"After Sofia's mother marries the King of Enchancia, Sofia must learn how to act like a proper princess in time for her debut ball while overcoming her new step-sister's jealousy and the bumbling Royal Sorcerer's evil scheme to take over the kingdom." This is the "about" blurb on Sofia the First's homepage. Disney perpetuates female gender by teaching little girls how to be like a princess. Like Sofia girl's are expected to believe in fairy tales, princesses are beautiful and one day they too will be rescued by their prince charming. Although Disney is known for enforcing and policing gender through the characters in their movies and television shows I found something different in Sofia; she challenges gender performance. For example, in one of the episodes Sofia wants to do "princely" things that only princes normally partake in. Disney usually encourages to children to be brave and believe in their dreams. I thought Sofia's refusal to participate in "princess" things shows a turn in the way Disney portrays gender.
Later posts to follow will include an excerpt from the episode, games and coloring pages found in the "Sofia the First" section on Disneyjunior.com.
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