Like many girls in America, I grew up watching and loving Disney princesses, and I always saw these women as examples of what I would want to be when I grew up. But as I began to actually grow up, I heard my friends bashing Disney Princesses, and I started to see critiques like this:
This image and others like it present Disney princesses as these archaic caricatures of helpless women, and make it seem as though the Disney princesses are anti-feminist. Personally, I find these criticisms short-sighted and I cannot let this stand. So strap in, folks, because I’m about to explain why each of the first seven Disney Princesses is a feminist in her own way (and in chronological order, no less):
Snow White: Okay, I get that this is a hard sell. She sings “Someday My Prince Will Come,” and she technically gets rescued by a man in the form of the Prince, I get it. BUT. First of all, Snow White is only fourteen. FOURTEEN. So it’s not like she could be expected to have her life completely together. And when she gets lost in the woods, no one saves her! She saves herself! And she marches right on into the dwarves’ house and that girl takes CHARGE. She gets those dwarfs to wash their hands and clean their house and be responsible! She is their QUEEN and she holds all the power in that household. Plus, Snow White leads her own movie. The Prince doesn’t even have a NAME, and he has literally two lines in the entire movie. The whole storyline is about Snow White — SHE is telling her own story. Also, this movie came out in 1937, okay? Let’s keep that in mind. This was pre-Rosie-the-Riveter for goodness sake. Snow White is a feminist.
Cinderella: I cannot believe that people hate on Cinderella. This girl comes from an abusive household and all she wants to do is have a fun night out on the town. She doesn’t care about the Prince at all, plus, when she actually meets him, she doesn’t even know that he’s the Prince! She could not care less! Cinderella just wants to go to a party, and despite her family traumatizing her right beforehand, she gets herself to that party, and yeah, she meets a guy, but she promptly ditches him! Then when she gets locked in the tower by her abusive stepmother, she gets herself out of the tower, and she escapes her abusive household by conning Prince Charming into liking her shoes! Cinderella is an ICON. And again, she is the titular character and leading her own movie. And this movie was made in 1950, people. How many old movies do you know that pass the Bechdel test?? Cause all of these movies sure do.
Aurora: Admittedly, Sleeping Beauty here is probably the least feminist princess on our list, but that’s just because she is asleep for most of her movie. I’m sure that if given the chance, she would have proved to be a bit more empowered. Even so, this girl is resilient. She was raised in the WOODS by three fairies who clearly have no idea what they’re doing, so she basically raises herself, and when she finds out that she is actually a princess, she steels herself and is ready to accept that responsibility! She takes that challenge straight on! And, yeah, the curse kicks in, but that’s not her fault! She did her best.
Ariel: People are always like “ugh, Ariel changed her entire appearance for a man” EXCUSE ME, but Ariel wanted to go on land and be human way before she saw Prince Eric! Did you miss “Part of Your World”?? That whole song sequence occurs BEFORE she sees a human up close! Yeah, Prince Eric is eventually part of her reason to become human, but I am positive that she would have done it even if she hadn’t seen him. And then, when she is human, she clearly is loving human things — it’s not like she is just there for Prince Eric. Ariel is such a feminist. She knows who she is and she stays true to herself, and that is what feminists do.
Belle: I mean, please. Have you seen the way Belle dismisses Gaston, who is the epitome of that self-righteous douchebag we’ve all met before? Inspiring. Belle doesn’t fit in with the girls in town who are obsessed with Gaston and other shallow stuff, because she is busy READING and living her best life. Belle never worries about what other people think of her, and that is super feminist. Plus, Beauty and the Beast is all about valuing people for more than just their looks, and appreciating someone for who they are on the inside, and that is one of the biggest things that feminists have been saying this whole time.
Jasmine: Hello – my girl Jasmine dismisses all of her suitors because she is not about to settle for any man that doesn’t see her as an EQUAL. She frees all those birds from that birdcage, which is literally the most blatant feminist symbolism I’ve ever seen in a Disney movie. She also gets herself over the palace wall without any help from anybody and goes to explore the marketplace because she wants to be independent! This girl cannot be contained! And she doesn’t even want to hang out with Prince Ali at first because, as we all know, she is “not a prize to be won”!!!!! Incredible. What a quote.
Pocahontas: And here we have a strong capable woman saving poor little damsel in distress, John Smith. Sure, this movie is completely inaccurate historically, but that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is that Pocahontas is super smart, independent and open-minded! She wants some adventure, she wants to explore and be free and not have some boring life being married to Kocoum like she’s supposed to do. Then later she literally gets up and addresses an entire crowd of people, saying “This is where the path of hatred has brought us!” and she saves John Smith and puts her dad in his PLACE with, “This is the path I choose, Father. What will yours be?” That scene is so powerful! Pocahontas is a feminist.
Mulan: I’m pretty sure I don’t need to argue this one. If you aren’t already on board for Mulan being feminist, then none of this article will speak to you anyway. She literally saves all of China. And remember how after Shang finds out that Ping is actually Mulan and she shows up at the parade to warn everybody that the Huns are alive, Shang is all “you don’t belong here,” and Mulan says, “You said you trust Ping. Why is Mulan any different?” That is the mic drop of the CENTURY and I love it.
Okay, I’m gonna cap it there even though we still have the princesses from the Revival Period: Tiana, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa and Moana. But I feel like people are more accepting of the modern princesses as feminist — I mean, if you don’t think that Elsa is feminist, I don’t know what to say to you.
In conclusion, the Disney princesses are feminists. If you still don’t believe me, look at this awesome depiction of them at the Women’s March with their own quotes: