A little girl sits on the floor staring at the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow into her ears. Even though he had seen it at least twenty times before, he still loved The Little Mermaid as much as the first time he saw it. As she looked at him, she wished she was a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and a wonderful voice like Ariel's. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, to fall in love and live happily ever after like Ariel did. In today's society, women struggle to achieve gender equality. Despite the enormous strides made towards achieving gender equality, the mainstream media contradicts these achievements with the stereotypes of women featured in Walt Disney films. These unrealistic stereotypes can be harmful to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to gender inequality because the effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is detrimental to their future. According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. Women in Disney films are always beautiful, which helps them win over a man. They are often encouraged to use their looks and body to catch a man's attention, and having a curvy, petite body is required in all good Disney women. The Little Mermaid is a 1989 film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, in which “A mermaid princess plays a Faustian...... middle of paper......sees Princess Jasmine several times and falls in love with her first sight. . They also live happily ever after together, just like every other Disney prince and princess in every other Disney movie. Parents should be aware of the subliminal messages their children see in the Disney movies they are watching and grow up believing that this is how life is. Children who grow up watching Disney movies with such strong gender stereotypes are learning things that could affect their future and think that acting out Disney roles is the only way for them to live their lives happily. The way Disney animated films assign gender roles to their characters influences children's views of what is right and what is wrong in society. It is wrong and they should not be exposed to such material while growing up because it is harmful to their future expectations.