Thursday, June 25, 2015

Elsa Immodest!

I don't know if you have ever hung out in conservative christian circles, but when Frozen first came out(which I know was a while ago) then you have probably heard someone say "Elsa's dress was so immodest!" I know I have heard it a few times. Is her dress really immodest though? I think it is important to point out that Elsa's dress is actually quite tame compared to some previous Disney princesses.

Images copyright of Disney

I actually found Elsa to be really modest. compared to the other directions Disney has gone in the past. Her dress is in fact no different than what Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora wore.

images copyright of Disney 
Now lets break it down....
She has long sleeves instead of now sleeves.
She is wearing a long skirted dress instead of a short skirt.
She has a slit in the skirt that only goes to her knee.
You can's see any cleavage instead of a lot of cleavage.
As far as I can tell this fits most modest dress cloths criteria. Maybe they are bothered by the fact that you can tell she is a women in the dress instead of dress that hides her curves. Her dress does not really break any modesty rules, instead I would say it follows them quite well.

I think though that this dress has some significance to her character in the movies.

images copyright of Disney

Elsa's outfit from the beginning of the movie is her completely covered. She literally does not show any skin outside of her face. She has her neck covered, her hands. She is not in contact with the outside world. When she changes her outfit she shows her neck and has a slit in her dress. Her sleeves, while still long are transparent. She is allowing her self contact with the world around her. She is breaking out of the walls she built around herself to protect herself.

Overall this post is to say that Elsa's dress is not immodest and that her dress has significant meaning to her character. My other question is why we are so concerned about what a character wears there are much bigger issues with Disney's choice of how they present their characters. Such as the inaccurate proportions or their female characters. Elsa's waist is much smaller than what is natural proportionally. I think there are bigger issues than what a character is wearing.

What are your thoughts on the use of clothing in Frozen?
Elizabeth

1 comment:

  1. I agree. I don't think Elsa's dress is immodest. You raise some excellent points.

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