A Brave Difference

She can be impervious to the people of Illea, but an amicable girl to close friends and family, because of the ways Eadlyn presents herself to different people, she does not know who she is on the inside. On the outside, she is fighting to be someone who is untouchable, someone who has everything put together, trying to be perfect. For Eadlyn, perfect is the end goal, but as the story continues, she finds that perfect is unattainable, and she needs to be herself. Eadlyn is set to be the next Queen, but because this is her only option it is hard for her to decipher who she really is and what she really wants. She has always known that this is what she is to become, where everyone else has the privilege to become who they are, Eadlyn does not.

Cassandra Stover explains in her Journal Damsels and Heroines: The Conundrum of the Post-Feminist Disney Princess, the dramatic shift with Disney princess at the peak of the late 1980s and early 1990s. She explains that the shift can derive from feminist movements and how the change can be directed to the third wave of feminism. She examines the original Disney princesses and decribes them to be more passively aggresive and unindependent, while the new princesses are more independent and brave. The author then explains if the shift from the old to new princesses are actually better, and not just different. Stover analysizes that Disney princesses evolve and are a part of the worlds change on feminism.

In “Brave” Merida and her mother both demonstrate the transcendental characteristic that real self is found in nature. Merida especially demonstrates this characteristic. Although many of her days are spent training to be princess, on the few days Merida has off, she goes out into the woods to pursue her true passion of archery. Merida appears happier in the woods, and only in the woods is she really allowed to pursue archery. This behavior demonstrates that Merida can only be herself in nature. Merida also demonstrates real self found in nature after fighting with her mother about being a princess. Merida and her mother have a fight about Merida finding a suitor, and to process the fight, Merida leaves and heads to the forest to contemplate. Only in the woods is she able to truly able to be happy, and the forest is her only source of clear thinking. Again, Merida demonstrates that her real self is found in nature. While Merida most strongly represents this trait, Merida’s mother does represent it as well. During the time that Merida’s mother is a bear, she spends time in the woods with her daughter, and begins fully

Not only do Disney princesses result in bad self esteem, they also encourage passiveness and reliance on others. The feminine and vulnerable side of these princesses, reflect the reliance on their hero and true love. The Disney princess stereotype insinuates that girls should be sweet and submissive, and should fully rely on a male-counterpart. Conversely, new characters, such as Elsa (Frozen), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), do not express this passive characteristic. At the same time, these princesses continue to need assistance to reach the desired solution. For instance, Princess Rapunzel still needed hero Flynn Rider, in order to navigate her to her parents throughout the movie. None of these princesses independently found a solution to the main conflict in any of these Disney films.

Her role with the dwarves emphasizes a women “submissive femininity”. Her encounter with the dwarves teaches her an essential lesson of service, of selflessness,and of domesticity,” acting as the housekeeping angel, portraying a woman’s role in a household. Moreover, it is evident to the reader that the King never actually appears in the story. However, he seems to be a very important presence in the story. He is, “the voice of the looking glass, the patriarchal voice of judgment that rules the Queen's - and the every woman's - self-evaluation".

Just like what John Musker says, “We thought it would be very appealing to do a female empowerment story that didn’t center on any sort of romance” (Berman 2016). The hearts of their stories focused less on finding true love and more on journeys, selflessness, and self-discovery. The first thing to point is that nobody of these leads’ – except for naïve Anna – core story aims was to fall in love. Tiana (The Princess and the Frog 2009) driven hard to become an effective business holder, Rapunzel (Tangled 2010) desired to discover the outside world, Merida (Brave 2012) wished to evade being married off in the name of practice, and Anna and Elsa (Frozen 2013) were looking to save each other, reconstruct their relationship and keep their empire from being overhauled by an outside threat. This period in Disney cinematography also took the time to highpoint relations between women for the first time. Just like in Brave, the chief bond is revolving between daughter and mother. There are plenty Disney movies to have explored love, but this one stands out and is experienced by most teenagers – the altering scene of the mother–daughter bond. Similarly, Frozen mainly focuses on the sisterly bond between Anna and Elsa. Jennifer Lee states that “She wanted to create characters they both could relate to, and felt the bond between sisters would be more accessible to a young girl than the lure of romantic love” (The Columbian 2014). Again, Disney took steps to discover something foreign to its earlier movies. By representing firm women and the inner workings of their relations, the last few Disney animated films showed a more precise reflection of the world. Based on the past of Disney Princesses above, we are sighted stronger role models creating their way into children’s

