Disney is Robbing Your Daughters

Sorted under media, sexism on May 26, 2009

Disney princess The princess mentality has become nothing less than a rite of passage for many young girls today and at the front of the line for whom to blame, is Disney.

Disney’s international (and internationally accepted) multi-billion dollar Disney Princess brand has been around for many generations of young girls. I remember my childhood days, planted in front of the television while I watched Belle fall in love the Beast and because of her love, he turned into an oh so dreamy prince; I watched Ariel lose her voice in return for a pair of legs in order to appeal to the oh so dreamy prince; I watched Cinderella watch her two evil stepsisters try to force their fat feet into the beautiful glass slipper Cinderella had lost while fleeing from the ball and from the oh so dreamy prince. Are we noticing a trend here?

Today, young girls are still living in the land of Disney Princess make believe and while we encourage young children to explore their imaginations, they are but taking the imaginations and age old gender stereotypes from the many Disney animators that we have given permission to parent our young daughters in what really matters in life, as truth. We all know that to a certain degree, the media will do their part in raising young children, but not only has the princess phenomenon withheld the test of time, it is continuously growing, and due to our own childhood memories attached to these stories that we are now sharing with our children, it has proven to be a bit harder to ween ourselves away from the princess phenomenon, and thus Princess Parenting was born.

While it is natural to a certain degree to place your kid up on a pedestal and tell them that they can be anything that they want to be and do whatever they wish to do with their lives as long as they are safe and happy, coupled with the princess phenomenon, you can very well have a bigger problem on your hands than you may have initially thought. Because of the extravagant lifestyles that the princess roles play in Disney’s imagination, if your daughter plays into these stories enough, you may see an increase in an instilled sense of self entitlement that may very well last longer than acceptable princess-believing age.

When young girls are carrying your living room rug to the top of the staircase and banking on the fact that instead of plummeting to the bottom of the stairs wrapped in a rug, the rug will suddenly take on a pseudo-human identity and bring them on a magical tour of the royal surroundings they will one day reign over while at the side of “the bad boy” that she can’t help but fall for, I think it’s about time that we stop letting a multi-billion dollar brand tell our children what their futures hold.

Last May I posted a book review of a children’s book, Princess Bubble, that put a refreshing spin on the princess fairy tale story. Princess Bubble lives in a castle of her own, decorated just the way she likes it; she has friends that she loves and a career as a flight attendant. Already Princess Bubble has more true-to-life features than many of the princesses Disney is forcing into the mainstream! As she watches her friends find their princes and move into castles to live happily ever after, Princess Bubble realizes that she likes her life just the way it is and by the end, she decides not to marry a prince and live happily ever after because happily ever after can be attained all by herself. Now there’s a fairy tale story that I can get behind!

I think the time has come where we need to stop feeding our children stories that embrace gender stereotypes and glorify the princess brand to such a degree where girls approach adulthood and still maintain that self entitlement that will ultimately hurt them and hold them back from what they can truly accomplish in their lives. Girls can do and become whatever they want and what they want to become does not have to include stifling gender roles.



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  • Sheri
    I can't agree with everything you've said, although I do agree with some of it. Over time, Disney has changed it's take on princesses considerably. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are definitely the most helpless, dependent princesses, but later princesses are not so helpless. With Cinderella, we see the start of the change. She is struggling in a difficult life, but SHE takes the opportunities provided to her. She has friends who help her to succeed, as opposed to being saved by a prince. She doesn't even know he's the prince when she meets him, in fact, so she isn't off looking for him or waiting for him. Yes, her life is greatly improved by marriage to a powerful man, but she isn't saved by him because her own actions are what lead her to him. That's an important difference, and as I said before, that's only the start of the changes to what princesses are like.

    Much later, we see Ariel. She's a princess with a mind of her own and she takes risks and pursues adventure. Instead of being saved by the prince, she saves his life when he nearly drowns. She goes after the life she wants and (although making mistakes along the way) manages to get it for herself. Belle comes next and she truly breaks the mould. Here is a princess who values learning and creativity above looks. She refuses Gaston, despite him being the prince-type and when her father is missing she doesn't hesitate to go searching for him. When she finds him, she bravely saves him from the Beast and regularly stands up for herself against the Beast when his behaviour is negative. The Beast is actually saved by Belle because he becomes more human and their love grows slowly, based upon friendship rather than "love at first sight" as depicted with earlier princesses.

    Princess Bubble sounds like a wonderful book and I'll gladly add it to my daughter's library; I do, however, think that the "you don't have to get married to be happy" message is put forth strongly in Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin because both of those princesses married for love after refusing marriage that they didn't want. It was their choice, not their fate.
  • momof2
    I just copied your image to paste on a CD I made for my daughter with all her favorite princess songs on it.
  • Name
    whoever thinks it's not that big of a deal is oblivious. I completely agree with what you are pursuing, more power to you!
  • I like your point of view, though I may not completely agree with you. Let's just let the girls be what they want to be. Sooner or later, they are going to realize anyway that life is anything but a fairy a tale.
    As for Disney, I wish they just create more sensible movies, like Wall-e or The Incredibles. (And I'm actually glad they have stopped making princess movies)
  • Very interesting read....

    Thanks
  • This blog is very nice...
  • very nice blog...
  • Disney is the epitomy of tackiness. I took all of my daughter's Disney books to Oxfam - i don't want her being pigeon-holed. Thanks for the post.
  • Thank you so much for mention Princess Bubble, I am one of the author, Susan. I am getting married in 2 weeks. Never planned on meeting Mr. Right (or at least right for me) and being engaged has made me so much more passionate about empowering girls. I am marrying a man who loves that I am independent and my own person. We both believe marriage can’t be the dream. It is a way to share your dream with someone special.

    Thank you again! You are a true princess!!
  • I watch every day cartoons with my daughter. I think that the sad parts in of cartoons completely normal because it is a part of life. I have a criticism of the many cartoons where girls have spoiled roles because it gives a wrong picture of our daughter. They become dependent on purchases and do not have a realistic picture about men and life.
  • I don't think that thi sis such a big deal. It is up to the parent to explain their daughters that this is just a cartoon not teh real life, so don't point at Disne, take a look at yourself first.
  • You are incorrect, Disney is run by a bunch of guys.. they put little girls in makeup and have them lip sync and ruin lives. That is inside the corp. Then you take a look at the sick pornographic images they have been caught one framing and even longer in their cartoons for years. It is violence, sex, and addictive behavior over and over. Every movie has a parent die or some emotional trauma. I can understand wanting to tell a strong story, however when they put females in the same position over and over of needing to give up everything just to win over a male it starts to feel a little motive driven. Not only children but all humans are subject to brainwashing. Especially at an early age. You keep seeing a mcdonalds commercial and all of a sudden you are wanting a cheeseburger. You keep showing impressionable kids what is expected of women in this amazing world...then tell them they can do and be anything if they want... They want to be a princess... at any cost. There are so many levels of brainwashing from religion to everything else in our society. So your argument is "It is everywhere and wont ever stop so just tell your kids not to believe in it" The problem is that kids talk to kids and there will always be some passing on of this commercialism and brainwashing. You need to correct your thoughts about the author looking at themselves first. We NEED to take a strong look at what people are being subjected to day after day because what we all dream about and aspire to be is what most of us have seen on tv.
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