So it turns out the multi-billion dollar Disney corporation cares more about making money than spreading love and justice across the globe. This shock revelation follows its decision to remove a trans storyline from the Pixar series Win or Lose. 

A statement from the company claims that “when it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline”. While one can admire this for its utter vagueness, it doesn’t exactly convince. Indeed, it’s hard not to think that what’s really meant is “we thought having a trans character was a tick-box woke win — which indeed it would have been, five years ago — but we’ve noticed which way the wind is blowing — Trump’s return to office, rising concern about puberty blockers and males participating in female sports, potential lawsuits from detransitioners — and now we’re not so sure”. 

One former Pixar assistant editor, Sarah Ligatich, describes herself as “devastated” by the decision. “For a long time,” she laments, “Disney has not been in the business of making great content. They have been in the business of making great profits.” This she relates to “even as far back as two years ago”. I’d suggest it goes a little bit further than that. 

As someone who grew up loving the Disney films of the late eighties and early nineties, I was aware even then of the tension between “progressive” Disney, out to put the world to rights, and the image of a copyright-obsessed money-making machine. Even so, and embarrassingly enough, I sort of fell for the former, drawn to the pseudo-feminism of The Little Mermaid’s Ariel and Beauty and the Beast’s Belle. Ariel sings about “bright young women, sick of swimmin’, ready to stand”! And Belle is really into books and hates Gaston, unlike all the bimbo blondes in her “quiet village”! Grateful for these crumbs from the table, I tended to overlook the broader plot points — such as falling in love with your captor — and total absence of sisterhood (we had to wait for Frozen for that to become fashionable for a while). 

It wasn’t long after that Disney began expressing more open embarrassment for obvious past sins, such as the portrayal of native Americans in Peter Pan and pretty much the whole of Song of the South. I think the term “embarrassment” is right here, because it was never really guilt or shame, more a sense that this was now a bit uncool. Not so uncool that you’d want to go withdrawing all your merchandise or giving away any cash, but you might at least put a pious statement at the start of a film (which has the added bonus of making the viewer feel lectured and thereby somehow complicit in the racism, which ends up not being Disney’s fault). 

If gender distressed children feel let down, well, they should do. They have been

Thus it does not surprise me if Disney’s recent embrace of the trans cause has turned out to be superficial. If gender distressed children feel let down, well, they should do. They have been. I know there are many — myself included — who might see this, in part, as a positive sign, insofar as “trans rights” are not the same sort of thing as rights for women, LGB people or other marginalised groups. Do we really want shows for children endorsing so-called “gender-affirming” care or male children using resources reserved for girls, anyways? One could argue that this is one instance in which the company’s tendency not to really care about the causes it promotes has turned out for the best. Yet I also feel angry on behalf of those children who have come to depend on this kind of “support”. It is harder for them than for others. 

If I once felt let down by the fact that Disney “feminism” is not real feminism, this was no great tragedy. Corporate “feminism” has always been a bit of a sham, but there is still an actual feminist movement that exists beyond it. Big business will talk up female empowerment, but actual feminism — the kind that demands a redistribution of material resources, and an end to the exploitation of female bodies — is largely anathema to it. This makes things more difficult for feminists, but it does mean that we can cast a critical eye over the “feminism” we are offered on screen and in the workplace. My belief in my own worth doesn’t depend on seeing myself represented in Moana 2. 

The “trans child” … is a recent creation, one that has been pushed by profit-making organisations

It is not the same when it comes to “trans rights”. Children who are unhappy with the expectations and beliefs imposed on them because of their sex have always existed (as feminists have long pointed out). The “trans child”, on the other hand, is a recent creation, one that has been pushed by profit-making organisations, unscrupulous charities and greedy individuals seeking a low-cost, superficially progressive “cause” to latch onto. The popularity of trans narratives in “progressive” spheres such as children’s TV and publishing has allowed adults to make money out of telling children that their bodies may indeed be the wrong ones, or that they “need” access to certain resources or they will die. The beneficiaries of this have not been children themselves, but adults seeking a boost in income and/or in-group status. Crucially, there is no movement for “trans children” beyond this. How could there be, when this is the movement which brought the “trans child” into being? 

Whereas feminists have argued for more diversity in the representation of boys and girls in stories and films, we know that boys and girls will not vanish in a puff of smoke if this doesn’t happen. We have not made whether or not a gender non-conforming child can exist dependent on whether it is fashionable, or whether someone can make money from it. We know such children exist and we can support them. For the “trans child”, once Disney — and all others who’ve sought to profit from them — move on, there’s nothing (apart from the hope that not too much individual damage has been done). 

As the Win or Lose debacle shows, these people and organisations don’t care about gender distressed children. They will drop you as soon as they see that “trans inclusion” isn’t the quick win they thought it was. They will, if anything, pretend they never thought of you at all. As the mother of the actor who was to voice the trans character in Win or Lose has said, “everyone deserves to be recognised”. Just don’t depend on Disney to do it. Listen to those who actually care instead.