Putnam's Transgendered Villains

Putnam's explanation of the problems she has with Disney films and the representation of villains as transgendered holds a lot of merit, and is supported by a fair number of observations however, I cannot agree with her argument because I find a different reason responsible for many of the observations she makes. She argues that many villains are purposefully made to resemble the other sex however, I would argue that Putnam falls in the same trap that Disney does in assuming certain qualities to be specific to one sex or the other. Rather, I assert that the main culprit behind the representation of what Putnam points out is unrealistic expectations for beauty, where the villains main contrast to the hero comes from their appearance not as transgendered, but simply unattractive, which these Disney movies assert as undesirable and inherently associated with negative traits.
      Much of what she points out with the differences between the heroines of Disney's tales and the villains deal with their physical appearance. Where Putnam sees the differences as as embodying strong feminine characteristics in the heroines versus the "strong masculine qualities" (Putnam 148), I see the differences as outlining desirable vs undesirable beauty expectations. The clothing and physical characteristics of Cinderella, low cut dresses and a graceful physique, versus the square cut dresses and unattractive qualities of the step sisters does not convince me as an argument for transgendered villains and it does not convince me that the villains "ugliness is really maleness costumed as female" (Putnam 148), but rather the depiction of defined features that young women should try to embody in order to attract the attention of their male counterpart, which would then lead to the stereotypical heterosexual married described in the latter part of Putnam's argument.

     This argument of beauty standards is not unique to Disney, which I would argue furthers the claim  that the villains are defined by their simply ugly and unattractive appearance rather than their transgender qualities. In media today such as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and models of Abercrombie, a specific body type is sought after and promoted as the type that best fits their product and an image that men and women should seek to attain. We as a society promote a desirable image, and I would argue that Disney simply piggybacks onto this societal expectation with its heroines, heroes, and villains. The models of Victoria’s Secret all embody the image that Disney describes through Cinderella, and the heroes of our animated films all take after the models like Abercrombie, who are muscular, dominant males.
            While Putnam makes a convincing argument that an alienation of transgender traits as evil composes the villains in Disney animated films, I would argue that a stronger reason behind the depiction of certain traits as either heroic or villainous comes from our beauty expectations as a society. Expectations that are clearly depicted by heroic figures like Cinderella, Prince Charming, Ariel, Simba, etc., where the attractive attributes are a muscular or graceful physique, a great voice and charming qualities, while villains embody unattractive features that goes away from the desired attractive traits.