Moore - Saving Cinderella: what feminists get wrong about Disney princesses and how to set it right

Picturethis: Disney s Rapunzel leaps off a cliff and swings by her hair down to theground. Then a real little girlleaps onto the uneven bars in gymnastics class. Cut to Merida, from Brave,scaling a cliff-face, then a real little girl rock climbing. Pocahontas running, alittle girl in a race. Ariel swimming, a little girl snorkeling. And on and on and on. For every girl who dreams big, asmooth, confident voice tells us, theres a princess to show her itspossible. A pause, and then:Dream big, Princess!

Thisis the keystone ad in Disney s Dream Big, Princess campaign, launched in2016. Like all the ads in thecampaign, this one is expertly done the way Disney does everything with acatchy hip-hop song over soaring violins, lots of swooping camera work, andpanning shots of beautiful scenery from beloved Disney princess movies. It s epic. Intense. Inspirational. Or meant to be. In fact, its so well done it took evena Disney traditionalist like me a minute to realize whats wrong with it. But theres definitely somethingwrong. Very, verywrong.

Sure,at first glance, it seems like the princesses are doing what they ve always done:inspiring girls to be the best version of themselves. But are we really supposed to believethat Rapunzels most inspiring quality is her ability to use her hair as azip-line? Is Ariels most importantfeature her ability to swim? Shes a mermaid , of course she canswim ! I mean, how shallow(pun, unfortunately, very much intended) do you have to be to think that thisis what these characters have to offer?

Onceupon a time, Disney princesses embodied bravery, compassion, loyalty, andheart. Their stories were abouttheir inner lives their struggles and their triumphs nottheir physical appearance or athletic prowess. In each movie, a girl with a big heart,and even bigger dreams, was stuck in a situation that kept her from realizingher true potential. Snow White andCinderella were captives to wicked step mothers ; Arieland Belle wanted more than the life they were born to. And so on. And, throughout the course of the movie,we learned how a brave, determined girl with a strong moral core could overcomethese obstacles and achieve her dreams. In essence, we learned how to grow up into strong, centered, moralwomen. So, what happened? How did we get from the nuanced originalmovies to the superficiality of the Dream Big, Princess campaign? Thats what this book is all about.

Theshift began with a small, but very vocal, minority of radical feminists whomisunderstood the movies. Letscall them princess critics. Theseprincess critics took a look at the original princesses like Snow Whiteand Cinderella, and even the more modern princesses, like Ariel and Belle and deemed them anti-feminist. They called them damsels in distress, and proclaimed that they had noagency in their own lives, and needed a man to take care of everything forthem. They boiled the princessesdreams down to husband hunting and said they would settle for the first guythat came along. They called themdrips, said they were boring, and branded them as terrible role models forlittle girls.

Butnothing could be further from the truth. Theseideas arent borne out by the movies at all. In fact, its quite the opposite. The earlier princesses had dreams oftheir own. They actively pursuedthem and worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve them. They didnt jump at the first guy whocame along. They made sure theirlove was true and real before choosing a partner to spend their liveswith. They were kind, courageous,loving, compassionate, and principled. Exactly the kind of women that Id want my daughtersto aspire to become.

ButI can just picture you shaking your head at me. You think I m crazy. Disney princesses arent damsels indistress? Theyre not just after aman? Yes they are! youre yelling into the book. (Calm down. I cant actually hear you.) But theyre not. And Im going to prove it to you.

Theproblem (and the reason you don t believe me) is that the views of this group offeminist critics who got the movies so terribly wrong happen to be shared bythe publishers of major news sources read by the general public. The New York Times, The LATimes, The Washington Post, and Time Magazine (to name a few)have all published articles, over the years, denouncing the princesses as badfor little girls. So that, now, this is widely accepted as truth. Modern moms, who dont want their littlegirls to watch anti-feminist movies, have banished from their homes theprincesses they themselves loved as children. And Disney, afraid of losing itsaudience, began to cater to these critiques, thus solidifying the myth that theoriginal princesses arent good role models.

But Idisagree. The original princesses(Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora) and the Renaissance princesses (Ariel,Belle, and Jasmine) embody a set of values that allows them to live rich andfull lives without compromising their morals or beliefs. They believe in following their dreams,which makes them courageous, determined, and mentally strong. They believe in true love, which makesthem unwilling to settle for the first suitor who comes along, but open tofalling in love when they meet the right guy. And they believe in presenting theirbest selves to the world, which makes them kind, gentle, well-mannered ,and true. Its a pretty good listof characteristics to aspire to.

Personally,I venever wanted to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Ive never wanted to be a professionalathlete, or a rocket scientist, or a marine biologist. Theres nothing wrong withwanting to be those things. But I(and lots of other women and little girls like me) see a different sort offuture for myself. A moretraditional future that includes a partner to love, a home to keep, andchildren to raise . Its a dream that, in the narrative ofthe princess critics, is often seen as outdated a product of anoppressive culture that kept women in the kitchen, catering to their husbandsevery need. And perhaps that ishow it felt for some. But for lotsand lots of others, their big dreams are quite a bit closer to home.

Somemight argue that the princesses made me feel this way. But thats not it at all. I didnt choose to get married because Iwatched Ariel kiss Eric on board a boat. I didnt decide to be a homemaker because Snow White sang Whistle WhileYou Work and made it seem so appealing. I dont enjoy wearing pretty dresses because of Cinderellas ball gown. Im not who I am because of theprincesses. Its the other wayaround. I see myself in theprincesses. They representsomething thats already inside of me inside of so many women, if werehonest. I see the sort of kindness,gentleness, and optimism I feel within myself. The kind of bravery, determination, andboundless love I hope to harness and embody. I see womanhood.

Iknow I mnot alone in this. So many womenand little girls love the princesses too. They recognize the same things in them that I do. They see their own womanhood reflectedback to them and know somehow that this