Almost every little girl dreams of becoming a princess. She wants to wear the long, beautiful dress, the shiny tiara, and to win over the prince. But lately, these adorable cartoon movies have been under intense speculation. Do these movies portray girls in an oppressive light? Do they make some girls upset because there isn't a princess that looks like them?
In my opinion, Disney princesses are great for young children to watch. Princess movies were not made to portray a role model for young girls to look up to. They are fantasy. As much as I wanted to when I was younger, I could not be a mermaid and rule under the sea like Ariel or ride a magic carpet through Agrabah like Aladdin and Jasmine. I knew that I could not do those things, so I did not strive to become these girls.
Most of the princesses are not even damsels in distress. Aurora was tricked into pricking her finger on that spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep. There was no way that she could have saved herself. She was literally asleep. Same with Snow White. Snow was basically dead after being tricked into eating a poisoned apple and could not save herself. Jasmine didn't even want to be a princess. All of these girls were just in love with a boy. And since when has that been a crime? Yes some of them did fall in love pretty fast, but these princesses showed how strong and determined they are by stopping at nothing to get what they want. And isn't that what feminism is? Allowing girls to have an equal opportunity to obtain what they want, just as men do? Don't criticize them for going after what they want.
Princesses now are also incredibly diverse. Yes, I am a blonde haired, blue eyed white girl, so I was represented everywhere. But Disney has been representing more and more nationalities, lately. A Pacific Islander princess is even in the works to be released very soon. More and more people are being represented today, allowing young girls to smile and light up when they see a princess who looks like them accomplishing something great.
The princesses are also more empowered. Tiana wasn't looking for love. She was starting her own restaurant on her own, and didn't need a man. Anna sacrificed herself to save her estranged sister, not the man that she was in love with. Rapunzel didn't even care about Eugene until the end of her movie, all she wanted was to see the floating lanterns gleam. Merida didn't even want to marry anyone. She even fought along with the men so that she could marry herself.
The Disney princess movies provide an escape from everyday life for children. They allow little girls, and even little boys, a chance to dream and to fantasize, which is what Walt Disney intended. He did not make these movies to dehumanize women, and to make every little girl say, "I want to be just like her." And if a girl does end up wanting to grow up and find her prince? Then that is okay. Because being a woman is about having the choice to be whoever you want to be, and to choose your own path. And watching a cartoon is not going to completely alter that path.
