Disney Princesses Are Bad Role Models For Young Girls

You argued that the parents of the princesses are looking out for their daughter's best interest. This is arguably true. However, it may be significant to note that the majority of the Princesses only have one parent and that, more often than not, this parent is the father. Fathers may be looking out for the welfare of their daughters, but in movies other than Disney films they are also often shown going out of their way to be overbearing and overprotective (an image that is brought to mind here is the stereotypical father who sits down to speak to his daughter's love interest while holding a shotgun as a means of intimidating the boy). I am not saying that all Disney fathers are overbearing, but some tend to be blinded by their desire to protect their daughters. King Triton, for example, is so concerned about Ariel's safety that he forbids her from going up to the surface world, thereby prohibiting her from exploring things other than that with which she is familiar. Similarly, Powhatan forbids Pocahontas from leaving the village due to his fear that she will be harmed by "the white men." In doing this, he is reinforcing the ideas of racism and closed-mindedness, and it takes Pocahontas's determination and desire for peace to make him see the errors of his ways. In these regards, Disney parents often are so blinded by their desire to protect their daughters and keep them safe that they keep them sheltered and give them fewer opportunities to discover happiness and to learn on their own. When I mentioned the "teenage rebellious streak," I was referring primarily to the middle-age Princesses, whose stories were retold during the 1990's, a time when teenagers did tend to rebel, certainly far more and more openly than they did in the 1950's. Moreover, Cinderella did have her rebellious streak in that she went to the ball with her Fairy Godmother's blessing, even though Lady Tremaine expressly forbade her to do so. I also understand how your interpretation of Tiana's fascination with her father's restaurant to be obsessive, but personally, I prefer to use the word passionate. There are people who focus mainly on one life goal, in Tiana's case the goal being to open her restaurant, and are willing to make great personal sacrifices for it to come true. In addition, the fact that the restaurant was a shared goal between her and her father may make it more important that it come true, not just for her sake but also for her deceased dad. In this respect, Tiana's so-called "obsession" with her restaurant may, in fact, be just passion-fueled fervor. To a certain degree, the decision to make Disney Princesses "flawless" is a conscious decision by the production company to make the character more likeable, thereby increasing the turnout of people who want to see the movie and increasing profit. However, aside from this, while the Disney Princesses are all beautiful, they are rarely aware of this fact, and if they are, they do not make a big deal of it. In Snow White, it is never expressly stated that her being the "fairest one of all" had to do solely with her beauty; it could have been her kindness, her talent, her generosity, her optimism, etc. that brought upon that title. Belle is another princess who is beautiful (her name literally is French for "beauty") but does not care, and her story, as mentioned before, revolves around the theme of inner as opposed to outer or physical beauty. Also, the thin waistlines and nearly-perfect hair come from times when such was the norm. As a young, Native American woman during the 1600's, it only makes sense that Pocahontas would be physically fit and rather skinny, as she eats healthily and spends the majority of her time running around. Ariel spends all of her time swimming, burning any calories she eats, and unconsciously working out her core. Princesses like Snow White and Rapunzel often spent time brushing their hair or likely having someone to do it for them. In Ariel's case, her hair may not knot while she is underwater, and Pocahontas's thin hair may have been fine enough that it did not easily knot. In regard to your point about the non-Caucasian Princesses – Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tiana – it may have taken nearly 80 years to have a Princess who was not white, but that is because social progress does, in fact, take time. Very few, if any, Disney Princess movies were made during the time period between Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, and once the 1990's came around, there were three ethnic Princesses over the course of the decade. I don't think that the fact that it took until the 1990's for non-Caucasian Princesses to show up on the Disney scene is a racist thing or even based on what is the "right" race, especially since each ethnic Princess has her own characteristics that do not make her much different in terms of personality than the white Princesses. Additionally, while it may not be the most common for young women to find love and to marry before 20, it was certainly still possible. And in the times during which the stories were set, it was likely. Many people are "high school sweethearts" or met in college, and so this is not a concept that should necessarily be considered bad or dangerous to young girls, as there is a very distinct possibility – and dare I say, likelihood – that it may happen to them. Finally, I would like to make the point that Disney Princesses are seen as role models for their positive qualities and characteristics. I do not know of a single girl who would say, "Pocahontas is my favorite princess because she has a tiny waist and disobeys her father and falls in love with a white man." That philosophy simply does not make sense. No, Pocahontas would be seen as a role model for her love of peace, her spirituality, her wisdom beyond her years, her kindness, her determination, etc. The positives are what make a person, or in this case a character, a role model; what they've done right makes them admirable, not what they've done wrong.