Animation: Gender Eyeshadow

From Twitter: A thread in which I catalog "gender eyeshadow" examples as used in animated media.

I don't know why TERFs are always asking me to "define woman"; for years, cartoons have made it very clear to me that women are the folks with purple eyeshadow. Easy! [/joke]

- The sexy fish from Fantasia

- Lola Bunny from Space Jam

- Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit

- Yzma from Emperor's New Groove


I mean.



- The Evil Queen from Snow White

- Ursula from The Little Mermaid

- Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty

- Photo Studio Girl from A Goofy Movie


I just?

- Bianca from The Rescuers Down Under

- Georgette from Oliver and Company

- Rita from Oliver and Company

- Three Dancers from The Great Mouse Detective


It's basic biology, really.

- Madame Medusa from The Rescuers

- Daisy Duck

- Gadget from Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers

- Roxie and Dixie from Heathcliffe


Facts.

- Shirley, Babs Bunny, and Fifi from Tiny Toons

- Minerva Mink from Animaniacs

- Hello Nurse from Animaniacs

- Mam'selle Hepzibah from Pogo


"I've still got it, Eddie. And by 'it', I mean eyeshadow."

- Betty Boop from Who Framed Roger Rabbit

 
God knows how many days in the Enchanted Woods (not to mention several swims in the ocean) and Elsa and Anna are still rocking their eyeshadow game.

- Elsa and Anna from Frozen 2


Submitted by reader request: Lola from Shark Tale.

- Lola from Shark Tale


This seems to happen especially with non-human characters, presumably because it's very important for the viewer to know the gender of a tea kettle.

- Mrs Potts from Beauty and the Beast

- The Dresser from Beauty and the Beast

- Cleo from Pinocchio

- Goldie from Rock-A-Doodle


But then you have Jane, who isn't particularly interested in makeup, decked out in full eyeshadow in the humid jungle. EVEN AT THE END. When they've abandoned human clothing customs.

- Jane from Tarzan (beginning)

- Jane from Tarzan (ending)


Old or new, doesn't matter.

- Slue Foot Sue from Melody Time

- Blue Fairy from Pinocchio

- Megara from Hercules

- Mrs Pacman

- Eris from Sinbad

 
Being dead won't save you from the eyeshadow.

- Emily from Corpse Bride

- Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas

- Dixie from Daddy, I'm A Zombie

- Wednesday Addams from...something


The entire cast of Monster High is just eyeshadow for days.

- Frankie Stein from Monster High

- Clawdeen Wolf  from Monster High

- Lagoona Blue from Monster High

- Draculaura from Monster High


Sexy? Demure? Either way, PURPLE EYESHADOW FOR EVERYONE.

- Holli Would from Cool World

- Lady Tremaine from Cinderella

- Lonette from Cool World

- Marina from Sinbad


By reader request: Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet. The captain is important because we can see from her babies that the eyeshadow is NOT a genetic feature but rather actual makeup.

- Captain Amelia from Treasure Island

- Captain Amelia and Baby from Treasure Island


I have been informed that I am neglecting the Animal Crossing fandom with girly eyeshadow shots.

- Sally from Animal Crossing

- Pecan from Animal Crossing

- Monique from Animal Crossing

- Bitty from Animal Crossing


Some pink variations.

- Tammy from Animal Crossing

- Pango from Animal Crossing

- Kitty from Animal Crossing

- Blanch from Animal Crossing


Then you have the daring blue variant of Girl. Especially perfect for girls who have a lot of pink/purple already in their wardrobe!

- Vivian from Animal Crossing

- Olivia from Animal Crossing

- Gloria from Animal Crossing

- Becky from Animal Crossing


Some extra Animal Crossing villagers I couldn't fit in the previous tweets. IT'S MY THREAD, I CAN MAKE IT AS LONG AS I WANT.

- Mallary from Animal Crossing

- Gigi from Animal Crossing

- Annalisa from Animal Crossing

- Amelia from Animal Crossing


I was intrigued to see that Lady from "Lady and the Tramp" escaped the eyeshadow treatment, but then we checked the non-virginal Peg (from the same movie) and there it is.

- Peg from Lady and the Tramp

 
By fan request: Classic She-Ra.

- She-ra holding her sword


I'm told by Kissmate that the Powerpuff Girls almost never wear eye makeup *except* this scene where they are flirting with boys. Take that for what you will.

