Belle, The Princess From Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, And Mulan

Young girls that are inspired to have this "Disney princess effect" are not growing up to be strong, independent women that are motivated to change something in the world. In many of the Disney princess movies for example, The 1991 film, Beauty and the Beast, shows how women are not supposed to be intelligent, but should focus on fulfilling a man's needs. This has an impact on how a girl views her female position in the world.

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.

The effects of the portrayal of the princesses can be positive or negative. Young girls have become more imaginative by watching Disney films. According to Stephanie Hanes (n.p.), “’For 75 years, millions of little girls and their parents around the world have adored and embraced the diverse characters and rich stories featuring our Disney princesses.... [L]ittle girls experience the fantasy and imagination provided by these stories as a normal part of their childhood development’.” Also, children are encouraged to believe and hope. In most Disney movies, the characters convey the message that we can believe in true love (10 DISNEY MOMENTS THAT PROVE LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

Heroes are found everywhere when Disney is involved. From a prince or princess to secretive toys to the smallest forms of life on earth, a hero can be found in anyone. Being attached to one or a few is entirely common. These certain characters may be the ones they look up to. Young girls often choose to look up to a princess, although, they are not what they were over 50 years ago. The very first Disney princess, Snow White, is purely a damsel in distress. The same goes for Aurora who appeared in Sleeping Beauty years later. As the years have gone on, that weaker vision of a princess has faded. The modern day princesses are anything but damsels needing to be saved by a man. Rapunzel chooses to give up her freedom in order to save Flynn Rider’s life. Tiana works hard to provide for herself so she can chase her dream. Merida rejects what everyone else thinks she should be and is true to herself. Elsa only needs the love from her sister. This list will only get bigger as Disney continues to create these young female heroines. If anything, Disney is preaching to young girls everywhere to be strong in a world that may play on their faults or weaknesses. During a time strong feminist movements, Disney manages to satisfy demands by allowing the girl to be the hero. Though Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are still timeless classics, the princesses of today set a better example for young girls everywhere and that is why they seem to be more attractive than the originals.

In fact, there were underlying patterns of female education, bravery, and independence in this movie. These traits are some that were groundbreaking for women everywhere. Disney was trying to portray the image that women can be educated, brave, and independent. Thus, there was much more to Beauty and the Beast than what the audience chose to see. Belle was educated, brave, and independent.

In our modern society parents want to know who the best role models are for their children; especially parents of young girls. Most girls are introduced to Disney Princesses at a young age, but what most parents don’t know is that not all Disney Princesses are positive role models of modern society. The princesses were amazing role models for their time but since then many opinions have changed on what is expected of women and what is not some; people in society today can argue weather certain qualities that the princesses posses are acceptable for today’s youth. The most famous princesses are the “Original Disney Princesses” :(in chronological order) Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan.

Many encounters emerge in princess movies in which the women find solutions to themselves. For instance, throughout their adventures, Tiana is seen guiding her travels with Prince Naveen. She guides them through a swamp as well as catches food for them (at this time they are both frogs) (Whelan). Similarly, while traveling, Rapunzel saves Flynn and herself from a tavern full of ruffians, castle officials who were tracking Flynn, and also from drowning in a cave (Stephens). Tiana and Rapunzel’s intelligence or even cleverness was utilized to remove them from sticky situations which would have resulted in danger if not for their assisting actions. Other princesses went against common opinion in order to help others. In Beauty and the Beast, most people in the town think Belle’s father (Maurice) is crazy, but Belle still believes in her father’s abilities in invention making and supports him in the pursuit of his dreams (Whelan). By disagreeing with a widely accepted belief, Belle proves herself to be an accepting individual who does not let other’s opinions alter her perspective of a person. Jasmine also does something out of the ordinary in order to help her lover Aladdin. Jasmine “dares to kiss the sinister Jafar” hoping that this will distract him, and allow Aladdin to escape

Another stereotype, which is present throughout the entire movie, is the importance of women. Jasmine is supposed to get married by the time she is 16. She wants to take action when she tells her tiger that she doesn’t want “to have her life lived for her” and that she wants to run away. Her plan is ruined because she can’t handle the situation, as she has never been outside the palace before. She decides she needs Aladdin to show her the world and to protect her.

Princesses such as Mulan got a lot more praise for defending China, noted in girls’ answers, and her ability to go against the typical Disney stereotype. Girls wrote in their surveys that Belle fought for what she believed in and did not let others stand in her way, despite what they thought of her. A large number of girls who took the survey mentioned their admiration for Belle’s kindness and compassion when she got to know the Beast for who he truly was, a theme additionally noted in girls’ answers. Here were the results from elementary school up to high school; ages five to eighteen. Overall, girls liked the Disney princesses for their personalities and

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.

Another stereotype given to women in Disney movies is that every story ends with the princess falling in love with her perfect prince charming and living happily ever-after together. It is inevitable for any Disney woman not to fall in love in the end. The Disney women know exactly what the desire in a man, so that when they meet, or see them, for the first time, they know that they are in love. In the 1992 movie Aladdin, also directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, “Aladdin, a street urchin, accidentally meets Princess Jasmine, who is in the city undercover” (The Internet Movie Database). Aladdin, the

In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney

For those who are not familiar with Disney’s, Aladdin, the movie features a princess, Jasmine, and a “street rat, Aladdin. The two characters meet in the town’s marketplace and they create an overfriendly bond. Aladdin is later captured by the villain, Jafar, who convinces Jasmine that her new acquaintance is dead. Under Jafar’s capture, Aladdin is lead to the “Cave of Wonders”, where he discovers a genie in a lamp. He breaks free from Jafar’s capture and befriends the genie. After each other’s introduction, the genie grants three wishes to Aladdin. Since the genie cannot make people fall in love, Aladdin manipulates around his restriction and requests to be made into a prince in order to gain the princess’s love. With the help of the genie, Jasmine sees Aladdin as a prince, but suspects something

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