@mystii8134

1 year ago

Most Disney princesses have a sense of self outside of needing a man. For starters Snow White who gets the most shit for needing a man only even talks about the prince 3 times and he’s barely relevant, she’s hardworking, compassionate caring, we see her when she’s vulnerable and scared in the woods and then when she realises she was scaring the animals she overcomes her fears with compassion and empathy. She’s an incredibly kind person and people say she’s not independent but she kind of is? She takes responsibility for cleaning the house in exchange for a room and food because she’s like “their living environment sucks and they need some self help.”, and she develops a friendship with them. But she has flaws in being too naive and trusting to a fault. She’s not some damsel in distress. Then Cinderella also gets a lot of shit for being a damsel, and it’s like this young woman is an abuse victim, hello?! You can’t just expect her to go off on her own in a world that would likely be very hard for her to get room and shelter. Another thing about her is that she’s hardworking and compassionate, she does her job and tries to be optimistic despite her abuse. She wants one night out to go to the ball, (she didn’t even want to meet the prince and when she meets him she’s like “oh wait- I haven’t met the prince lol.”. She also takes agency in trying to break out of her room after being locked up. And she deserves better than being relegated to a gold digger. Aurora, ehh She’s not much of a character because the story isn’t actually focused on her but rather Prince Phillip, but she does have characterisation through her relationships with the animals and the fairies. Ariel has a heck ton of personality and characterisation, she’s very curious, passionate and caring, she has a very big desire to be human and to explore their world and culture. We see her brushing her hair, humming as she happily swims, we see her heart and vulnerable after her dad destroys her all her stuff. She’s got a lot of character and she doesn’t give up her voice for a man, she trades her voice for legs so she can go to the human world, granted it’s in a manipulative deal and partially motivated by her crush + being emotionally hurt by her father. Belle is a very curious woman, she loves reading, she sticks up for herself, she doesn’t take shit from Gaston or the Beast. She is a dreamer though and she wants to find someone who understands her. She doesn’t experience Stockholm syndrome, she’s not much of a prisoner and it’s more of a promise to stay, which she breaks when she’s done putting up with his shit. She only chooses to stay because he needs help after being attacked by wolves after hurting her, then she starts to see his humanity and he has a character arc and she starts liking him. Jasmine, lots of agency and personality, she wants more out of life and wants to be able to make her own choices, so she runs away, meets a cute guy who gets arrested and she thinks he’s dead. She actually tells Aladdin to piss off when he’s being a douche. She’s intelligent and resourceful, we see her upset and in her room, she stands up for herself. She manages to trick Aladdin into confirming that he’s Aladdin. Pocahauntus I’m not going to touch with a ten foot pole because she was a real person and she deserves better than to be represented in that shitty story made up by the gross creepy John Smith. Mulan, do I need say more? She’s great. Tiana, another hardworking woman, just wish she wasn’t a frog for over half the movie, she deserved better. Rapunzel, naive but Kind, headstrong, she’s great. Merida, another headstrong princess, ect. I think a lot of perceptions about the princesses as weak and pathetic, are based off misogynistic standards that women cannot be strong unless they have masculine traits like physical strength, a lot of the time it is the princess’ determination, perseverance and resilience that saves her, while the prince just finishes the job acting as a plot device. And to say that a woman needing help is bad, is also just wrong, because it’s alright to ask for help regardless of gender. Saying that these women are shallow weak caricatures is simply false, because they have personality, they have motivation and desires, their lives don’t just circle around a man, but they do get their romance because there’s nothing wrong with wanting romance. And a lot of people lack the comprehension skills to look at the characters on a deeper level and propagate the messages that are spread by people who don’t have an accurate understanding of the story such as that “I don’t let my kids watch the little mermaid because She gave up her voice for a man” statement. That’s simply not true and if they’d actually watch the films, people would see that the princesses have much more depth than people give them credit for, and that the general concedes surrounding the films are simply just wrong.

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