Megan Woodrow
December 10, 2012
Human Symbolic Activity
Final Paper
Gender and Communication: Disney Princesses Evolve Over Time Women have been around since the beginning of time, and have been stereotyped towards having “weaker natures and bodies” and “silly and emotional desires”. The women in the classic Walt Disney films are no exception to this criticism. But there is a saving grace. As women in real life have changed over time, our counterparts in fantasy film animation have also changed. The classic Walt Disney Princesses have therefore evolved through, and with, the media. After thinking back on what made Disney such a huge hit and major part of all of our lives, one answer came to mind: The Disney Princesses. Walt Disney and the Disney Company started out with young and beautiful Snow White, and then eventually moving onto the long line of famous Disney heroines such as Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan, and many more to recent date. There have been so many princesses (and other strong heroines) added to the Disney list, but has anyone ever thought of how these princesses have changed over time, or how they have evolved due to how women in real life are represented in the media today?
Before I go into any more on the Princesses themselves, I first need to explain what events and stereotypes have made the basis for the Disney Princesses of the past, and even the for the women of the past, due to how the media and others have portrayed them. According to girlsinc.com, “women have more opportunities and face different challenges” today than they were able to in the past. Cuiriosity.com also states that, “Throughout history, men have been tasked with providing for the family. In our earliest days as a species with a plan for the day, that meant hunting and bringing home meat for sustenance, while in recent times it's meant earning a paycheck and bringing home the bacon. Women, on the other hand, took care of children and housekeeping.” Women’s roles in the past were only a few duties, basically taking care of the housework and the family. As time has moved on, however, women have had the chance to grow and expand on their opportunities. As women fought for their rights and freedom, their counterparts on T.V. and in the movies have also developed and progressed with the current times. Women represented in and through the media were able to evolve as characters and do more than just look pretty or cook meals. Women are now able to work and fight and believe in what they want, and the Disney Princesses are no exception. Just like women in the real world have changed and evolved, the Princesses have changed and adapted right along with them.
There are four Princesses that I wish to talk about, who best show the arc of the role of women evolving and adapting with society through the Walt Disney Franchise. The four women are: Aurora from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, Mulan from Disney’s Mulan, Giselle from Disney’s Enchanted, and Merida from Disney/PIXAR’s Brave. These four women each have specific characteristics that deem them suitable for the time period that their respective movie was made. And as each newer movie was made, each Princess was able to evolve and change due to how the acceptability of women has changed in certain social and domestic situations. And by the time the latest Disney Princess movie was made, our Princess doesn’t resemble the stereotypical “Disney Princess” in any way with her newfound attitude towards marriage, love, and royal duties and life as a princess.
To start off this in-depth look, we will look at Princess Aurora from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Aurora’s story is pretty simple: she has a curse put upon as a child and she is kept away from people for the first sixteen years of her life, so that the curse doesn’t come to fruition. The curse comes true anyway, and in the end, her kingdom is saved by her Prince and the three fairies that watch over her. Sleeping Beauty was made in 1959 and during this time, according to enotes.com, “Housekeeping and raising a family were considered ideal female roles during the 1950s”. After research was done to see how well approved and strong the main character was in Sleeping Beauty, I was shocked to find out that our main Princess has been pushed out of the limelight and the whole article featured the three fairies instead, on fanpop.com. The site stated, “People tend to judge the movie by its 'main' character, but as we actually see and learn more of them, I think Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are a better place to start when looking at the movie's attitude towards female characters.” The Disney Princess is the main character of the story, but she receives the least amount of screen time for a main character in the movie and as the article goes on, it tells of how Aurora doesn’t really adapt or grow. She is a static character that looks beautiful, but has no opinion or character of her own. She has no strength to show, and she cannot help the plot progress any further once she is afflicted by the curse. Now, at this point, I would also like to clarify what Aurora symbolizes, and that is the standard “Disney Princess”/damsel-in-distress. When I say “standard ‘Disney Princess’”, this means that she is one of the first Princesses who had her dreams come true by basically doing nothing throughout the story. She just lays there in her bed and looks pretty. Even howstuffworks.com states that Aurora is “two-dimensional”. Aurora belongs in this argument because she represents what the Princesses today and women of today are not. She was one of the starting points of a direction that women would not follow.
