Cartoons and Culture What is the relationship between civilization and self-discipline? How do we learn self-discipline? Where does popular culture fit into this process?

The Hays Office Sex sells, but it must be packaged in socially acceptable ways Reinforcing gender roles is an important way of teaching people to repress natural impulses in order to learn self-discipline In patriarchal societies, women and men who step outside their roles are particularly threatening to order, so institutions are created to restrict such representations in popular culture: in Hollywood, the Hays office

Disney and Sexuality Steamboat Willie (1929) The Hays Office (1933) The Nifty Nineties (1941)

Safely Sexy Women Foreign, non-European women (the harem or the child of nature) American tendency to see other cultures as havens for sexual experience forbidden at home Good girls vs. bad girls Serpentine Dances (1895) A Good Time for a Dime (1941)

Betty Boop Introduced in 1930 (pre-Code), Betty appears comfortable with her sexuality and enjoys flaunting it She has no fixed boyfriend, but rather a series of romantic/sexual adventures Her trademark is the flirtatious wink with which she manipulates her male co-stars (and, presumably, viewers) Betty Boop and the Little King (1936)

Betty Boop She appeals to women who see themselves as liberated in the 1920s: she’s a flapper The Hays office insists that women (and their sexuality) stay properly in the home By the later ’30s, Betty has become more domestic, but still can’t compete with heroines like Snow White and Lois Lane; female ideal images have changed Snow White (1933) Snow White (1938)

Up in the Sky... Superman makes the world safe for democracy (as well as for racism and patriarchy) Jungle Drums (1943)

WWII: Who stole that cell? Censored at Home! Shown Uncut to the Troops! Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)