"You were my new dream"
Socially, the Disney Princess is looked down upon as "unrealistic expectations for women." Many people argue that an impossibly skinny, white princess is detrimental to little girls who may not look like these princesses. They also believe that every princess is just waiting to be saved. However, I believe that these princesses should be looked at as outward manifestations of the beauty from within and that each one did not just wait for their Prince.
In order to accurately assess the Disney Princesses, we must first start with the very first Princess. The timeline of the official Disney Princesses is as follows: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, and Rapunzel. Merida is considered a "Disney" Princess. However, she is Pixar, and Pixar is not Disney. In an effort to avoid redundancy, I will split these Princesses into three eras: Classical (Snow White, Cinderella, ad Aurora), Renaissance (Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan), and finally Revival (Tiana and Rapunzel). I will mention Elsa and Anna, but I'm not going to go to into detail in order to save some discussion for my review of Frozen.
Classical Era
This Era is the most controversial in terms of views on women. Many critics view Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora as the weakest and most dependent princesses in Disney's line-up, and others testify that it was a different time and the characters acted as fairy tale princesses would. I lie somewhere in between these two groups. Snow White is weak and marries someone she doesn't know, but this was also Disney's first animated feature. It was made in 1937. Women only had the right to vote for 18 years, and they certainly were not treated as equals (and still aren't for that matter). So, it's no wonder why Snow White was as feeble as she was. However, Snow White acted as a mother to the dwarfs which is a tough job for any person. She did not revolutionize gender roles such as later Disney Princesses, but she was not completely useless. Cinderella, on the other hand, is a hard working woman who deserves the things she is rewarded in life. Let me clarify. I am not saying that Cinderella needs a man at all. I'm just saying she deserves to get what she wants for once, and she wanted to go to the ball. Now, Aurora is the one that deserves the hate for doing nothing. She is merely a plot device through the whole thing, and she does nothing to redeem herself. She merely pricks her finger then waits for her Prince, but to be honest, Prince Philip didn't do much either.
Renaissance Era
These Princesses are also looked at as degrading to women, but I'll defend each one of these til death. Ariel might have given up her voice, but she learns that without her voice she can't win Eric's heart. Ariel also follows her heart and gives up what she loves for the person she loves which is a very mature thing to do. It may seem on the surface as detrimental, but look at Eric. He does nothing the whole movie but wait for Ariel. He is as useless as Aurora. Belle needs no explanation. She refuses Gaston's marriage, trades her life for her father's, and tries to find a life grander than her own. She does end up marrying, but she never did because Adam was a Prince or handsome. She does because she finds that she loves him after spending time with him. Jasmine refused marriage as well, and she stuck up for herself. She even threw her drink in Jafar's face when he had the power to kill her. She ended up having to be saved, but it was Aladdin's film not hers so it's understandable. The most overlooked Princesses: Pocahontas and Mulan both stopped wars. One by stopping the confilct and the other by defeating the entire Hun army and saving China. These Princesses were the first in a long line of great women that Disney would create. Each one would build upon the revolutions of the Princesses that came before her.
Revival Era
This Era is my favourite, so I'll be brief to save some topics for later discussion. Tiana is a lot like Cinderella in the respect that they both are hard workers. Tiana doesn't even want to marry a Prince in the beginning. All she wants is her restaurant. Rapunzel is the same way. All she wants is to see the lanterns that fly on her birthday. Both just happen to find love along the way. Elsa and Anna, however, are the most revolutionary of all. The resolution does not even revolve around a relationship between a man and woman. Of course, Frozen was not the first Disney movie to not have a marriage in it, but the way Frozen was written makes that fact more profound. These Princesses do not wait for their Prince. They do the things they want to and happen to find it.
Another complaint I hear is the fact that they are all skinny and white which is damaging to little girls. However, the reason why most of the Princesses are white is because most of them are from Europe. Disney does not whitewash. If they did Aladdin and Jasmine would be white. The fact is that most of the fairy tales that Disney adapts take place in Europe. So, most of them are white. Now, the reason why they are skinny has to do with animation and human perception. If you look at the character drawings for Disney characters, Disney heroes and villains are drawn to look their part. Jafar was drawn so that when you look at him for the first time you know that he is the villain. Beast was drawn to look terrifying. Disney draws them this way to show the character's inner personality. That is why Ursula looks scary and Ariel looks beautiful.
The Disney Princesses are what you make them. If you want them to degrade you and make the world look shallow. They will, but if you want them to fill the world with beauty and light, they will do that also. One thing we can all agree on, however, is that Disney Princesses are getting more independent, and therefore, it is more enjoyable to watch them overcome their obstacles.
*To clarify I don't hate Sleeping Beauty. I actually rather enjoy it.
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