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I played with Barbies and watched princess movies, and I think I turned out ok . Looking back with adult eyes, now, I do wonder WTF were they thinking with some of this stuff. I was a little older when The Little Mermaid came out. That one especially makes me go Giving up everything? for a man? Is this the message we want to send?
Yup. The witch doesn't take her voice--she cuts off her tongue. The prince never falls for her--but she amuses him and he lets her sleep on a cushion outside his door. He marries someone else. Her sisters bribe the witch with their beautiful hair to save her, and she must stab the prince before sunrise. She still loves him and kills herself instead. Mermaids don't have souls, but her love and sacrifice earn the pity of somebody (Neptune? I forget, it's been a while), so she is turned into sea foam. The sound of foaming waves is her eternal sighing for the prince. Oh, and she is 15.
Yup. The witch doesn't take her voice--she cuts off her tongue. The prince never falls for her--but she amuses him and he lets her sleep on a cushion outside his door. He marries someone else. Her sisters bribe the witch with their beautiful hair to save her, and she must stab the prince before sunrise. She still loves him and kills herself instead. Mermaids don't have souls, but her love and sacrifice earn the pity of somebody (Neptune? I forget, it's been a while), so she is turned into sea foam. The sound of foaming waves is her eternal sighing for the prince. Oh, and she is 15.
I played with Barbies and watched princess movies, and I think I turned out ok . Looking back with adult eyes, now, I do wonder WTF were they thinking with some of this stuff. I was a little older when The Little Mermaid came out. That one especially makes me go Giving up everything? for a man? Is this the message we want to send?
The Little Mermaid and all the other fairy tales weren't made up by Disney (though extremely modified of course as the originals weren't intended for kids at all). But fairy tales are just classic texts, and whether or not we agree with the message, there's no reason why it'd be harmful for kids to read/watch and discuss or think about. In fact, you could talk to a girl about whether or not she thinks Ariel's decision was a right one or not and why. And for what it's worth I don't think it's inherently some kind of anti-feminist sexist message about the woman having to be hurt for a guy. I think it's a tale about love, and the fact that sacrifices are sometimes made for the sake of love, and people get hurt. I don't see it much different from say, Romeo and Juliet - we don't ban that out of fear that kids will start killing themselves for a crush.
I played with Barbies and watched princess movies, and I think I turned out ok . Looking back with adult eyes, now, I do wonder WTF were they thinking with some of this stuff. I was a little older when The Little Mermaid came out. That one especially makes me go Giving up everything? for a man? Is this the message we want to send?
Idk if this is the same, but its not for the man, its for love..
And this is where it might not be the same, I dream of a nice house, an SUV and a good paying job but if me and TG we're broke and had nothing but love I would still be ok. You don't need those material things in life, you don't need anything at all as long as you have the one you love.
So I don't really think its giving up everything for a man, I think it is finding love and finding what's most important in life.
I played with Barbies and watched princess movies, and I think I turned out ok . Looking back with adult eyes, now, I do wonder WTF were they thinking with some of this stuff. I was a little older when The Little Mermaid came out. That one especially makes me go Giving up everything? for a man? Is this the message we want to send?
Ya I think this is my issue too.
Granted I loved the Little Mermaid, and I hijacked my little sister so I wouldn't be the weird high school girl at a kids move but I totally see the "message" issue as well. OTOH I think recently Disney has made more of a concerted effort to make their princesses a little more about them getting what THEY want. Tangled and the Frog Princess, made sure the "princess" got her dream. A nice switch.
And on yet another hand (how many is that now) when I was a kid I adored the Narnia books, literally reread all of them except one, every year. I never made the Aslan=Jesus connection. So maybe the "message" is REALLY going over the kids heads?
My daughter loved Mulan. Maybe it was because there was finally a disney "princess" who looked like her, or she related to the tomboy-ness of her, I am not sure. But that is as "princess" as we got. Thankfully.
My daughter loved Mulan. Maybe it was because there was finally a disney "princess" who looked like her, or she related to the tomboy-ness of her, I am not sure. But that is as "princess" as we got. Thankfully.
My sons loved Mulan also. I think there is a universal appeal to Mulan that surpasses any gender issues.
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. Looking back with adult eyes, now, I do wonder WTF were they thinking with some of this stuff. I was a little older when The Little Mermaid came out. That one especially makes me go 
Giving up everything? for a man? Is this the message we want to send?
