By Rebecca Davis ’15
Sociology major Delaney Rives ’15 and biology majors Meaghan Flatley ’15 and Isabella Bautista ’15 presented their research at the 62nd annual meeting of the New York State Sociological Association.
“We presented alongside Ph.D.s and Ph.D. candidates, which was very exciting,” said Flatley. “It was so great to see our research discussed in such a serious sociological setting. We had a great time.”
Flatley and Bautista presented their study of how women are portrayed in Disney princess films. It is work the students continued from their class with sociology professor Suvarna Cherukuri, Ph.D.
The pair used eleven Disney movies to document the presence of “masculine” traits such as strength, bravery and independence and “feminine” traits such as being scared, emotional or weak in the princesses. They found that, over time, the princesses’ masculine traits increased while their feminine traits decreased. The students also learned that until the 2012 movie, “Brave,” the ultimate goal for every princess was to get married.
“Children learn and are socialized through experience and these films are a part of that. These experiences form their ideas on gender roles,” said Flatley, adding that, for example “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was made in 1937 and reflects the gender roles of the time and that it’s dangerous for this generation of young girls to aim to conform to the societal expectations of that time period.
Rives shared her work on feminist identity development and activism on a Catholic college campus. Her research involved interviewing eight people on campus from different places on the gender and sexuality spectrum and asking their views on feminism, gender identity and sexuality.
She found that people in groups such as the LGBT community and women tend to have a more understanding and supportive view of feminism. She also found that many people don’t have a clear understanding of the meaning of feminism, which is defined as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of social, political and economic equality to men.”
“Being able to share my research, with people who value it, people with so much knowledge, was just a wonderful experience,” said Rives. She hopes to use her research in her senior capstone project. Rivers is also an active member of Siena’s Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women and one day hopes to become a violence prevention educator.
Regardless of the careers these women pursue, conducting this research and sharing it with accomplished scholars has helped them develop valuable skills that will serve them well in the future.
