Egypt, unfortunately, is known to be a judgmental environment. That is especially true when it comes to the way our society looks at women, and even more so when those women’s relationships are in question. How many times have you heard your mother and her friends discuss someone’s new wife, fiance or ex? How many times have you and your own friends done that before? One can argue that this happens everywhere in the world, but we can’t help but think that it’s a bigger issue here in Egypt. If anything, that is the case because sadly, people sometimes succumb to those whispered judgmental words exchanged between people who know nothing about the women they speak of.

To put things into perspective; here’s what Egyptian gossipers would have said about the princesses – and their relationships – we’ve all watched, known and loved while growing up.

Beauty and the Beast

The relationship between the smart and beautiful Belle, and the sweet-natured (deep, deep down), yet extremely troubled (anger issues, anyone?) Beast, is an inspiring one. They’ve lasted through a lot of things that would be deal-breakers for everyone else. Belle’s patience, strong will, and smarts made her the one to break the spell cast on Beast. People in Egypt might not be able to see that.

Mulan

Mulan was put in a tight spot when she decided to join the army instead of her father. Her strong heart, mind, and body – especially after the Make a Man out of You montage – helped her save, not only her father, but China itself. Her and Chang have faced a few more challenges than your regular couple. Not many can start the story of how they met their wife by saying “well, she was dressed like a man at the time, so I didn’t know we would end up together”. Still, they soldiered on and ended up together. Chang overlooked his ancestors’ misogynistic views on women’s roles, but would Egyptians have been able to do that?

Snow White

It doesn’t matter if you’re the prettiest couple in the entire Kingdom. If they want to make fun of you, they’ll make fun of you. And if they want to start rumors about you because they were all friends with your evil, albeit gorgeous, stepmother, God rest her, then they will start rumors about you. When you’re Snow White, unfortunately, you’ve gone through some things that they will count as… material.

The Little Mermaid

We won’t even come anywhere near the real ending of The Little Mermaid because we’re not here to shatter your childhood. We will, however, say that the wedding scene ended very differently in the Grimm Brothers’ version. Still, Prince Eric and Ariel couldn’t have possibly had it easy with tongues wagging about them all the time, especially about Ariel’s… history.

Aladdin

This relationship is a little closer to home. Even though we’re not princesses, we do come from the Middle East and have had to deal with our parents panicking about our marital status, so we can relate to Jasmine on that level. Jasmine ended up marrying Aladdin and we were all happy to know that the now Royal couple is flying into the sunset on their magic carpet. Mainly because this meant that they won’t hear people’s comments about Jasmine’s outfit choices.

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Esmeralda is not actually a princess, and she didn’t even marry into Royalty. Again, we won’t even touch the real ending, because that’s just cruel. However, even in the Disney version, Esmeralda didn’t end up with Quasimodo. Due to his work in the Church his entire life, it might have been frowned upon. So it’s probably for the best that this never happened…