At a time when the United States is getting ready to elect its first female president, the notion of the classic Disney princess–a helpless beauty patiently awaiting her prince–seems hopelessly outdated.

Disney seems to realize as much (or is at least willing to pander to critics). To fight accusations of contributing to body image problems among young girls and studies showing that the Disney Princess brand encourages gender stereotypes, Disney has issued a 10-point guide for the modern princess–and none of them has to do with tiaras or happily ever afters. The Disney Princess is getting a makeunder.

Kate Forrester

A $3 Billion Gamble

Disney’s Princess franchise dates to the early 2000s, when a newly hired executive named Andy Mooney noticed that young girls were dressing up as princesses–not Disney-specific royals, but generic ones–to attend a Disney on Ice show. Soon after, with no focus group testing and little marketing to speak of, the princess franchise launched. It consisted of coordinated products for a starting group of nine characters and has grown to become one of the company’s most lucrative enterprises–estimates put its revenue at more than $3 billion globally (compared to $300 million in 2001). The Princess franchise includes classic characters like Snow White and Cinderella as well as contemporary characters like Mulan and Merida.

Rose Blake

The Modern Princess

This new list of a modern princess’s aspirations focuses on inner strength and morality rather than tiaras. Commandments includes “be honest,” “don’t judge a book by its cover,” “try your best,” and “believe in yourself.”

The company asked three British illustrators to turn the tenets into typographic posters that are free to print or pick up in Disney stores and come with instructions for framing and hanging.

Left to right: Rose Blake, Kate Moross, Kate Forrester.

It’s an attempt to get into the rooms of little girls with a less stereotypical message–though it’s unclear how the principles will impact Disney’s products; the company continues to sell a multitude of pink-and-purple products that encourage domesticity and focus on physical appearance.

Illustrating The New Principles

“It seems like a really nice idea to visually show them that it’s not all about pretty dresses and handsome princes,” says the illustrator Kate Forrester. She says that she deliberately tried to avoid any suggestion of what she called “the long blonde hair stereotype,” focusing instead on fun lettering that would appeal to any young girl (or boy).