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Feminism In Disney's 'The Princess And The Frog'

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Once upon a time, the princess doesn’t get saved, the villain isn’t an older woman and prince charming just wants to be left alone. It’s not usual to see a connection between feminism and fairy tales, but there’s a reason they both start with ‘F’. I grew up in a time where my baby pink bedroom walls were filled with VHS tapes of classic fairytale stories like Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. Yet even though I was born in the late 1990’s it wasn’t until December 11th, 2009 that I was able to see a representation of myself and my skin tone. In the release of The Princess and the Frog, Disney revealed their very first African-American princess allowing me to become even more aware of the inequality facing me, my race and my gender through media at the young age of twelve. From damsels in distress, to oversexualized drawings, to displayed over-masculinity in princes; there’s no part of fairytales that does not have a lasting effect on our youth, society and morality. In a world filled with inequality, the experiences I have had and the fairytale culture I have grown up watching and reading is why I chose to be an intersectional feminist. As an intersectional feminist, I believe in advocating and fighting for equality of the sexes while taking into account “how women's overlapping identities — including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation — impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination” (Crenshaw). And with my

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