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The newest controversy to rock the parenting world is a second visual concept of BRAVE’s Merida. After being announced as the 11th official Disney princess a new set of illustrations surfaced. Offended that the beloved ‘strong girl’ character had been edited, parents took to the internet in protest. There are arguments scattered across blogs, forums and Facebook pages renouncing the new drawings and even a petition to have it removed.
The main reasons backing the anger seem to be:
- Her body is different
- She’s “prettier”
- Her dress sparkles
Some of the more varied reasons are:
- She has a ‘come hither’ look
- She looks “10 – 15 years older”
- She’s too sexy
- Her hair is less realistic
This is one of those situations where my brain is going 90 miles per hour so this post may not be the most eloquent. But I’m going to try sifting through all of my ‘wait…what?’ thoughts and piece together my opinions. Ready? Here we go..
She’s “Prettier/Sexier” – Her Body is Different
For the ‘prettier/sexier’ thing I assume people mean she appears to be wearing mascara? That’s the only, actual change I see. Otherwise her eyes, nose, mouth, shape etc are exactly the same. If you trace each image with a pen you’d get the same face. It’s just a different style of illustration. So suddenly a dark line over her eyes = prettier, sexier and older?
Some are calling attention to the fact that her dress is off the shoulder. Three other Disney Princesses have dresses like that. And 2 others are completely strapless. This should not come as a shock to anyone.
One thing that can’t be argued is that her waist is a bit smaller. Yes, it is. A superfluous change, I agree. So if they make her waist thicker, problem solved right? Nope, because…
Her dress sparkles.
The fact that mothers are telling their daughters, “She’s not the same Merida if she wears that dress” is basically saying ‘putting on a pretty dress changes who you are”. I’m sure Merida can still kick butt even if she’s wearing glitter. Why are we — from both sides — teaching girls that what you wear determines what you are capable of? Some people have even said ‘REAL girl heroes don’t wear this kind of dress’. That’s just as bad as saying ‘plain clothes make you less pretty’ — both are ridiculous. Fact is – some girls like glitter. Some girls like ball caps. And *gasp* some girls like both. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
The whole sexier, come hither look….thing.
Come on….really? This is a case of adult interpretation vs child interpretation. What exactly is come hither about her? Because she’s smiling? The first one is too. Because she’s tilting her head? Ahhh… the head tilt. Yep. Only tarts tilt their head. …pish… I WISH all a woman had to do was tilt her head to become insta-sexy, I’d be walking around looking like my neck was broken all the time. But, it doesn’t work that way. It especially doesn’t work that way when you’re talking about a teenager who just happens to have the cocky type of attitude that would call for head tilts on a regular basis — without sexual overtones.
In my opinion people are missing two major things.
First – People forget Disney Princesses are not children.
Merida isn’t 9 years old. She’s 16. She was about to get married in the movie. Why are we imagining her as a prepubescent little girl? She isn’t. Perhaps the issue is that Disney needs to create more female characters that are actually the age of their target market. I can totally agree with that. But taken in context – that she is just 2 years shy of being an adult – an off the shoulder dress and a little makeup is not out of line or indecent.
Second – This isn’t fighting a stereotype – it’s fueling a different one.
From the Petition: “Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for — a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready. She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the ‘imperfections’ that all people have.”
Wait…. so, wearing a pretty dress means you are weak, lack confidence, can’t rescue yourself and you don’t look like a ‘real girl’? Because that’s what it sounds like. It sounds like mothers everywhere think this will completely discount everything Merida’s character could do and was….. simply based on what she’s wearing.
It doesn’t matter that 99% of the time Merida is not wearing those things. It doesn’t matter that she could be used as a wonderful example of how changing your clothes doesn’t change who you are. It doesn’t even matter that Disney has already said this is a new illustration needed for different types of product printing and is not intended to replace the original version. But, maybe it’s just impossible to think of those things over the din of mothers everywhere screaming “PRETTY IS BAD!”
I’m sure there are some people assuming I’ve taken this stance because I either have a daughter who’s a mini beauty queen or I wear makeup 24/7 or whatever. Wrong. I have two boys (whom I’ve taught that a woman in heels is to be taken just as seriously as a woman in sneakers) and I’d fit in the ‘tomboy’ category faster than I’d fit in the glamour girl category. I wear baseball caps, baggy jeans and my husband wishes I’d wear a little lip gloss more often. But ya know what? When I see a woman in a pretty dress, lipstick, hair done etc… I don’t assume she’s weaker, less adept or less powerful than me. She isn’t less of a ‘real’ woman. Shame on anyone who thinks otherwise.
