I see all these Disney posts all the time about how Disney princesses are just like us and how they are the best role models, but they aren’t. They conform to the societies standards of what it means to be a girl: skinny as fuck, unspoken, obedient, inferior, and always that “damsel in distress” character. No matter how independent they seem, they always end up needing a man in the end. Yes, Disney has made major progress, such as Merida, but the majority of movies show young girls that they need to be stupid and adhere only to a man’s needs as opposed to what they want. Sorry for my little rant and I am sorry if I offend anyone with this but this is just my opinion. I am not at all saying not to watch Disney movies because I personally love them, but at least notice the unreasonable stereotypes it perpetuates to girls.

caustic-in-red:

Oh I am sorry, I thought this was a place I could express my opinions and not be given shit for them. My bad. And just because I see these movies as enforcing gender stereotypes and you do not does not mean either of us are right, but let me defend my argument. Ariel: went against her fathers wishes about marrying a GUY. Changed her body for this guy and gave up her voice because your personality doesn’t matter. She is given 3 days for the prince to fall in love with her and she does it without even talking to him. Mulan: yes she does go against the whole “no girls in the army” thing but in the end her grandma tells her “I wish you had brought home a man instead of a medal” as if to say, those achievements mean nothing because you don’t have a guy. Belle: falls in love with a legit monster, who holds her hostage and verbally abuses her, showing girls its ok to be treated that way and you can always change him. Pocohontas: I apologize I have not seen it. Tiana: tries to follow her dream of owning her own restaurant but doesn’t actually succeed with it being successful until she has whats his face’s money and partnership. Cinderella: isn’t actually saved from her step mom and step sisters until the prince comes and the shoe fits and he literally takes her away from them. Snow White: saved by 7 men. Men who are much smaller than her but are still more powerful because they rescue her. Also she is pictured enjoying cleaning up after them, showing girls you should stay at home and cook and clean while the men work. Sleeping Beauty: Woken up by the Prince. Not to mention, these are all heterosexual girls and predominantly white, with the exception of Tiana. Again, this is MY OPINION. Don’t bash me for saying what I think. You should be ashamed, telling me that girls should follow in the Disney princess’ outspoken footsteps and then giving me shit for doing it.

Note: a continuation of this post.

And my apologies for being so caustic last night. Disney princesses and the issue of feminism is a thing I’ve been fighting ever since I got on here, and when you start hearing the same arguments and the same irritating misconceptions over and over it kind of gets old, you know?

Ariel: wanted to be human long before she ever met Eric. “Part of Your World” happened before Eric. The grotto full of human stuff happened before Eric. Eric was just the final catalyst for Ariel, that one last push she needed. She did not change her body and give up her voice for Eric; she gave it up for the opportunity to be a human and explore the human world (of which Eric was a part). And it was Ursula who was all “you have your looks and your pretty face.” Ariel managed to showcase her personality pretty well even without her voice: endlessly curious, willful, and funny. That’s why Eric fell in love with her, because he saw her personality and loved her for it. Go watch the movie and the whole pre-Kiss the Girl “Kingdom scene” if you don’t believe me. And yeah, she does it without talking to him, but you don’t think they talked a bunch after she got her voice back and before they got married? There was an unspecified time jump. (Also in the sequel Eric seems pretty happy to let Ariel be herself and be badass).

Mulan: I feel like this is one of the biggest misconceptions and unintentional misinterpretations of Mulan ever. Her grandmother is JOKING. Her grandmother is sarcastic and witty, and makes many sarcastic comments throughout the movie. And the quote was, “Great. She brought home a sword. If you ask me, she should have brought home a man.” A bent, beaten sword at that. Also, they had no idea at that point that she had saved China. They just thought she had come home. Besides that, does that negate all of the things Mulan did and went through during her movie? Does one comment negate MULAN as a character? I think not.

Oh Belle. My precious Belle. So let’s count off here. The narrative was focused on the Beast and how appearances can be deceiving. That’s the point of the narrative. What are you trying to prove by creating a false comparison between Belle’s narrative (which was about sacrifice- HELLO! FATHER!, learning more and more about herself, finding adventure, creating her own story outside of the “provincial town” she lived in, and escaping the clutches of Gaston) and the Beast’s narrative (which was about vanity, greed, and self-love and self-acceptance). They each had different narratives which were shown in different ways. Belle did not fall in love with a monster (wasn’t that one of the lines? “The Beast is no monster Gaston, you are!”) and her love was not a result of Stockholm Syndrome. The Beast was literally like ten years old when he was cursed and spent the next ten years of his life completely alone except for his ‘turned into furniture’ staff. He doesn’t know how to interact with people. It’s been awhile since I watched the movie, but the only times I remember him acting in a way that could be termed 'abusive’ was the very first time they met (when she sacrificed herself to save her father) and when she found the rose and he blew up at her (and remember, she LEFT after that. She decided enough was enough and LEFT). If you would kindly remember, GASTON was in that movie too. I could talk way more about Belle but this is getting long.

Pocahontas: I forgive you. Many have not seen it, and the tumblrites are so caught up in the romanticized Indians they completely miss the entire point of the movie (which was accepting others who are different and learning new perspectives).

