Beauty and the Beast: A guide to masculinity?

The concept of masculinity has been instilled into children from a very young age and it is evident even in Disney movies.

Most Disney movies revolve around a heterosexual relationship revolving around a hero and a heroine. These movies intend to tell girls about themselves, how they are suppose to act. Similarly for little boys, these movies are intended to tell them how real men are supposed to act. They basically portray, both implicitly and explicitly, how to treat women as objects of pleasure or as servants to please them. Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston is the perfect example to this portrayal where he tries to win over Belle by his strength and dominance. His character is such that treats women as a mere toy, a toy that could be used, thrown or played around with at his disposal.

It glorifies one particular body types above all: chiseled abs and massive arms. Men with body types other than this are considered outcast. Le Fou and Gaston represent this contrast in the Beauty and the Beast. Gaston mistreats Le Fou throughout the musical because of his weak built.

Masculinity of violence and dominance is presented in this movie. The unwillingness to fight back or being violent is considered “gay” or having less strength. This is portrayed at the end of the movie where the Beast is unwilling to fight and thus is questioned about his strength by Gaston.

Boys turn into men following their favorite characters. Characters like Gaston have an influence on their treatment to women. Boys build up their bodies like most of the characters of these Disney movies to represent their masculinity. They resort to violence to show their strength. It is the society that shapes their thinking and yet it is the young boys who are punished for fighting in school.