Op-Ed: The Problematic Messages That Disney Princess Movies Send To Young Children

Violet Bennion ’27

For nearly a century, Disney princess movies have been making their way into the hearts of many families and shaped a lot of America's youth. With doll lineups, halloween costumes, and movie props such as tea sets, it is hard to deny the immense impact these princesses have had on so many people. They have paved new paths for young women and shaped social norms and societal expectations for young girls. At first glance these movies are bold and empowering, yet, taking a closer look would reveal a lot of problematic themes and messages that can arise from these movies.

Let's take for example the first Disney Princess movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937. One of the major problems depicted in this movie is that women can only be seen through their vanity. There is not much to Snow White’s character, other than her beauty. It sends the message that women’s worth is dependent on their looks more than other aspects of them.  Another troubling message shown in Snow White arises from her constantly cooking and cleaning for the dwarfs. This puts an emphasis on women and domestic labor, making it seem like it's all they are good for. Lastly, This movie emphasizes the need for men to come and save women, and that without men, they are completely helpless. 

In fact, this pattern of men saving helpless women isn’t just a problem in Snow White, but in an alarming number of these movies. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were both released in the same decade and are two of Disney’s most famous and beloved movies. In both movies however, men are given the task to save these damsels in distress. Prince Charming saves Cinderella from her evil stepmother and Prince Phillip saves Aurora from her deep slumber.  Additionally, this selection of movies all show these young teenage girls instantly getting married to men that they hardly know. They are mere prizes for these men’s heroic actions. Their worth is measured by them.  

An argument that could be posed against these conclusions are that these films are just relics of the past. That was the 30s and the 50s, a very long time ago. However, even as late as 1989, the Little Mermaid is depicted abandoning her entire life, species and voice for a man she's never even spoken to. These ideas of blank and shapeless women abandoning themselves for these heroic men is not as ancient as people think. The love for these movies and the watching and rewatching of them keeps these ideas alive and burning. 

Yes, it is true that today there are several examples of Disney movies that do in fact tell empowering stories for girls. In 2013, the movie Frozen came out to massive praise from critics and the public. When the protagonist Anna tried to get married to a prince, her sister Elsa pointed out, “you can't marry a man you just met.” This statement is a surprising one to hear considering all Disney has portrayed in the past. Not only that but at the end of the movie, neither sister got married- it was only in the second movie when Anna got engaged to Kristoff.  We even saw Disney reimagine their original princess movie, Snow White. 

 While we should welcome these more empowering stories, they have not come without significant pushback from people who want to keep princesses pretty, helpless, and entirely dependent on men. Ben Shapiro, a very influential right wing commentator, said “The natural orientation of woman is to find man, to settle down with man, to have children with man. And the natural orientation of man is to find woman, and leave his father and mother and cleave to woman and have children with woman and protect them.” He then continues to say that if children don’t follow this path that they will be misled and live miserable lives. Even though it is nice to think that our knowledge has progressed since the days of Snow White, we still see push back on children's movies that portray strong and independent women instead of weak and helpless ones. Shapiro seems to reinforce the stereotypical gender roles that led to the creations of old disney movies, claiming that a woman's purpose is to marry and have children and that the man's purpose is to protect. This shows that even some portion of our society today still holds onto these problematic notions and struggles to see a depiction of a strong willed woman instead of a helpless woman who constantly needs a man to save them. The progress that is made in Frozen, that we are also beginning to see in other films is a large step forward.

Hopefully filmmakers won’t be discouraged by those who want to take us back to the days of the original Snow White and keep making movies that help young girls see their full potential.