Disney Princess Case

Disney Princess Expectations

As a child I grew up on Disney movies. More specifically I worshiped the Disney Princesses. They were pretty girls, who sang pretty songs, and got pretty boys fall in love with them. Everything about them was perfect. Parents let children watch these shows thinking that they’re harmless, and the movies are all in good fun. I, however, believe they create an expectation of life that is unrealistic. Almost every Disney princess has one goal, and that goal is to get the boy to fall in love with them for happily ever after. I’m sorry but I have never even seen a Prince in my life. Where are they hiding? Each princess has set young women up to believe that she will find a Prince by changing for him, waiting for him to come and rescue her, and rewriting morals to be with them. These traits are learned early on and it’s hard for girls to wake up to the harsh reality of there is no Prince Charming. Making life expectations out of their reach, and crushing young ladies hopes for happy endings.

The Little Mermaid is a simple story about a young merlady that stumbles upon a human and wants to be with him no matter what the costs. She left her family, defied her father, and most importantly traded her soul to a sea hag in hopes that this boy will fall in love with her. In the end though she got in no trouble, got her Prince, and lived happily ever after as a human. Why would any practical girl do this? I know that seems like a dumb question, but why would the creators of Disney put this idea that changing appearance and personality is okay to be with the guy we love? My parents try to teach me to be myself, but that’s not how the mermaid got her man. Cinderella the classic story of an indentured servant changing her appearance to get the attention from the prince is just another classic example. “Girls are getting this message everywhere that... what their worth is based on is how they look and the things that they have and it's very superficial. These ideas where based from Disney movies themselves.' (Hardstein) These ideas of how we look and how we change the way we look for a male is very disturbing due to it being installed in our minds at a young age. This trends into our minds for the rest of our lives affecting every relationship until we realize that the whole concept of changing aspects of ourselves are is wrong.

Women were born to be the damsel in distress. Just ask a Disney Princess. Jasmine fell in love with a thieving homeless guy to get away from an arranged marriage. She sees this as romantic gesture. I see it as a downgrade.