The next “Disney Princess” that is going to be examined is Mulan from Disney’s Mulan. Even though she is not technically a “Princess” in the realm of Disney, she is considered in the top 10 list of Disney Princesses. Mulan is the first “Princess” to actually go and fight and take action. According to hubpages.com, “Mulan highlights the feminist discourse of the independent woman”. Mulan’s story is of a young girl impersonating a soldier in place of her father, so he doesn’t have to go to war. Mulan creates a fake identity, trains with the army, battles countless enemies, saves her nation, and is awarded a great honor by the emperor of her land. She does get her man in the end of the movie, but she only gets him because she earned his respect, saved him, and made a difference in his life when it comes to how men view women. When this movie came out in 1998, people were impressed, and little girls were inspired because the “Princess” was finally the true heroine of the story and could stand on equal footing (or even higher) with the men. One of the reasons that Mulan represents a change in the way that women and the Princesses should be perceived and thought of is based on all of the gender roles that were targeted and changed during the movie. According to hubpages.com, “The gender roles (in the movie) are also represented through the clothing items (dress, armor), accessories (comb and fan, sword and helmet) and even the hairstyle (long hair for women and short-tied hair for men).” Mulan has to change her identity and become more “man like” in order to gain more power and respect and she leaves behind her more feminine nature. Before this, none of the other Princesses or women in Disney’s history have changed their appearance or challenged the law. Mulan does both and begins the progression of how women can be represented in the Disney franchise. She is the first to represent a stronger and masculine side of womanhood, while still holding onto bits of her femininity. She is the first example that deviates from the typical dainty woman and she also proves that there can be a balance between characteristics in women and men. They can be both beautiful and strong. Mulan also pushes the notion that women don’t have to sacrifice all of themselves to gain respect, because once she is found out in the army, she is sent back home and she saves the day as a woman. And from there on, everyone in the story starts to see the value in her not just as a soldier, but as a woman.
The next Princess that helps push forward the evolution of Princesses is Princess Giselle from Disney’s Enchanted, which came out in 2007. The basic story of Enchanted is that Giselle is transported from her “fantasy” homeland and into the hustle and bustle of present day New York City. Giselle is in search of her Prince, who also comes to the real world, followed by the Prince’s evil stepmother. As Giselle deals with being in the real world, her delicate and innocent manner show a little too much and her basic ideas of life are based on “happily ever after’s” and “love conquering all”, but soon some of these ideas begin to fade when she starts experiencing life as it truly is: a place where things can be harsh and cruel, but still happy. Later on in the story, she has to step up and defend and rescue the man of her dreams from the evil witch who has been hunting them. This movie shows the evolution of women, not only by having a woman save a man, but by having the movie be in live action rather than animation. This is very critical and can further show that women in Disney have changed from their once demure attitudes and actions to real live heroines. The reason that it is important that the movie is live action rather than animation is because it gives the story and message more believability. A certain part in the story comes to mind to help explain this idea. In the movie, when Giselle picks up a sword in the final act and stands ready to fight the villain for the man that she loves, the villain blatantly states to the man, “I guess that makes you the damsel-in-distress, huh, handsome?” This one line proves how far the Princesses have come. The man is usually never the one in distress, and when Giselle stands to fight, the villain retorts, “Oh my, it’s the brave little Princess coming to the rescue.” The villain actually taunts her by calling her brave, thus indicating the ludicrous idea that Princesses and women can’t be brave and fight for what they believe in or love. When Giselle does conquer the villain in the end, she proves it for all women and Princesses (real and fictitious) that they can be strong and brave.
The last Princess that shows the evolution of how women and Disney Princesses are represented through the media is Merida from Disney/PIXAR’s Brave, which came out in 2012. Merida stands out in particular as an example of how far the Princesses have come due a comment from livejournal.com. The site states, “Merida is the only tomboy to enter the famed Disney princess ecosystem, and the first one who doesn't wind up with a prince at the end of her story”. When the words “Disney Princess” come to mind, one would not think of Merida belonging in that category. She is feisty, slightly ill-mannered, and, as stated before, a tomboy. Through the media of Disney, the women have been given the privilege to see a Princess act like how most girls are in today’s society. Not every girl wants to be the stereotypical Princess, and the Disney Company has seen this, and thus, their creation of Merida represents one main idea: Princesses and women can act how they wish and are not bound to one law or life.
The women of Disney have each adapted in various ways, but Merida seems to be the most adapted to modern day society, even if the society that she lives in isn’t all that modern. Some arguments have come up about her personality, stating that she is just acting like a whiny teenager, but is that really such a bad thing? Is giving her the character flaws and challenges that every day girls go through really a problem? I think not. I believe that giving her these reactions and motivations actually makes the character of Merida more human and more realistic. She has troubles, but they are troubles that a lot of girls and women have to go through in their lifetime. Some the situations that she goes though are the same notions that others go though in real life and those situations are reflected in the media, so why not reflect those same situations in the Disney Princess films?
In conclusion, the natures and actions of Disney’s Princesses have changed through the media and with the media over the years. As understanding and tolerance for women and women’s right came about, women (and Princesses) have been able to develop right along in their roles in the media. I don’t believe that the media itself brought about the change in how the women were represented, but I do think that it brought about the change of when women were starting to be represented as they are today. Women have worked with the media, to show that there are multiple layers to the human woman (and Princess), and by using the media as an outlet, we have been able to express our multi-facet selves.

Bibliography
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