For anyone with an interest in pop culture, this essay is an interesting examination of female roles in Disney films and anime.

“Japan’s foremost creator/director of animation today is Hayao Miyazaki, whose popularity and focus on family films have often invited comparisons to Disney. In the creation of believable, empowered female characters, however, Miyazaki’s studio puts Disney to shame. Though Miyazaki comes out of a culture that may in fact be historically far more oppressive of women than America’s, his females are allowed to assume and retain positions of power.” (Read more…)