The happiest place on earth is taking its support of the LGBT community to the next level. Both Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando have long been the destination spots for Gay Days — the annual event where gays and lesbians wear red shirts and converge on the theme parks. While Disney is not involved in the organization of Gay Days, it has a long-running history of being welcoming and accommodating. Now, in an effort to place emphasis on acceptance and equality, one of the shops in Disney California Adventure Park has placed a gender non-conforming mannequin on display in its storefront window.
The boy mannequin, wearing a pair of blue jeans, has been accessorized with a Minnie Mouse hat, T-shirt and purse. There are also a couple of dolls placed next to him on the floor along with another purse and a Snow White storybook. The window makes a strong statement about accepting children for who they are and allowing them to explore their identities without attaching traditional (and archaic) masculine and feminine labels.
The display hasn’t generated much attention from park-goers; however, one Disneyland annual passport holder thought it was step in the right direction.
“I think that it’s great that the Disney company can put something like this on display in the parks,” Jarret Hastings told The New Civil Rights Movement. “Not every guest may notice that it’s a boy mannequin with traditionally feminine attire but it goes to show that Disney is a supportive organization that welcomes everyone.”
Well said, Jarret. Now if we could just get Disney to release a full-feature cartoon where the prince falls in love with another prince, we’d be happier than Cinderella was when she slipped her foot into that glass slipper.
jwtraveler
Good for Disney!
It’s important to note that if this were a little girl mannequin surrounded by Mickey Mouse paraphernalia, no one would give it a second thought.
CarrieV
@jwtraveler: Agreed! It is acceptable, if not standard, for girls to utilize both “boy” toys, clothes, and hobbies and “girl” toys, clothes, and hobbies — yet boys are ostracized if they are not 100% male-acting.
Good for Disney on this. Let’s enjoy it while we can, before the haters find out and start a boycott of all things Disney.
Jos Mastron
So what? It’s Disneyland, they cater to their clientele, and boys who like Minney Mouse obviously love Disneyland, and do make up a large part of their audience.
Rochelle Flores
My little boy loves Minnie!!
Jacob23
lol! Disney deals with imaginary worlds. So they must be imagining a distant planet where boys are going to see that display and beg their parents for a Minnie Mouse purse to show the other boys. /smh/
Giancarlo85
@Jacob23: And he posts in here too!
Jacob only thinks boys should like things boys are supposed to like. Boys are supposed to wear blue and look like they are out of the 1950s.
Your posts are stupid and predictable, jacob. You need to try harder! Not everyone lives to your outdated gender norms!
Jacob23
@Giancarlo85: Not about what I think, JaneCharlene85. It’s about what boys think. And sorry to break it to you, but the overwhelming majority of boys – approaching 100% but falling a bit short – do not want to be perceived as girls, girlish or feminine. This isn’t sexism or patriarchal mind control. It is basic to human psychology to mark each sex in some way. It needn’t be blue clothes or short hair or whatever 1950s USA established for men. The specifics can vary across time and cultures. But there must be a marker. And in the US in the 21st century, carrying a purse is a marker of female behavior. Thus, the idea of carrying one repulses normal boys, whether gay, bi or straight.
Plum
It actually is a girl mannequin; they’ve replaced the baseball cap with a headband. What did you expect a girl toddler mannequin to have, eyelashes and lipstick? I’m all for supporting gender non-conforming kids, but this isn’t accurate.