All little girls have grown up watching Disney movies with the beautiful, courageous, intelligent princesses that always end up with the handsome, strong, sensitive, and caring prince. These movies instilled in us the ideals that this is how life will be for us once we grow up. Is Disney creating false ideals of what our life should be as we grow up, which will only be shattered by the reality of life? Or, is Disney creating happiness and empowerment for females everywhere?
When I think of my future, I know that I, along with most girls my age, still envision myself as finding a wonderful man that will love and cherish me, who I will marry, have adorable children with, and live happily ever after. It is almost impossible not to think of life as following this set path implanted by the family-values that Disney prides itself on. Does this rigid idea only set us up for failure and heartbreak in the future? On some level, the answer is yes. Although this is a great path to end up taking, this is not the path for everyone, nor is it always possible. Life happens. What this really means is that regardless of how much we plan and prepare, there are situations and circumstances that are unforeseen and uncontrollable. Learn to adapt to whatever comes your way, rather than trying to work this new situation into your rigid life plan. None of the Disney princesses planned on meeting the man of their dreams, it just happened. None of them planned on being locked away in a tower, taking a bite of a poisoned apple, or forced into slavery, but they learned how to be strong and move forward.
Disney movies are meant to teach important life lessons, not set forth a list of mandatory milestones. They accomplish the same goal as any religious script of teaching children life lessons through stories that they can relate to. What have we learned from our hours spent watching and re-watching the Disney classics?
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Rapunzel’s ability to find love without her beautiful blonde locks taught us that we are beautiful just as we are.
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Mulan’s tenacity to climb the pole and fight in an epic war taught us that we are strong and can overcome any obstacle set forth before us.
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Jasmine’s refusal to comply with the mild-mannered temperament of a princess taught us that we should never change ourselves in order to make others more comfortable or to conform to society’s ideals.
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Belle’s relentless pursuit of knowledge taught us that we are intelligent and should always strive to learn more and continue our education.
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Cinderella’s positivity due to her horrible situation as slave for her step-family taught us to make the most out of any situation.
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Princess Fiona’s honesty and perseverance taught us that we are the only people who have the ability to change our destiny and depict our future.
This is only an extremely short list of what we have learned as a result of our love (borderline obsession…) with Disney films and princesses. Intuitively, we all know that we should love ourselves, have confidence, do what is right, and we will be rewarded. As we grow up, we refer to Karma to explain what Disney tells us will happen in life. Oftentimes, we do not feel that we get all that we deserve, making it easy to focus on the negative, bad, or what we are lacking in life. It is important to refer back to our Disney roots to feel inspired to be the people who we really are under all of the petty nonsense that comes with daily activity of life. If you do not have time to sit down and enjoy the full experience of pretending you are in a Disney princess’s story, you can always listen to the Walt Disney (Children’s) Pandora Radio Station. Watch or listen and feel inspired to be the best you that you can be!