Women’s Group Joins Baptists’ Boycott Of Disney Conservatives Upset Over Depiction Of Females, Gay-Friendly Policies
Angered at seeing Pocahontas clad in a “Victoria’s Secret little slip” and Gay and Lesbian Day at Disney World, a conservative women’s group on Wednesday joined a boycott against the Walt Disney Co.
“The issue is not that we are leaving Disney; we feel Disney is leaving us,” said Paula Govers, spokeswoman for the 500,000-member Concerned Women for America.
After failing in a closed-door meeting to persuade Disney to change its programming to a more “family friendly format,” the group decided to join the boycott begun last month by the 15 million-member Southern Baptist Convention.
A Disney spokesman argued that programming under the Disney label is suitable for families and accused the groups of setting up the meeting as a publicity stunt.
“The Disney brand is the most prolific provider of family entertainment in the world,” John Dreyer said. “We feel the only intention of this (meeting) was to provide a news hook for a press conference.”
Seven other pro-family, mostly Christian organizations also participated in the meeting, including the Southern Baptist Convention. None of the other groups has announced they are joining the boycott, but both the Southern Baptists and the American Family Association said the meeting did not dissuade them from dropping their previously announced boycotts.
The groups have taken issue with a spate of movies and television shows produced by Disney subsidiaries that they say disparage Christian values or promote homosexual lifestyles.
They have cited the coming-out of the title character in the television show “Ellen,” produced by Disney-owned ABC, the promotion of Gay and Lesbian Days at Disney theme parks and the company’s homosexual-friendly benefits policy.
In response to the widened boycott, the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that supports gay rights, issued a statement criticizing the move as “antigay.”
“These groups are promoting discrimination in the trappings of faith,” said David M. Smith, the Human Rights Campaign’s communications director.
Govers said her group also is protesting how females are depicted in Disney animation flicks such as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” and the lead character in “Pocahontas.”
“Ariel, what is she wearing? She’s wearing two, tiny little seashells,” said Govers. “What are they telling our little girls?”
The protesting groups represent about 40 million people all together. Those that are not actively joining the boycott have agreed to publicize the efforts of the ones who are.
But how much of an effect they’ll have promoting a boycott is unknown. Despite the Southern Baptist’s announcement, Disney boasted an 18 percent boost in third-quarter earnings this week.