Waist-to-hip Ratios in Disney Female Characters

What is it about?

Although the “what is beautiful is good” phenomenon has been examined in animated Disney movies, studies have not investigated what makes a particular Disney princess more beautiful than the others. In our study, we further investigated what makes a particular Disney female character (n  20) beautiful by measuring and analyzing their waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs). From evolutionary perspectives, lower WHRs in women signal high reproductive potential, and are attractive to men and ideal for women. Thus, we expected that animated Disney female characters that exhibit low WHRs should be perceived as good. Our analyses suggest that lower WHR is more commonly associated with Disney princesses than Disney female villains. In addition, we found that WHRs of Disney princesses (Mdn  0.50, range  0.31–0.69) were less varied than those of the villains (Mdn  0.66, range  0.47–1.29), suggesting that the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype is strongly reflected in the smaller WHRs of Disney princesses.

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Why is it important?

The present study found that Disney princesses have extremely small waist-to-hip ratios that are nearly impossible to achieve naturally. Compared to Disney princesses, Disney female villains have greater and more varied waist-to-hip ratios. The implication is that exposure to media such as Disney movies might heighten or reinforce our preferences for lower WHRs and the perception that physically attractive individuals with lower WHRs possess morally favorable qualities.