Disney is known for its classic fairy tale stories involving princesses in need of a handsome prince to save them. But representation of Disney princesses has evolved and improved throughout the decades, with more diverse and independent female characters such as Moana and more recently, the live action Little Mermaid film.
The film Snow White (1937) is a classic example of how women used to be represented in the media in older times. Snow White is completely helpless throughout the film, with her only viable attributes being singing and helping around the house, as shown when she cleans the seven dwarfs house whilst singing 'whistle while you work'. Snow White is depicted as a domestic, dependent and weak character.
Women in fairy tales are typically presented as either kind, innocent girls or evil, cunning witches. These two dimensional portrayals of women are inherently down to what was considered the societal norm for women in those times. The influence this representation has on women, particularly the target audience of these films (young girls) is more apparent than we care to realize. It's damaging for young girls to grow up with submissive, docile female characters as their role models as it can impact their perception of how they should act. If we are continuously told from a young age that women are either beautiful and domestic, or ugly and evil then peoples perceptions of reality can be hampered; instead of the world being a place for all people to express themselves how they want, this type of representation confines women into traditional roles and offers a minimal amount of freedom.
In Snow White, the evil stepmother manipulates men by utilizing her beauty and sexuality, whereas Snow White directly contrasts her. Snow White is the 'perfect princess', she is beautiful and innocent, passive and gullible. She is entirely selfless and lacks any form of identity that makes her unique. When Snow White is placed into a glass coffin, she becomes entirely passive, and becomes an object for men to admire. Snow White ultimately belongs to the Prince, and him kissing her to save her life and then riding into the sunset together presents a dangerous image for impressionable young minds.
However, representation of Disney princesses has evidently evolved, with Brave (2012) being a prime example of this.
Brave shows a young princess wanting to break free of the frameworks that her mother, and societies standards hold against her. She is shown to be physically skilled in archery and she is an independent, outspoken character.
Unlike previous Disney films such as Mulan, Merida, the princess in Brave, did not want to become less feminine and more masculine, but rather she wanted to be respected as a feminine being and have the right to choose what path suits her future. The film Brave steers away from the usual narrative for Disney princesses, which is for the female protagonist to find a romantic interest, and rejects the message that is usually presented in these type of films, which is that for a woman to be happy and have meaning in her life, she must find love and marry.
The plot of Brave focuses of the relationship between two women, a mother and a daughter instead of romantic love. Merida explicitly states how she does not want to be married and fights for her right to choose who, when and if she wants to marry. The films resolution ends with Merida finding no romantic love interest, which she is extremely happy about. This film is important for young girls to see and it subverts the messages that are often spread through the media about a woman's purpose. The film reassures girls that they don't need to find true love and get married to live a happy life. Brave shows a feminist message in Merida's resistance to being told what to do and her persistence that she gets to choose her own fate. The entire plot of Brave centers around fighting patriarchal values and letting women have the choice of what they want their future to look like.
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