Cartoons, Body Dysmorphia and The Age of Insecurity

Cartoon characters and animation have ingrained a certain beauty standards

Remember those times, when you would be eagerly waiting for your favorite cartoon show to be aired? When summer afternoons were spent binge-watching Doremon, Tom and Jerry, Popeye-The sailor man, or any Disney movies. A heavenly world when Netflix was an unknown to us and all we knew was Disney, pogo, and cartoon network. Watching cartoon shows and animated characters were truly a delight. But if asked what made you pick your favorite show, on what basis would you answer? Was it the immaculate caricature of the character, your favorite character, or the unique storyline of the show? Well, majorly it was driven by the aesthetic appeal of the characters that somewhere made you pick your favorite show.

However, did you know how much your favorite animated character impacted your expectations of an ideal beauty standard? Research reveals that children’s opinions of their body form at a really young age. Children as young as 3 years old can also have body image issues. At age two a child begins to develop a distinctive personality and at this crucial stage what you expose the child to matters a lot. As the learning stage commences, a child begins to identify things as what he/she finds colorful and attractive in appearance. It doesn’t matter who your favorite character in childhood was, what matters is the intensity at which it has created an ‘ideal’ image of attractiveness and beauty standards for you.

Animated characters are precisely caricatured from a perspective of how a child would identify them as appealing and aesthetic. However, little did we know that what we found aesthetically appealing back then was formulating our views for beauty and attractiveness. For some, creating a path towards self-doubt and lowered self-confidence.

Cartoon shows like always portrayed that in order to be liked by a woman, a man has to be strong, muscular, and smart. Hence, pushing a beauty standard that dashing looks and body are key to a woman's heart. For instance, there was always a tussle between Popeye and Bluto to win Olive’s heart. Nobita always struggled to impress Shizuka and always had an inferiority complex from Dekisugi who was smart and handsome.

On the contrary, cartoon characters with fat body structure were always portrayed as mischievous antagonists with aggressive and short-tempered personality traits. For instance, Kalia from Chhota Bheem and Giyan from Doremon were always shown as mischievous kids. Some characters were too coy, laid back, and lazy. Being fat somehow seamlessly got associated with labels like foody and binge eaters. This imposed an ugly portrayal and a negative notion in children’s heads that being fat is not a good thing. This can even lead to anxieties, obesity, and early age depression in certain cases. All these beauty standards portrayed by the cartoon show encouraged us as kids that handsomeness and smartness come from the thin body structure.

Talking about Disney movies, they always had an aesthetic appeal not just to a child but also as a teenager. Right from gorgeous Disney princesses to the fairy tale vibe, the ecstasy to watch Disney movies is beyond words. Disney has played a major chunk of role in imposing beauty standards on us by its profoundly gorgeous caricatures.

But do you know what’s common between all Disney princesses apart from the porcelain skin and inexplicably long and shining hair? A common storyline that constantly glorifies that the ‘knight in shining armor’ will enter the women’s lives and take all her miseries away and that’s only how a woman can experience happiness.

The character is a glorified caricature of defunct masculinity incensed solely by the egotism of a heroic quest for “true love”- as quoted by Independent.

This is offensive for men and women both as it imposes a large chunk of unnecessary stress onto both sexes.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Disney princesses are gorgeous, slim, and more often have a fair skin tone. However, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Princess Jasmine are an exception when it comes to fair skin tone. The unrealistic standards set by the whippet-thin Belles and Ariels, dominate the fairytale world. For a child exposed to these stories, the aesthetic standards can be highly detrimental, in portraying the idea that beauty and happiness come along only with thinness.

On the contrary, a plus-size character is always shown as an antagonist or a maternal figure in Disney theatricals. They are always shown in a derogatory light as loud and witchy women. For instance, Ursula in the Little Mermaid.

In the longer run, these beauty standards have somewhere dragged the youth in the valley of self-doubt. No matter how pretty or handsome we look, a part of us will always be anxious about our flaws. We tend to measure our beauty with others and compare ourselves with others.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the prettiest of them all?”

Has now changed to “Mirror, mirror on the wall, am I the ugliest of them all?”