Just like any kids from the '90s, I grew up with Disney (well I should clarified; the Classic Disney). I love all the hand-drawn cartoon, the lovable and charming characters like Bambi, Simba, Timon and Pumbaa, Mickey and the gang etc.. Though I never really did care about the Princesses and I didn't really know why until much later;
They were really bad examples for girls growing up; sure they all had the "love conquers all" kinda theme but surely that cant be enough. Let's take some examples of some of those fine ladies..
How about Cinderella?? sure, she had a really compelling and sob-worthy background story; with her dad re-married and then passed away shortly after leaving her with an evil step-mother and two equally evil step-sisters that kept on picking on her. Most kids (and maybe some naïve adults) wouldn't really catch it from watching it for the first time and what not. But think about it; what is the message she's teaching young girls (and gays)?? MATERIALS matters. She couldn't have attracted the prince without the magical, and beautiful makeover. Of course that has imprinted on the young generation that you need to look beautiful and exquisite in order to get people's attention. tsk tsk Disney, bad on you.
Moving on from a poor, sad, and tragic backstory to one with a royal, happier and perhaps wetter backstory (can you guess who?).......it's Ariel; she was a mermaid with a beautiful voice, she rescued a prince from a shipwreck and fell in love with him. She then wanted to trade in her mermaid-ness AND her voice to become human and be with the prince. Surely she is cute, charming and has the most enchanting voice in the world. You must be wondering why is she a bad example?!
Well, she was willing to give up on who she was AND her family to be with a guy whom she just met (mind you too, she was fifteen at the time)...WWWHHHAAT!!! if any girl was to do that today/in real life, they would be locked up and teased by friends. Think about it, why would you want young girls growing up thinking that it's ok to compromise, pretty much giving up completely, who they are and their family just for a guy??
Like a popular green witch once sang "Love comes at much too high a cost". I surely do agree on most of the love stories from the Classic Disney movies.
So those are just a couple of Disney princesses examples. For argument's sake, there's always two sides to them, but these are my findings/opinions. Before you decide to go all angry and hateful on me, please keep in mind that this read is just for fun and I am entitled to my own opinions; you don't need to agree or disagree. They're merely another aspect and point of view of those beloved stories. I still love all Classic Disney (shame I cant say the same about all their new shows now) and when/if I have children I would love to show them those movies, but I will have to make sure to explain things to them; children they are so impressionable.
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