I grew up watching Disney Princess movies. Who didn’t love to rent “The Little Mermaid” from Block Buster on a Friday night (or every Friday night) when you’re six? When you were little you were so proud of 16 year old Ariel for telling her dad off and being with Eric anyway. Now you are wondering who she thinks she is for talking to her dad like that and that she’s only 16 and she doesn’t know what’s best for her. When I was watching Disney Princess movies when I was little I had Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. They were great, they were really were. But they were no role models in the areas of feminism or independence.
Today we have Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Elsa and Anna. There is still the love story component in all of these stories. (Would it be a Disney movie without a little romance?)
Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog” is determined to open her own restaurant and she works hard to fulfill her dream. If that’s not a definition of an independent woman, I don’t know what is.
Rapunzel is just a badass; she’s traps a guy in the closet with her magic hair and a frying pan. She takes him on a cross country trip to see the lights. Even though she is faced with some less than desirable situations (Snuggly Duckling, anyone?), she persists because she knows that she needs to get to the lights.
Merida knows what she wants and won’t stop until she gets it. Her parents arrange her marriage and she’s totally not cool with that. She is a skilled archer and won’t accept her arranged marriage because she knows she'd be so much more than just a wife, even if it causes some upheaval in a Scottish kingdom.
Elsa and Anna were a turning point in the Disney Princess timeline. They were the first story that didn’t involve a prince to save the day. The two sisters worked together and saved each other, no prince needed.
It’s important to keep creating Princesses that girls of all ages can look up to and aspire to be like. It’s especially important for younger girls to have these role models. Now more than ever, Disney has been doing a great job with instilling values of independence and self-determination in the Princesses with a young audience- with better music than ever!
