Disney Princesses: Are They Stories of Sexism or Female Empowerment?

In the words of the recently popular TikTok song by Salem Ilese, “I'm mad at Disney.” The $130 billion franchise is known for its theme parks, characters, films, and overall presence in the mainstream media. However, Ilese brings light to Disney’s idealizations of romance in youth media, which leaves young people with an unrealistic view of their value and a naive perspective of the world around them. And while Disney may be a staple for classic films, their representation of women is degrading to young female viewers. Of the 58 films that Disney has released, many include sexist themes that portray women in a harmful way; most notably, Disney Princess movies.

A Middlebury Blog published a Disney Princess timeline, sorting the movies into the three main eras based on when they were released. The “First Generation” (1937-1959), contains Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, the “Second Generation” (1989-1992), contains The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan, and the “Third Generation” (2009-2013), contains Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Frozen, and Moana. The original princess movies of the first era contain love stories with blatantly sexist ideas: Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959). The main storyline of these films focuses solely on the love life of the princess, giving many young viewers a false depiction of their potential. Girls especially suffer from this; the movies’ fixation on love and being good enough for a man takes away from the substantive personality of a character that many look up to as a role model. In comparison, Hercules, a Disney movie with a male protagonist, has a plotline that is more focused on strength, power, and adventure, with romance being more of a diminished subplot.

We all know about Disney's Cinderella, where a girl's happiness is dependent on marrying a prince. In the end, our princess lives “happily ever after” with the love of her life, and this, of course, is only because she underwent a serious makeover. This central focus of a character falling in love solely based on external beauty is an extremely sexist viewpoint, one that is detrimental to young girls’ self-value. In the other two movies of the first era, each princess falls into a deep coma with the only hope of being their princes’ true love’s kiss. These stories are problematic in the sense that the prince is the heroic savior, which paints the picture that the princess is nothing without her prince counterpart.

Differentiating from the first era slightly, the second era of Disney Princesses incorporates some character to their previously love-focused and one-dimensional princesses. Looking specifically at The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), there are some more modern and positive characteristics of a woman. Ariel, the mermaid, is both curious and interested in the human world and learning, meaning, she at least has some aspirations beyond marrying a man. She even gains control of her life and advocates for her wishes. Throughout the film, she speaks out against her father and seeks out Ursula, even if she does end up doing much of it to be with Prince Eric. Similarly, Belle from Beauty and the Beast is intelligent and bookwormish. She is a capable young woman who can be complete without a man in the beginning. Unfortunately, that’s where the empowerment ends.

Ariel literally GIVES HER VOICE AWAY to have a chance with a man who she has met once; if that doesn’t scream problematic, I don’t know what does. Ariel goes so far as to change her body and get rid of her tail to make herself an option for Prince Eric. Ah yes, the classic sacrifice for love.

Problems with Beauty and the Beast begin with the title. Reducing Belle to her physical traits makes it seem as though her “beauty” is far more important than any smarts or independence that set Belle apart from the first era of princesses. Furthermore, Belle eventually falls in love with her captor, whom she only encountered because she was forced to. Aligning with stereotypical gender roles, Belle cares for and tends to the Beast’s internal issues and fixes his appearance in doing so. The central themes of both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast still latch onto sexist traits and end up putting women in weak positions to create a “romance.” This narrative is sexist and harmful because romance should not come at the cost of a woman's autonomy.

The key turning point in Disney’s messages happens when movies shift from depicting young women as the romance counterparts to depicting them as the adventurous, independent heroines. In the first era and even into the second, the central focus is on each princess finding love. At this point, they are not even the heroines in their own story -- they might as well be Disney Prince movies! So, in the third and most recent era of Disney’s princess movies, it is refreshing to see strong women at the center of an adventure. Because why would society aim romance movies at young girls anyway? Not sure? Me neither.

Starting off strong, The Princess and the Frog follows the story of Tiana, a young girl, with a dream of starting her own restaurant. Not only does this movie allow young Black girls to see themselves represented in a mainstream princess, but Tiana also has strong, admirable qualities beyond appearance. She is a woman who starts off experiencing hardships, but through hard work she overcomes them. When faced with conflict, she is bold and capable. In the end, she saves the prince in a heroic gesture of love. She perfectly addresses how accomplished women in power can still be motivated through love. Tiana is truly a role model that young children can look up to and aspire to be like.

Next comes Tangled, telling the story of Rapunzel, who is kept from the outside world by her controlling “mother.” She dreams of seeing the floating lanterns that appear in the sky on her birthday, so she and the kingdom’s most wanted thief set off on an endearing adventure. Along the way, Rapunzel learns more about the world around her and discovers the truth behind her past. Rapunzel’s curious and brave nature is what propels her to partner with the thief, rather than obligation or necessity. Rapunzel’s positive attributes and strengths that aid her in discovering the outside world also demonstrate to young girls that they are capable of anything.

Then, the iconic release of Frozen in 2013 proved to be inspirational. Two sisters that have grown apart have their own separate stories throughout the film. Elsa runs away to discover more of herself, whereas Anna begins a journey to look for her sister while making new friends along the way. The nature of Anna’s adventure puts her in a true protagonist position. She is strong and independent, but still open to working with others. And, even though she fell for Prince Hans quickly at the beginning, Disney seems to apologize for its past mistakes by addressing this flaw head-on; in Elsa’s words, “you can’t marry a man you just met.” Additionally, Elsa was given physical strength by having powers, which contradicts the outdated stereotype of women being weak and helpless. Frozen reshaped the Disney Princess franchise, as it focuses on sisterly love, female empowerment, and adventure.

Most recently, Moana was released in 2016, telling the story of a Polynesian daughter of the chief who yearns for the outside world. The film actively addresses the constraints enforced by her home island, and yet where other princesses fail to, she goes against the flow of society. She not only defies gender roles but also spreads the message that no one else is in control of you. The focus on autonomy and individuality inspires young girls and anyone who has experienced the suffocating presence of expectation alike. Not only does Moana promote these empowering themes, but it also does so without the presence of a romantic interest for the first time in Disney Princess history. While she is assisted by Maui, their contributions are equivalent and their friendship is never in jeopardy of being romanticized. We also can't forget that Moana saved everyone by restoring the heart of Tahiti. She is a heroine!

As we can see, Disney has produced princess movies with both positive and negative gender portrayals. And the sad truth? The most sexist messages were simply products of their time. In the mid-1900s, the princesses’ lack of personality and focus on romance were not anything different than what most of society wanted young girls to consume. Appealing to a large audience may have been important for profit, but that was detrimental to the perception of women. And not only women; the concept of gender roles is damaging to people of all gender identities. Where women are depicted to be weak and incapable, men overcompensate with unstaggering confidence and the need to constantly be strong. This isn’t realistic, and it is extremely harmful to men to treat it as such because it creates a culture where men suppress emotion and have to struggle alone. Luckily, society has progressed and is headed in the right direction. And with it, so has Disney’s empowering messages about women. There is still plenty of room for improvement. We want to see better gender depiction. We want more diversity, diversity that is not just for the sake of having diversity. We want representation for all, by people who represent us all and serve as positive role models. We dare Disney to be better, and you should too.

So Disney, what’s next?