Reflections of the Female Identity Constructions in Animation Movies: An Analysis on of Disney and Hayao Miyazaki Movies

Abstract

It is observed that women have a series of roles that are positioned within the framework of beautiful and attractive adjectives in the traditional order of social structure and they do not have a life away from home. It has been seen that the identity elements of women have begun to change during the transition to the process of modernism. Within the scope of the study, the changes that the female identity has undergone from the traditional period to the present were analyzed through the female characters in animated films. Twenty posters of Disney and Hayao Miyazaki animated films made between 1984 and 2022 were analyzed by semiotics in the context of female identity construction. The answer to five basic questions were sought, which include the roles identified with women's identity in the posters, the imposition of beauty, the existence of environmental pressure elements on women, as well as the reflections of the change that women's identity has experienced until the postmodern period. According to the research results; over time, the representation of women in Disney animated posters has changed and the characters became more individualized women who pursue their freedom. Additionally, research results showed that Hayao Miyazaki's female characters in animated movies were not subjected to the imposition of beauty, did not need a male hero, and even had an identity structure in which they were positioned in the role of savior.