In Brave, the daughter Merida is a strong-willed young girl, determined to make it on her own. Running wild in the forest surround her castle with her bow and arrow, Merida does not want to grow up and receive responsibility, but she just happens to be a princess. The Queen, Elinor, is caring, loving, and only wants what is best for her family. She is

But Elinor being the strong one, hides her feelings well and acts like she’s not upset with the situation. It is later on in the novel that Elinor discovers from another woman, Lucy Steele,

In fairytales, royal women are typically regarded as delicate, sophisticated creatures, controlled by the kingdoms to which they belong. However, it is the strength within these women that is far more admirable than their outer appearance could ever be. This is why looking at royalty as perfection—a gift of beauty, wealth, and dignity—creates a widely known myth that hides the unattractive truth behind the royal life. Although you should always seek to look beyond the surface, “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” shows that upon deeper inspection you ultimately get hit with the harsh reality of conservative gender roles.

Mythological stories are still being used in modern era by society to understand the world and life. Its use is noticeable on media directed towards adolescent or the younger audience. Disney is known for basing their movies on mythological stories, but there has been a shift to how they use these stories. Disney Princesses such as Snow-white, Aurora, Belle, were a reflection to goddesses like Aphrodite, a goddess of love, beauty and desire. Modern Princesses such as Merida, Elsa, Moana, tie to Artemis, goddess of wilderness, virginity, and protector. Most modern princesses, specially Merida, depict the mythological archetype, the Great Mother. David A. Leeming, author of The World of Myth, describes the Great Mother as earth, body of nourishment, and symbol of death and rebirth. The Great Mother represents nature and motherhood, and is an agent of rebirth or transformation. In the movie Brave, Princess Merida is on the quest to mend her mistake of changing her mother into a bear because she wanted to change her fate. Merida is a modern personification of the Great Mother archetype by having a strong connection with nature, behaving as the mother of her kingdom, and going through and influencing spiritual transformation.

Elinor is able to be mature for her age and able to be consoling to other characters in the book. A major event takes place where another character named Lucy is affiliated with Elinor’s

Growing up, all I ever did was watch Disney movies and the Disney channel. Now as I’m older, I can’t help but realize that all the movies are exactly the same. The princess is stuck in a dilemma and then a perfect prince comes along and saves her and then they marry in the end. Other than a similar plot, all the movies have very similar character traits. England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek in Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses explain the characters, “traditionally masculine (e.g., athletic, brave) and traditionally feminine (e.g., helpful, nurturing) characteristics exhibited by the prince and princess characters through

What young girl does not dream of becoming a princess and living in a castle happily ever after? Virtually every young girl identifies with princesses and has watched at least one Disney Princess movie. From the first movies of Snow White and Cinderella, to the later movies of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, to the most current movie Moana, Disney Princess movies permeate not only the movie theaters, but also our culture. In fact, “becoming a princess is as easy as purchasing a tiara and hosting a princess-themed birthday party or buying a Halloween costume and playing pretend” (Garabedian, 2014, p. 23). Nonetheless, as declared by Princess Merida in the movie Brave, “there comes a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No rules, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day where I can change my fate” (Andrews & Chapman, 2012). In other words, does the life of a princess measure up to the expectations of little girls everywhere? The Disney Princess brand has grown incredibly popular, especially with young girls. In spite of this, the franchise has also become extremely controversial due to potential gender stereotypes in the films. “Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today’s society…[it] represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female…influencing the views and opinions of future generations” (Maity, 2014, p. 31). Yet, is the Disney Princess brand harmful to young children due to gender stereotypes? Two essays that contemplate the Disney Princess brand and gender stereotypes with opposite viewpoints on this controversial issue are “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by writer Monika Bartyzel and “In Defense of Princess Culture” by writer and mother Crystal Liechty. However, Liechty’s essay “In Defense of Princess Culture,” is the most effective article in convincing the audience of her point of view due to the claim, support, warrant, language, and vocabulary employed.

Gaiman opens with a short background on how the Queen attained her royal status. Through her narration, we learn that she had been just an average village girl when the King swept through her town and took his “king’s right”. Quite early on Gaiman begins this analysis on the inequality that exists between men and women. The Queen never questions the King when he takes what he believes to be his, in this case the Queen’s innocence. Gaiman establishes the Queen as a relatable character because of her average beginnings. Because of this it will be much easier for the reader to sympathize for her alter in the story. The reader is naturally more inclined to

She feels as though if her husband is incapable of becoming king she will do what is necessary herself in seeing that she is queen.