Tiana: No, they didn’t use Naveen’s money. She used the money she had worked her butt off for to pay for it, and then she and Neveen fixed up the restaurant together. And again, you’re missing the point of Tiana’s character arc, which was she was so caught up in her work that she had completely sacrificed pretty much every other aspect of her life. Her arc was about finding a balanced life. She worked her butt off and she got what she wanted. I don’t see what’s 'unfeminist’ about that.

Cinderella: I’m not seeing your point here. Not only was the movie made in the 50s (1950, I believe), it was a direct adaptation of Perrault’s Cinderella. Besides that, Cinderella was subtly undermining her stepmother and stepsisters the whole movie (all of her comments and talking to herself). She had to be silenced several times by Lady Tremaine during the course of the movie. She was not just taking her situation lying down. Cinderella takes place in the 1800s. Where was she going to go? No seriously, she was a nineteen year old girl in 1800s France.

Also, from the Disney Wiki:

Cinderella is a headstrong and independent young woman who is truly beautiful because she doesn’t let her anger and sorrow get the better of her. She is kind to most and is in no way depicted as naive or childish. She is extremely mature and has shown that she can overcome her obstacles without the aid of magic. She has also been shown to have a slight sarcastic side to her, as seen in her comments about her stepmother and Lucifer, but she usually keeps them to herself, fully (and wisely) aware that if she does mouth off to her stepfamily, there will be major consequences she might face. Cinderella has shown to be rather intelligent and clever especially considering how poorly she was raised after the death of her biological parents. She has also proven herself to be very brave, unafraid to stand up to Lady Tremaine when she mocks her for wanting to go to the ball. She is also resourceful, evidenced by her using her mother’s old fashioned dress and imagining a beautiful ball gown, sewing clothes for the mice, and planning to redesign her mother’s dress to make it more contemporary. She is shown to be very patient and calm, but she also has a mean side in her as she has once tried to hit Lucifer with a broom and on one occasion ordered Bruno to attack Lucifer (this is reasonable since she was locked up by her stepmother and her friend was in danger). She is rather clumsy as she drops her footwear many times in the original movie. While her love for Prince Charming is incredibly strong, marrying and/or finding her “prince” was not her main priority before she met him. Cinderella simply wanted to live a better life and escape the harsh world of her wicked stepmother, though she did have a dream that foretold of the ball.

I’m not seeing what’s so horrible about Cinderella here, I’m really not.

Snow White: Do I actually have to talk about this movie beyond “It was made in 1937?” Like seriously, what do you expect out of a movie made in the 1930s? But besides that, she is fourteen during the events of the movie. Fourteen years old. You try having your stepmother out to kill you at 14 and see how you fare. She ran away because IT WAS THE ONLY THING SHE COULD DO. She couldn’t go back; she was supposed to be dead. The Queen would just try to kill her again if she knew Snow was alive (case in point: the apple). She was scared, alone, and cast out from everything she’d ever known. Also, when exactly did the dwarves rescue her again? It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen this movie. Also, the prince literally shows up for like 5 minutes at the very beginning of the movie and then 2 minutes at the end. There’s pretty much zero input from him the entire time.

Aurora: I’ve already done my two posts defending Phillip’s kiss, so I’ll just point you there. Also, the three (female) fairies do literally everything in the movie. I’m serious. Here. Also, Aurora has a lot more personality than anyone ever really gives her credit for and here’s a wonderful analysis of Sleeping Beauty in general.

The Disney Princess lineup is but a tiny portion of the women of Disney. Esmeralda, Meg, Kida, Nani, Lilo, Audrey…there are so many women you are excluding. And besides that, 78% of the US population is white. Yes I welcome more diversity with open arms, but getting upset because Disney is catering to a majority (and therefore getting more money) seems rather naive. Disney actually has more racial diversity than the United States does (See here for the women). Disney women over all are approximately 58/42 white/non-white.

Again, my apologies for being so rude last night, but I really think you should rewatch the movies and reconsider your thoughts. Besides all of that, you’re missing out on the traits that these women are known for. Let me help you with that.

The Disney women from the…I’d say mid-90s on are not looking for men or a happy family to settle down with. They’re wrestling with complicated problems and hard issues (well, they were always doing that, but here’s a sampling anyway); overprotective and constricting families, merciless evil overlords, an invasion of people not like themselves, prejudice and persecution, extortion and exploitation, nature itself, unfair and unjust laws, outside enemies, fighting to save their people, their home, and their way of life, being orphaned, making ends meet, child services and the separation of family members, death, death, and more death, absent parents, surrogate parents, adoption, grief, bullying, racism, sexism, emotional and psychological abuse, even themes of rape at times… (Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tangled, I’m looking at you).

Why is the fact that the Disney Princesses have love interests such a huge freaking deal? It’s like you think by denying yourself love it makes you ‘a strong, independent woman.’ Hate to break it to you, but romance is a part of life. People do fall in love, both men and women. Saying that a movie is anti-feminist because a woman falls in love with a man is unrealistic and frankly, a bit idiotic. Having a love interest does not automatically negate your character and personality. Disney movies have not been explicitly about finding love since The Little Mermaid, possibly Aladdin depending on how you look at it. That was over twenty years ago.

And I repeat: when you reduce these women to love interests and their choice of men, you are the problem, not the movies.