Unrealistically thin, long soft hair, high pitched voice, delicate and feminine are some of the characteristics that define a woman’s stereotype. Unfortunately, those were incorporated in some of the most famous Disney princesses such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. However the happy ever after kingdom has been welcoming female characters that are very different from a previous established pattern.
Here are some of Disney’s princesses that break stereotypes:
- Mulan
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The Chinese woman who dressed as a man and joined the army to save her father and her country is not exactly a princess. In fact, she is not a princess at all, but the Walt Disney World included her in the princess spectrum.
Mulan is of the patterns for many reasons, the main one is her Asian origin. She is the only Asian to ever star in a Disney movie. She does not get rescued, in fact, she saved her ill father who would have died in the war if she hadn’t gone in his place.
China’s heroine disguised as man and lived like one, besides entering war, training and fighting. The whole picture itself is the first to have a war thematic and to ever talk about cross dressing.
Mulan may have felt ashamed of her reflection at the beginning but she definitely brought honor to us all.
- Tiana
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Down in New Orleans, Tiana lives her life trying to achieve her and her deceased father’s dream of opening a restaurant. But her journey is interrupted when she kisses a frog and turns into one too. Her dedication and hard working spirit are put to the test when she chases a way to become human again.
Tiana is a black southern girl, already defying all patterns. She only falls in love with the prince in the last 15 minutes of the movie, making love and marriage not the main plot. Tiana also did not give up on her dream after becoming a princess and teaches a lesson to the public of being committed and knowing that nothing happens out of nowhere.
It is also very important to praise prince Naveen for he not only encouraged Tiana to follow her dream, but he also did not feel intimidated by her success.
That whole town can slow people down, but Tiana is not putting up with it.
- Merida
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This Scottish girl was born into royalty and could have everything she wanted with a ring of a bell. Less her freedom, her true desire. Merida is one the few leading role female in Disney history that does not fall in love with anyone, unlike her fellow princess spectrum companions.
Esthetically speaking, she has long curly ginger hair and wears the same outfit the entire movie – expect when her mother made her wear a formal gown, which she ripped apart. She goes out on adventures and uses an arc and a bow. Her story complicates when her mother is transformed into a bear on account of a pie Merida gave her. The plot unfolds and gets resolved throughout mother-daughter love and acceptance.
Such as Mulan, the redhead stands up for herself, chased the wind and touched the sky.
- Elsa
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The icy girl is not a princess, she is a strong powerful queen. Elsa has supernatural powers regarding ice and snow. She panicked in her coronation and got scared to hurt people with the powers she couldn’t even understand or control. She runs away and only comes back with handcuffs, which she escapes from and managed to save her sister with a true love kiss.
Frozen got a huge repercussion because for the first time the true love did not involve a man, but to sisters who would do anything to help each other. Although being thin, blond, tall and have a stunning dress, Elsa does not think of man not even for a minute. She runs a whole kingdom by herself and also learns to use her powers for the well being of her people.
The massive stereotype breaker is that the iced queen achieves personal acceptance, embracing her flaws not caring what people were going to say. She let the storm rage on and let it go.
- Moana
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Moana from Motonui is the Disney princess with the most realistic body in all of the movies ever made by the company. Her black curly hair is portrayed as it should: with a life of its own and in need to put it in a bun once in a while.
Moana does not have a love interest and neither does she need it, her feeling of fulfillment is achieved by being on the wide ocean. She goes out alone to sail and respond to the sea’s calling. By finding a demigod named Mauim, she finds out there is a mission to accomplish in order to save her island and her family.
Moana has a wild and free spirit, but is raised and taught to run her tribe and replace her father once he is gone. Sad for her, but a break of stereotype for society since she is not subordinated to anyone and is expected to take a leadership role.
Maybe Moana is not the perfect daughter, but she finally got to know how far she would go.
In years to come people still want to see love and happy ever after stories. But with women that don’t follow a pattern and don’t have a man as the center of their lives. However we shouldn’t discredit the princesses that were created following those stereotypes. Their stories are beautiful and inspiring, not mentioning that made part of many childhoods.
Princesses teach us to dream and to never give up. Bringing them closer to reality makes people believe that a dream is a wish your heart makes, and don’t matter what part of whose world you are, you need to paint with all the colors of the wind and look around the riverbend.