I would like to preface that I come from a Disney family. As in many family vacations to Disney World, own every Disney movie, was Ariel for four years in a row type of Disney family. That being said, I loooooved the Disney princesses. Then, I grew up and realized the princesses I idolized were teaching me some questionable values.
(Disclaimer: I’m referring to the OG princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, you get the point.)
First, the princesses taught me that happiness comes from men. The main storyline for nearly all the princess movies goes something like the following: a helpless, beautiful girl lives a shitty life until Prince Charming comes, pulls her out of hole, and BAM– she’s a princess. It’s as if they have no hope for being happy unless a man comes into the picture.
Secondly, the princesses are children!! According to Buzzfeed, Jasmine was 15, Ariel, Mulan, Aurora were 16, and Snow White was 14. Here’s the worst one: In the movie Pocahontas, Pocahontas was 12-years-old and her prince, John Smith, was 27 when they met. Not only is this so extremely illegal, it is so morally wrong. When I was 12, I was watching these damn movies, definitely not thinking about my future husband.
I was also taught that beautiful has a very narrow meaning. Disney princesses are largely iconic due to their undeniable beauty. It is important to consider all the princesses look nearly the same: perfect skin, perfect teeth, 20 lbs underweight, tiny ass waist, long legs, at least C-cup boobs, voluminous hair, and for the most part, white. If they were real women, they wouldn’t be able to stand. Disney is advertising to young girls that these things mean beautiful.
Lastly, the movies are just plain unrealistic. All of the movies use some form of magic like transformations or superpowers. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, as they are children’s movies. However, from such an empire like Disney, it would be nice to see a woman become a hero for doing something achievable. I’d like to see a princess who rescues stray dogs or works as a scientist. Or maybe that’s just me.
Either way, it makes me sad that these are the values society pushes on young girls before they are old enough to realize it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s super cliche, but imagine how much different things would be if princesses and role models told girls they were powerful and beautiful just the way they are from the beginning.
