I know that disliking Disney is something of a death sentence online, but feminist issues surrounding Disney and Disney films have meant that I’ve been brought up without it, and don’t really like it. Recently though, I watched Brave, and that gave me hope. So today I ventured into a Disney store for the first time, in order to show my support for the film by buying a plush of one of those bears that Merida’s brothers turn into, and I hated that store with all my heart.

Let’s ignore the fact that the entire store is obviously split right down the middle, boy-girl, and ignore the fact that they called little girls princesses, and little boys superheroes, and ignore the fact that on almost all of the Brave merchandise, Merida looked nothing like the way she did in the film, and had been “dolled up” significantly, and ignore the fact that none of the Brave merchandise came with Merida’s bow.

What actually pissed me off to all hell was what is pictured above.

Now, that picture is not a particularly brilliant example of the issue, and really I should have taken a picture in store, but there were kids all over the place, and I didn’t want to catch them in the background and put them on the internet without their permission.

Those of you who are unfamiliar with Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (or if you’re American, The Avengers), there are six superheroes in the film, one of whom is female- Black Widow, kick ass assassin. She’s not on very much Avengers merch, which I’m usually sort of okay with, because Hawkeye isn’t on it either. The two of them are pretty much a set, as neither of them have any superpowers (Hawkeye is just a really good archer, and Black Widow is just a really good assassin), and neither of them have their own flims. They’re not usually considered a main part of the Avengers, and I can put up with that. On this packaging though, you can see that five of the Avengers are pictured. Hawkeye is there, and Black Widow is not.

All of the Avengers merch in that store was the same. Black Widow did not appear on anything. There were toys, items of clothing, cups, all kinds of things (which aren’t available online, apparently), were this way.

There is no rational excuse for this. The only possible explanation is the deliberate eradication of the one female superhero.

What this is saying, loud and clear, is that women don’t get to have power. Merida’s power was removed from her merchandise- her bow and arrows were taken from her. Black Widow is gone altogether. It is saying to every single girl who goes into that store- you don’t get to be strong. You have to wear a tiara and look pretty. Every girl who wants to be a superhero is basically being told that she can’t. That she doesn’t belong here. They take away the strength of women like it is a defect.

What kind of message is that to be sending to our children?