- The Powerpuff Girls


Hercules was really bad about this, to be honest. (I already posted Megara up-thread, but here's 4 more.)

- Muses from Hercules

- Horse from Hercules

- Hera from Hercules

- Aphrodite from Hercules


Mulan has it for Mulan and the Mtchmaker, and.....the men when they're pretending to be women.

- Mulan from Mulan

- Matchmaker from Mulan

- Men from Mulan disguised as women


A fun rare goth example: Marianne from Strange Magic. She's given up on love, men, and happiness, but NOT purple eyeshadow.

- Marianne from Strange Magic


More animal versions of the eyeshadow phenomenon.

- Bunnie Rabbot from Sonic the Hedgehog

- Marina from Pebble and the Penguin

- Girl Pidgeon from Animaniacs

- Slappy the Squirrel from Animaniacs


Miscellany.

- Morgana from Little Mermaid 2

- Snow White from Snow White

- Bo Peep from Toy Story

- Nameless Human Girls from Animaniacs


Kissmate has contributed *several* Pebble and the Penguin images, apparently having been subjected to the movie several times as a child.

- Marina from Pebble and the Penguin

- Prisoners from Pebble and the Penguin

- Happy Freed Penguins from Penguin


Fievel Goes West continues the trope of eyeshadow having connotations of adulthood and sexiness (and possibly that of money/resources?) since Tanya only has eyeshadow in the saloon scene and nowhere else.

- Kitty from Fievel Goes West

- Tanya from Fievel Goes West


A few people have replied to say this isn't done anymore. To them I give from Ducks Tales:

- Older Mrs Beakley, no eyeshadow

- New Mrs Beakley, purple eyeshadow!


Some more villains, including a live action that was too good not to include.

- Magica de Spell from Duck Tales

- Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmations

- Dark Princess from Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

- Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland


Classics.

- Dumbo's mother from Dumbo

- Miss Bunny from Bambi


Then you have Bugs Bunny dressing as a woman, complete with the necessary eyeshadow.

- Bugs as a valkyrie

- Bugs in a green dress

- Bugs in a fast food uniform

- Bugs in a blonde wig


I've mentioned Elsa from Frozen but she never doesn't have purple eyeshadow on, apparently? Even wears it to bed.

- Elsa at the coronation ball

- Elsa in her ice palace

- Elsa hugging Anna in Frozen 2

- Elsa asleep in Frozen 2


Two nice shots of Spider from James and the Giant Peach.

- Spider (1)

- Spider (2)


Did you think I was done? I will never be done.

- Rosie the Black Widow from A Bugs Life

- Gypsy the Moth from A Bugs Life


By reader request: Stella and Dixie from the Balto movies.

- Dixie from Balto

- Stella from Balto 3


I haven't seen the Lorax movie but Kissmate has, and has sent these to be included.

- An elderly grandmotherly type from the Lorax

- A brunette woman with eyeshadow

- A blonde woman with blue eyeshadow

- A crowd shot with the women wearing eyeshadow


By reader request: Mrs Brisby from Secret of Nimh. This one is interesting for employing what I'm calling subtle "fur-shadow". She's not wearing eyeshadow, but the fur on her eyelids is darker than the surrounding area, causing a "natural" shadow.

- Mrs Brisby from Secret of Nimh


The reverse of this, where fur-shadow is NOT employed, would be Nala from the Lion King. The fur on her eyelids matches the surrounding fur. Good, well done. (She still has the "girly" defined eyelashes, of course.)

- Nala from the Lion King


More examples of fur-shadow.

- Bambi's Mother from Bambi

- Girl Skunk from Bambi

- Girl Squirrel from Sword in the Stone

- Vixey from The Fox and the Hound


Thumbelina has an interesting mash-up: Thumbelina's purple eyeshadow varies in intensity depending on scene. Mrs Frog has eyeshadow, but Mrs Fieldmouse has fur-shadow. The Fairy Queen *and* the Fairy King both have eyeshadow, but the Prince does not.

- Thumbelina and Prince Cornelius

- Mrs Frog from Thumbelina

- Mrs Fieldmouse from Thumbelina

- Fairy Queen and King from Thumbelina


Another variation: "Eyeshadow All-Over". This is when the girl character has purple eyeshadow as well as purple...everything else.

- Dragon from Shrek

- Hip Hippos from Animaniacs

- Fifi from Rug Rats


You'd think Zootopia, a movie about animals, might not have eyeshadow, but.

