Little girls all over the world watch Disney princess movies with hopes to one day be just like them. And while there are flaws in these role models, there are plenty of aspects of these princesses that children can aspire to.
As the name implies, Snow White is not particularly racially diverse. The evil queen even aspires to be “the fairest of them all.” It also says something that the most feminist character in the movie is the villain. The evil queen is an example of a woman who goes out and gets what she want, but this movie portrays her as evil. Even she, though, is focused on her image above all else. This creates the idea that a woman must be either weak or evil; there is no in-between.
Men are also portrayed poorly in this movie. The prince did not even have a name. Little information is revealed about him. All we learn is that he’s handsome and rich, as if these are the only qualities that matter. The dwarves are also a negative portrayal of men. First, they are not seen as potential romantic options to Snow White because they do not fit the cookie cutter, handsome, rich prince mold. They also have no domestic skills. They rely on Snow White to do all of the cooking and cleaning. This is an example of some of the discrimination against men.
However, Disney princess movies must be considered in the context of the time in which they were created. For example, Snow White, though seen as one of the least feminist princess movies today, was quite progressive for its time. Snow White was a female main character, which was a big deal in and of itself. She also made choices for herself such as choosing to leave when she’s being attacked by the Huntsman. Of course, she does run to take shelter with men to protect her. She does cook and clean for them, but she is also seen bossing them around and taking control in certain situations. When this movie was made, women had been able to vote for less than twenty years. Snow White was a protagonist in control of her own choices and actions, which, when it was made in 1937, made her a feminist character.
Mulan, however was created in 1998. The world had come a long way in the way of feminism since Snow White. Mulan, first of all, took place in China, meaning most of the characters were Chinese. This is a big deal considering the first several Disney princesses were white. Though obviously certain aspects of the movie could be seen as stereotyping, such as the extreme focus on honor, we can never fully understand a time and place in which we did not live. We have to consider that Disney only had what little we do know about ancient China to use. They, overall, did paint a positive image of the characters.
Mulan, not only did not fit into the traditional female role her society placed her in, she also took charge and did what it took to protect her father. She pretended to be a man to fight in the war instead of getting married. She showed great bravery, both in leaving for war and in battle. As she trains, she is shown to be just as good if not better than the men. She was also the one to create the avalanche and is shown to be excellent in solo combat when she takes on the Hun on the roof. When she returned, she was not reprimanded for it; she was celebrated. Her family also was happy to see her return safely instead of being angry that she left. She also didn’t marry Li Shang or any man for that matter. True love was not the focus of this movie. It focused instead on loyalty and bravery.
In 2010, when Tangled came out, feminism had advanced even further. Though some argue that Rapunzel is less feminist than other princesses from around the same time, I argue that she was both independent and ambitious. She was able to knock out and tie up a man much larger than her as soon as he entered her tower. She took control of the situation. She does this a lot throughout the movie. Whenever chaos breaks out or she does not like how something is going, she takes control and changes things. She did this in the Snuggly Duckling, when they were trapped underwater, and especially when she left her tower. If she wants something, she does what’s necessary to go and get it.
The racial diversity in this movie does take a step backward, with pretty much all of the characters being white. There is more diversity, however, in appearances. In some earlier (and even some later, such as Frozen) Disney movies, all characters had the same basic facial structure. There is a wide variety of faces in this movie. It can be argued that Rapunzel relied on Flynn Rider, however his purpose is primarily to direct her. She does not ask him to protect her or do anything but take her to see the lights. She saw this opportunity to reach her dreams and took it. Flynn Rider was just supposed to show her the way. Of course, he ends up doing more than that, but it is his choice to do so because he falls in love with her. She never asked him to do anything but walk her from point A to point B. Despite the romantic subplot, he could have been replaced with a decent map.
A lot can be learned about a time by watching the Disney princess movies of that era. The story of feminism is told through these stories. We are never going to have a Disney princess movie that is completely politically correct. The important thing is to strive to create movies which show young children an accurate depiction of people and what they are capable of. Then when they grow up, they can create even better movies. Feminism is striving for a more equal treatment of all people. It means creating a consistent standard for all people, despite race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic.
