Disney Princesses

In an interview, Joss Whedon was asked, "So why do you write these strong female characters?" To which he replied, "Because you are still asking me that question."

Those who know me personally may recognize this blog entry, because I have probably said this vocally, and I believe it was a "Note" on Facebook at one point.
I grew up on Disney Princess movies. The earliest I can remember, the group was Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. Of course, now we also have Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Merida. (Though, if you want to only include the Princesses who are officially inducted into the Royal Court, we have to leave Merida off the list. However, it's only a matter of time until she has her own ceremony.)
I'm not a major feminist, but as much as I love the Disney Princesses, the most classic and well-known of them are not very good role models. Disney has slowly started getting better, but on the whole I do not want any future daughter to take their lessons to heart.

SNOW WHITE is a girl who moves into a house with seven men, and immediately begins cooking and cleaning for them (the "proper place" for a woman). And then, when she is in danger, she is powerless and must depend on the dwarves to help her and then her Prince to save her. Not a strong role model.


CINDERELLA is a girl trapped in servitude by her stepmother, and her only way out is to marry a Prince. She has no thought of simply leaving and living on her own; the man must come and save her. How is that a role model??


AURORA is even more powerless than Cinderella! She pricks. her. finger. on a spinning wheel, which throws her (and the entire castle) into a coma. And the only way for them to wake up? You guessed it! The Prince must fight the dragon and kiss her. And since he must be her true love, she marries him! They barely know each other - they had only met once, in the forest - but since he was her first kiss, they must be destined for each other. Awesome example for the young girls, Disney. What the hell.


ARIEL actually has a special place in my heart; I was born in 1989 (the year her movie came out), I have always had red hair, and my family are River Rats, so I pretty much grew up in the water. However, even with the connection I feel to Ariel, I have to admit that she is a terrible role model. She spends her entire life ignoring her Dad, fantasizing of leaving for a world she doesn't understand. Which, okay, is pretty much every teenage girl, with one big difference - she actually does it. She makes the decision to completely change herself to be what Eric (the Prince actually gets a name this time!!) needs, paying the price of never seeing her family again.Who wants their daughter to learn THAT??


BELLE is the beginning of the stronger females, but she's still not quite there. Sure, she refuses to marry Gaston and dreams of a life outside the small provincial town in which she and her father live, and when her father gets kidnapped, she's the one who rides into the dark forest to rescue him. She makes the decision to stay in the dungeon in order to save her father, but that's where her Good Role Model status pretty much ends. For the rest of the movie, she is an emotionally and physically abused woman who refuses to leave, because she believes she can change the Beast. Though it makes a better movie, what's worse is that she actually succeeds, giving young girls a precedent. That is not something you want your daughter believing!!


JASMINE is a bit stronger, and one of my favorite Princesses. Her father, the Sultan, is trying to force her into marriage since the law states there must be a male Sultan to succeed him.Jasmine doesn't want to get married, however, and so runs away from home to live on her own. This is where she gets a little less awesome, though. A strange, dirty street rat (he had to smell bad, too) saves her from losing a hand, and so she agrees to go with him to his home. Which turns out to be a sketchy, abandoned building, with an admittedly amazing view of the palace. As much as you don't want your daughter to think it's okay to go home with a guy right after meeting him, Jasmine's strength, personal power and overall positives pretty much outweigh that one negative (and to tell the truth, I totally had a crush on Aladdin while I was growing up). She's a pretty good role model.


POCAHONTAS is the strongest of the Princesses so far. She is all about preserving the land she has grown up on, and the love story just sort of happens. Her father has picked a husband for her, Kokoum, who is the best hunter, and a very attractive man. But Pocahontas is not interested in marrying simply because she is the princess; she would rather wait for love. She happens to find that in John Smith, a European settler who is part of an "invasion". She teaches him the beauty of nature and why it must be preserved, and they unintentionally fall in love with each other. However, John's superior and Pocahontas's father do not understand the other side, and because of fear and misunderstanding, become aggressive. John is caught in the crossfire, and must return to England for medical attention. He asks Pocahontas to return with him, but she makes the decision Ariel wouldn't - Pocahontas tells John that, though she loves him, she must stay with her family in the New World. Now that's a role model.


MULAN should not be considered a Princess, in my opinion. She is the daughter of a soldier, poses as a soldier, and then marries a soldier. There is no royalty in there anywhere. However, Disney disagrees with me, and they're the boss. SO, ignoring the fact that she is not a Princess, she is a strong role model. Very early on we learn that she does not impress the matchmaker, and is much more comfortable without makeup and fancy clothing. When her father is called into service even though he is injured, she steals his summons, cuts her hair, and poses as his son in the army. She begins to fall for her commanding officer, but cannot act on it because he thinks she's a man. Even after her ruse is discovered, she returns to the palace - against orders - and saves the Emperor, as well as all of China. She returns home, having returned great honor to her family. And then, almost as an afterthought, her commanding officer appears to ask for her hand in marriage. That's a pretty good role model.


TIANA is the first of the new batch of Princesses. I have to admit, I saw her movie once and then haven't since. But she's a struggling cook who wants to open her own restaurant (or keep her father's restaurant open? something like that - either way, she wants to own a restaurant) but she just doesn't have the funds. She meets a frog who insists he is a Prince, but when she kisses him, she becomes a frog instead. They must then go on a journey to learn the lesson and return to their human bodies. Falling in love along the way, of course. While this pretty much is a love story, Tiana has spunk and ambitions and does not need the Prince to save her. She's an acceptable role model.


RAPUNZEL is one of my FAVORITE Princesses! She is kidnapped as an infant and held hostage by the woman she thinks is her mother. She does not want to disobey her mother by leaving the tower, but she dreams of seeing the floating lights that are in the sky on her birthday every year. One day, a thief named Flynn Rider sneaks into her tower and, after being knocked unconscious and tied up by Rapunzel, agrees to take her to see the lights. The entire movie is Rapunzel following her dreams, saving Flynn's life more than once, and finding her true family. She is an excellent role model.


MERIDA is the newest Princess, even though she is not officially inducted into the Royal Court yet (give her some time - her movie just came out a couple months ago). Her father is the Lord of Dunsborough and to keep the peace among the tribes, offers a competition to the lords' firstborns for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida is not happy with this - she has always been more comfortable riding through the forest and practicing her archery - and so enters and wins the competition (her father had never specified it was for the first born sons). Without spoiling too much, thanks to a shady witch and a spell to change her fate, Merida must save her mother before it is too late, and is able to do so with only the help of her little brothers - there is no Prince or love interest to be found. She is the best role model to date.

So what have we learned? Show your daughters the Princesses from the 21st Century, when Disney realized that the damsel in distress just would not cut it anymore. And make sure they see Tangled and Brave especially - those are just really really good movies.