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Essay: Gender Roles in Bambi

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  • Subject area(s): Media essays
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  • Published: 15 September 2019*
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  • Words: 812 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 4 (approx)

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Gender Roles in Bambi

While Disney’s Bambi combines both film and entertainment techniques to educate children about the seasons of life, the movie also establishes certain gender roles which are deconstructed in the minds of the child audience. Throughout the film, the contrasts between the characteristics of the male and female characters portray the message of stereotypical gender roles to the audience.

As the new “young prince”, Bambi must learn the social practices and dangers of the forest from his parents and his friends in order to develop into the next leader of the society. The animals in the film are extremely humanized and appear to exist in a human-like society. The children all play together, the mothers convene and gossip together, and the fathers, while absent, preserve the voice of “patriarchal authority” (Mastrostefano, 18). This ideology is present throughout the plot. Female inferiority and domesticity is in conflict with male domination and power and is illustrated mainly through the mother and father figures of the film. Yet the characters are not aware of these gender roles and do not seek to oppose them. The animals are “complacent” in their gender roles (Mastrostefano, 18), which ultimately conveys to the child audience that these roles are just and natural in society.

The differences between parenting styles of mothers and fathers is demonstrated through Bambi’s relationships with both of his parents. Throughout his early childhood and the prime of his development, Bambi is under the sole care of his mother. Bambi is introduced to the potential dangers of the forest when his mother brings him to the meadow for the first time. Bambi’s mother’s tone of voice is very calm and quiet throughout all of her interactions with Bambi, even when Bambi runs down to the meadow before they are positive the area is safe (Bambi). This soothing quality of her voice reinforces the idea of the mother as being the main caregiver of a family. Later, Bambi’s mother has to push shy Bambi into social interaction with a young doe, Faline. Although his initial uncertainty holds him back from engaging, Bambi eventually begins to play with Faline. As they chase each other all the way to the meadow, Bambi and Faline encounter a herd of bucks fighting (Bambi). Although he has never interacted with other males before, Bambi’s intuitive instinct is to imitate the bucks and attempt to dominate his female counterpart. This inherent fighting nature further emphasizes male dominance over females.

As Bambi will one day be the new leader of the forest, it is evident that he will need to learn the rules of masculinity in order to properly rule. However, under the care of his mother, Bambi has not experienced any of this training, and, thus, it is no surprise that she is eventually killed, and killed by “Man.” When Bambi’s mother is killed, Bambi’s father, the Great Prince of the Forest, immediately arrives (Bambi), highlighting that male authority more than compensates for the loss of Bambi’s mother. With no real mourning for her loss, other than Bambi’s initial fear and shock, female leadership appears replaceable and unnecessary.

After Bambi’s mother’s death, Bambi is solely under the leadership of men, including his father and Friend Owl. Coming full circle from when he and Faline witnessed the buck fights in the meadow when they were young, Bambi’s manhood is tested during a fight with another buck over Faline (Bambi). In this sequence, the female is portrayed as a prize to be won and the male as the one to claim her. Bambi’s victory over the other male completes his “interpellation into the patriarchal discourse.” (Mastrostefano, 26). Bambi stands on top of a large rock in the distance, and his prominent shadow is a mirror image of a previous shot of his father.

Despite this triumph, the second arrival of Man further tests Bambi’s masculinity. Bambi successfully protects Faline from harm, and although he is shot, he, too, survives the attack (Bambi). Bambi, unlike his mother, was able to survive the threat of Man, and Faline is saved by Bambi, suggesting that females are too weak on their own to survive harm and danger and need male protection.

The concluding scenes of the film show the reemerging of all of the animals in the safety of the spring. The narrative comes full circle as the forest animals rush to the thicket to watch Faline give birth to new fawns (Bambi). Although “Man” has been defeated, the removal of “his” presence in the forest has ultimately only restored the patriarchy and allowed the heir to rise and rule his forest. Ultimately, even in the defeat of the film’s antagonist, the stereotyped gender roles firmly prevail. The forest has finally been restored to a peaceful nature, with an idealized, patriarchally-ruled society.

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