Disney Princess Culture Essay

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It seems to be a part of society now, that everything offends someone or is potentially problematic to a child. One of those things being, the “infamous” princess culture, that teaches our girls’ to “rely on a man,” or “behave like a princess.” However, these ideas are misguided, the princess culture can actually be a very positive tool to young girls and boys, in many ways. Disney princesses, specifically, were a huge part of my childhood, so it is fitting to focus on them. Each princess was unique, she had her own quirks, goals that she strove to meet, and she searched for her own happy endings. One of the greatest parts of Disney princesses are their unique personalities, few of which are negative. Young women should take these characteristics …show more content…

Many feminists will argue that a princesses only role in a movie, is to find love. This is simply not true, in fact, they overlooked the unique personalities each princess had and only paid attention to the idea of “Prince Charming,” which completely contradicts their arguments. What is true, is the fact that the search for “true love” is a part of reality, that does not stem from a princess movie. True love is a part of society, and for many kids, true love is in their homes. Though there are kids who have grown up in divorce, there are plenty of others who grew up with two parents who love each other. Therefore, Disney isn’t the one to blame for this epidemic of …show more content…

Disney has definitely been making strides to please everyone, and it seems to be working a bit. In one of the most recent films, The Princess and the Frog, Disney features the first African American girl, Tiana, who has no desire to be a princess (unlike previous girls before her,) instead she wants to open up her own business. Tiana is shown working multiple jobs, in order to accomplish her dreams, through this she learns to “understand the importance of balancing hard work and fun” (Stephens 2014.) She meets a frog who promises to help her with the restaurant, if she kisses him. Unfortunately, this turns her into a frog too, which begins their adventure. On this adventure she does find love, just like in other fairytales, but this time it is different since she falls in love with his character and not his looks. While Disney gives us the happy ending we always seek, they still provided a movie that’s characters driving force is not a man or becoming a princess but instead owning her own business. Another very progressive move by Disney was the movie, Brave, which includes a less than ordinary princess. Unlike Tiana, Merida was born a princess, yet she still rides horses and shoots arrows besides it being “unladylike.” Therefore, “Merida is not only a princess, she is an able-minded, independent female lead, who can save

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