- Judy from Zootopia

- Fru Fru from Zootopia

- Bellwether from Zootopia

- Gazelle from Zootopia


My Little Pony mostly avoids this. Mostly.

- Rarity from MLP

- Princess Luna from MLP


Spink and Forcible from Coraline! Their eyeshadow is more pronounced in the real world, but their "other" counterparts have eyeshadow too.

- Old Spink and Forcible from Coraline

- "Other" Spink and Forcible from Coraline


One more Sexy Fish before I go to bed tonight.

- Frances Albacore from Cats Don't Dance


This thread is going viral-er than I expected, so apparently I need to clarify some things: No, I don't think gender is conferred by eyeshadow. That was a joke to open the thread. This is a thread about how animators use eyeshadow (and eyelashes) to signal gender. I am not in favor of these "gender signals" being used this way in animation. It comes across as toxic cisnormativity to me, where the animator thinks the audience "needs" to know each character's gender at a glance. We don't.

Furthermore: I am extremely weirded out by the few very strange people who have decided this thread is a list of women I am attracted to. It's a thread about characters who have eyeshadow, no matter how strange/inappropriate it may be for them, in order to indicate gender. That's IT.

By reader request: the female Veggietales cast.

- Madame Blueberry from Veggietales

- Petunia Rhubarb from Veggietales

- Sara Crewe from Veggietales

- Mabel Asparagus from Veggietales


I previously praised The Lion King for avoiding fur-shadow but an astute reader has pointed out that the sequel, Simba's Pride, does NOT avoid the trope. (Note: These are all different characters.)

- Nala from The Lion King 2

- Kiara from The Lion King 2

- Zira from The Lion King 2

- Zuri from The Lion King 2


Same astute reader correctly pointed out that while Lion King 1's Nala didn't have fur-shadow, Sarabi did. (There's several crowd moments with unnamed lionesses, and I'd like to see if they have fur-shadow, but Google is failing me and I'm too weak to get the DVD right now.)

- Sarabi from The Lion King


By reader request: this extremely terrifying bird from "War of the Birds". I cannot find her name for the life of me.

- War of the Birds

 
By reader request: More Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers. The first picture is Gadget dolled up as an undercover agent (so the eyeshadow makes sense for once!) and the second is a Queen Bee who just...has purple eyeshadow.

- Gadget from Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers

- Queenie from Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers


By reader request: a ceiling fan and a tape recorder from The Brave Little Toaster. Because we desperately need to know the gender of a ceiling fan!!

- Tape Recorder from The Brave Little Toaster

- Fanny the ceiling fan from The Brave Little Toaster


By reader request: Cheetara from Thundercats, in various iterations.

- Cheetara from Thundercats (1)

- Cheetara from Thundercats (2)

- Cheetara from Thundercats (3)


By reader request: Princess What's-Her-Name from Earthworm Jim.

- Princess What's-Her-Name from Earthworm Jim


I'm not sure how many more of these I'll do; it's ardently clear that there are many many more left to do, it's not like I'm running out of material, but I also have a surgery to recover from. I am also frankly very disturbed by how many people have chosen to believe that my choice to *document* a cultural phenomena means that I am showing *approval* of the same. I've said repeatedly: I do not like this trope that I am documenting. I don't know how to be more clear. So having people drop in with comments like "I can't believe you're still doing this thread; this is disgusting", I'm documenting a cultural phenomena that has surrounded me since childbirth in order to prove to people that it exists. I don't LIKE it.

I don't know which corner of the internet is telling people that the collection and assemblage of primary source documentation is a bad thing or one that implies the historian/researcher approves of the history they are documenting but uh, that's not how any of this works!

...By one more reader request, a non-animated puppet example: Miss Piggy.

- Miss Piggy from The Muppets

- Janice from The Muppets

- Wanda from The Muppets

- Yolanda from The Muppets

- Jill from The Muppets


By reader request and to my absolute astonishment:

- Lipstick, 1908, Frantisek Kupka


Watching old Aladdin episodes today and-

- Fatima from Aladdin

- Saleen from Aladdin

- Jackal Girl from Aladdin

- Mirage from Aladdin


By reader request: Janine Melnitz from The Real Ghostbusters.

- Janine Melnitz from The Real Ghostbusters


By reader request: Ginger and Mrs Tweedy from Chicken Run.

- Ginger the chicken from Chicken Run

- Mrs Tweedy from Chicken Run

...and I'm spent for now.

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