In terms of feminism, a lot of Disney princesses, well, suck. Yes, Disney’s more recent movies feature strong, smart and talented princesses. And yes, not every Disney princess is a bad role model for young girls, but many of them are. Disney princesses constantly have to be saved by their princes. Where are the princesses that have to save their princes? What do we have to do to get a little role reversal? Not to mention the fact that every single Disney princess is impossibly skinny with eyes that are literally bigger than their waistlines. Young girls are already overloaded with images of an impossible standard of beauty, do they really need to have that showcased in movies with heroines that they want to look up to?
In 1937, Disney released its first full-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film featured the first of many Disney princesses, Snow White. Made just 17 years after women were given the right to vote, it is no wonder that Snow White is full of blatant sexism. Snow White longs for a handsome prince throughout the entire movie. In addition, Snow White is praised solely for her good looks. Her step mother is jealous of her beauty because she is the “fairest in the land.” Because of this jealousy, her stepmother vows to kill her. When she is put under a spell by the Evil Queen (her stepmother) it is a kiss from her prince that awakens her and saves her. Snow White is brought out of her crappy situation by a prince that only loves her because she’s beautiful. Snow White is basically telling young girls that one day some her handsome prince will find her and rescue her.
After Snow White came Cinderella, from her self-titled movie. In the movie, Cinderella is forced by her stepmother to perform many domestic tasks. This reflected the majority of women at the time: quiet and classy whose job is to do the house work. To get out of her less than satisfactory situation, Cinderella gets all dressed up to go to a ball where she meets her prince. They marry because her prince is impressed by her beauty, not by who she actually is. Like Snow White, Cinderella isn’t a good role model. She shows young girls that even though performing domestic tasks isn’t necessarily fun, it is what women do. She also relies on a prince to find her attractive and marry her to release her from her undesirable circumstances.
Skipping ahead a few decades, Disney princesses begin to show a little more promise. Even though she is not technically royalty, Mulan is considered a Disney princess. She’s strong and a hard worker. She even saves China! Basically, Mulan is awesome. She is a great example of what a Disney Princess should be. Another example of a good Disney princess is Pocahontas. She is kind, wise and caring. Belle from Beauty and the Beast almost had it right. She is intelligent and can actually think for herself. But she ends up marrying the guy that enslaves her, which is creepy. Princess Jasmine from Aladdin is a bit different than other princesses. She is feisty and doesn’t even want to get married in the first place, but her father is basically raising her to be married off. Although she could be a good role model, she’s not even the main character in the film. These princesses aren’t the problem from this era of Disney. My biggest issue is with Ariel from The Little Mermaid.
I judge people when they say that Ariel is their favorite princess. Ariel is the absolute worst. In the beginning, she only seems to care about herself, but when she sees Prince Eric she instantly falls for him. She longs to go on land and meet this guy that she’s only seen once. When she finally does meet him, they fall in love, and she ditches her entire family to live with him as a human. Ariel throws her entire life away for a man that originally fell in love with her because of her singing voice.
Although Disney has done a good job in recent movies creating princesses that are better role models, the old princesses are terrible. For decades, Disney basically promoted the idea that for women to be happy they need a man. Because hey, every marriage leads to a “happily ever after,” right?