular films across 11 countries. University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication …. https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/bitstream/1/11673/1/gender-bias-without-borders-full-report.pdf
Woodwind, K. (1999). Introduction. In Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations (pp. 9–29). Indiana UP.
** – A social network owned by “Meta”, which is recognized as extremist in Russia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.