Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Guys Like the Bad Girls Too!

Before reading this post, I recommend checking out some of my previous articles regarding Disney villains here, and here.  They may provide a little context to today's material.

I haven't been on the hunt for new sociological Villain material lately but I serendipitously found some gender-related frustrations today on the Disney Parks blog of all places! While normally the user comments that make the cut on this blog are positive reviews and all around supportive of the posts, today I found three (four!) comments lamenting the absence of Disney Villain clothing made for men.  


Image from Disney Parks Blog

While I personally approve of the designs on these tees, which show much evil character while not slimming them down, I am a bit disappointed that the trend seems to be that the Villains line is aimed more toward women... Not only in regards to consumers but characters themselves as well.  Popular male villains include Captain Hook, Scar, Dr. Facilier, but these characters are much harder to find than the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and Ursula, on both men and women's clothing merchandise.  

I've heard the argument before that there is just no demand for female characters on men's clothing, but with these comments I have high hopes that with a growing voice for demand Disney may get the hint and appeal to all tastes and genders in the future.

Screenshots of the comments taken from this Disney Parks Blog post, with names removed: 






Do you think that if Disney merchandising made more of an effort to feature female characters on men's clothing or male villains on women's clothing, there would be enough of a demand to make it worth it for the company?  

1 comment: