Editor’s Note:
In an effort to appeal to more women, Sports Talk Light has hired a new writer, “Walk On,” to write feminist blogs. As society advances, we cannot forget (because people do forget) to leave the needs of women out of our quality content. We are re-branding, and with the help of Walk On we hope to generate more female fans, or STLadies. With a new Lion King film on the way, Walk On took some time to remind us why this story is sexist.
Sincerely,
Waz
Sports Talk Light Editor-in-Chief
By Walk-On
AFRICA – Everyone knows what Disney is, or at least has watched one of their movies at some point in their life. The Walt Disney Company has essentially monopolized the entire child television and movie industry for over 50 years. Starting at a very young age I found myself captured in Disney television shows and movies that led me to fall for a company whose job is to reach out to children all over the world and relay world issues, such as cultural and race problems, in a way they will understand. This is most commonly done through the eye of cartoons and one specific movie has stuck with me for a very long time. That movie is The Lion King, which tells a story of a young lion cub being betrayed by his uncle, which later comes back to bite the uncle. All throughout The Lion King there is a sense of gender supremacy and symbolism pertaining to what differentiates men from women, people in power from those without power.
The story begins with Simba, the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, being shown out atop of Pride Rock to the entire Pride Land kingdom, a kingdom composed of hundreds of different species of animals. Simba is a young lion cub and in the beginning of the story his uncle, Scar (Mufasa’s brother), attempts to tell Simba to do things that, unknowing, Simba does not understand are bad and that would upset his father. This creates the plot for the entire film. Mufasa and Simba are considered “good guys,” with deep voices and pleasant facial features, while Scar is considered a “bad guy,” with mean facial features. Scar tells Simba and his female friend Nala to go see the elephant graveyard. Simba and Nala make their way over to the graveyard and are initially in awe of it until a few hyenas approach them. They appear to try to attack the two young lions until Mufasa comes to save them and scare the hyenas away. This creates a sense of dominance right from the beginning as everyone in the kingdom knows Mufasa as the king, and this is an example of gender dominance by the male Mufasa. Later in the movie Mufasa snatches Simba out of a stampede of thousands of wildebeests. In doing so Mufasa is at risk for his own life. Mufasa saves his son, but when Mufasa needs his own saving he goes over to his brother, Scar, who has a hold of Mufasa on a cliff, but Scar lets go of Mufasa and yells, “long live the king!” I believe this is a pivotal part of the storyline as the former king has officially been killed and the entire kingdom is now Scar’s. However, the ruler of the kingdom is once again male.
I also noticed gender issues when going through and watching the film. Not only are the three main characters all male, but also the females appear to be not as smart or strong as the males. Mufasa and adult Simba look almost identical with large manes and large, muscular bodies that complement their authority. Scar appears to not be as strong as his brother or nephew, which symbolizes a possibly weaker, and more feminine appearance. As Scar’s name implies, he also has a large scar on his face that gives him a sinister, less appealing appearance. Additionally, the lionesses all appear to be more petite and much quieter than the male lions. When Scar takes over Pride Land all the lionesses appear to be inferior to Scar, as he is now their new king. I counted a total of nine lionesses in the scene before Simba takes on Scar to battle. I feel as though Disney is trying to portray women as being not as strong as men, who many will say is true, however, there are still females in the world who have as much if not more strength than men. One would think that the time Simba spent with Timon and Pumbaa in the jungle would be enough time for the lionesses to overthrow Scar for the throne but that did not happen. Instead the women listened to their king for years and years and did not rebel against him. This seems wrong to me as women actually do have the strength to overtake a ruling king that put himself in office. This reminds me of many Western European nations from earlier centuries where there was a ruling male, who really should not be in office, however, there were enough women in the population to overthrow the king if they all rallied together and overtook the throne. This is seen through jealous individuals, such as Scar, who believe that they will be a better ruler than the person currently in control, such as Mufasa. The plot in The Lion King is not uncommon for stories all over the world. There is a king in power and, a jealous family member, acquaintance, or enemy that wants to overthrow the king and take control of the lands. The male characters usually conduct this sense of greed in these stories, as a female king or emperor is not as common as a male.
Simba’s relationship with Nala is another example of how The Lion King relies on traditional male-female stereotypes. Early in the movie, Nala is portrayed as smart, adventurous and maybe even a potential better leader than Simba. Meanwhile, Simba is shown to be rash, less confident and somewhat dependent on Nala. In one early scene, Nala and Simba are wrestling with each other and Nala eventually pins Simba not once but twice. This suggests that early on girls may be at least equal to boys, or at least they can be more mature and ready for difficult situations than boys. However, the movie eventually re-emphasizes that ultimately men are the leaders. As I mentioned earlier, while Simba was in exile, neither Nala nor any of the other lionesses ever challenged Scar’s leadership. Rather than try to defeat Scar herself, when Nala accidentally found Simba she urged him to return and save the Pride Lands, saying “Simba, if you don’t do something soon, everyone will starve,” and “you’re our only hope.” No longer is Nala the strong, capable lioness, but now she’s begging Simba to save her and the rest of the animals. She has to turn to a male lion, Simba, to make things better. This portrayal communicates that men are supposed to protect females and lead them, while women should depend on the men in their lives to be heroes.
In addition to its portrayal of male-female roles, The Lion King also contains examples of how boys and men relate to each other. When Simba escapes the wildebeest stampede he finds two companions, Pumbaa and Timon, and the three of them together eventually form a strong friendship. Pumbaa is a warthog, and is given the typical role of a chubby guy; he’s funny but not very smart, while Timon is small and sort of a wise guy. Early on, Pumbaa and Timon fill a parental role, showing Simba which bugs are okay to eat and explaining how to live and survive. But their roles at that time were not uniquely male or masculine. However, as Simba grew up from being a cub, Timon adopts more the role of an older brother, while Pumbaa on the other hand is simply a very loyal and protective friend, much like guys are supposed to be for each other. Timon and Pumbaa later help prove their loyalty as friends to Simba by putting themselves in danger while they perform a “song and dance” routine that distracts the hyenas, so Simba and Nala can sneak past and get back to Pride Rock. Overall, the friendship among the three characters shows how men are supposed to support their buddies.
Disney does not do everything wrong, they actually do nearly everything very well. However there are a few major flaws that Disney may want to consider revisiting such as gender issues. I believe that Disney has no intention in making one group feel inferior or superior to another, but like I said before, they still need to attempt to limit all flaws that show how one group may be better than another. Men and women deserve to be treated equally regardless of who is in control of anything. From an elementary school president election to the real president in the United States, women should have the exact same opportunity to win and hold office as men do. This major issue is shown in the movie, The Lion King, in a way that undermines the talent and capacities of women, who should not be viewed as inferior to men.
Sports Talk Light 