When it comes to characters in children's media, whiteness has been the primary characteristic of "beauty" in Western culture. While some movies and television shows feature non-white characters, these characters are often depicted as villains. Even in movies such as Disney's "Pocahontas" or "Aladdin," the heroes of the story are made to speak in American accents and have largely anglicized features.
Through media images, children internalize what is considered a "normal" or "desirable" body type in the culture. In children's media -- particularly in cartoons and movies -- average body sizes are distorted and often much smaller than reality. Studies find that even very young children in elementary school associate thinness with beauty and wish that they, too, were thinner.
In children's media, it is often the responsibility of the female characters to be "beautiful enough" to win the favor of male characters in the story. Frequently, children's media depict characters who "fall in love" immediately upon meeting because of the female character's beauty, which indicates that beauty is the all-important feature that makes a woman lovable or not. Although disproportionately thin or muscular heroes are also common, varying male body types are far more frequent than female body types in children's media.
According to a National Institutes of Health study, children learn early that "what is beautiful is good." Because evil characters in films, television and traditional stories are often "ugly" as well as evil and good characters often "beautiful," children begin to believe that there is a correlation between beauty and goodness in real life.