I would not consider myself a feminist and I don't think that Disney movies are inherently evil and teaching our daughters terrible things.
But after reading a couple of books and having a number of discussions along those lines, some of the arguments against Disney really start to make sense.
As much as I LOVE the Little Mermaid, she sells her voice for a boy. I'm not sure how I feel about that...*
All that to say, tonight I watched Tangled with a friend (not for the first time, just for funsies) and I couldn't help but analyze it for the underlying messages it sends our young girls (I didn't do it on purpose, but sometimes I just can't turn off the UNC mind).
Let me tell you, I love Rapunzel.
I think that she is an awesome princess. She's beautiful, sweet, and totally kicks butt and takes names.
She's the kind of princess I would want a young girl to admire.
She is the balance of innocent and naive, but sassy and observant. She figures out what is going on pretty quickly and stands up for herself. This blonde has some fiest to her.
I love fiest.
And the best thing is, both she and Flynn are great. It seems in these kinds of movies that either the girl is sleeping and the boy saves the day, or the girl is awesome and the boy is a doofus.
Flynn is great. He fights for his girl. And lets be real, no matter how much feminism tells us otherwise, a girl wants a boy who is going to fight for her. A man who is going to defend her. I believe that is what we were created to long for. And in the end, both were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others well-being.
Merida in Brave was hailed as a Disney princess for feminists. She was fierce and a fighter. Like the awesome Katniss Everdeen, she was an amazing archer. And most importantly, she didn't want to get married. I had one problem with Merida...
She was a brat.
I couldn't stand her. The way she treated her family and threw temper tantrums was just annoying. (sorry if you liked the movie- the animation and music was beautiful, but I couldn't stand her).
This is not who I want girls emulating, they get enough brattiness from other TV shows and movies.
Why can't a girl be cute and girly? Why can't she be sweet and naive? Why can't she use a frying pan as a weapon?
Obviously, the person that we want our girls to emulate the most is Jesus first and foremost and then the Bible and Christian history is full of amazing women who gave their lives to God and others.
But when it comes to role models in secular culture, I really like Rapunzel.
*I am all for watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my favorite princess), but I definitely think that those movies need to be watched together and discussed (as most things do). However, the ones where the girl literally just sleeps while the prince slays the dragon (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) nope, just nope.
But after reading a couple of books and having a number of discussions along those lines, some of the arguments against Disney really start to make sense.
As much as I LOVE the Little Mermaid, she sells her voice for a boy. I'm not sure how I feel about that...*
All that to say, tonight I watched Tangled with a friend (not for the first time, just for funsies) and I couldn't help but analyze it for the underlying messages it sends our young girls (I didn't do it on purpose, but sometimes I just can't turn off the UNC mind).
Let me tell you, I love Rapunzel.
I think that she is an awesome princess. She's beautiful, sweet, and totally kicks butt and takes names.
She's the kind of princess I would want a young girl to admire.
She is the balance of innocent and naive, but sassy and observant. She figures out what is going on pretty quickly and stands up for herself. This blonde has some fiest to her.
I love fiest.
And the best thing is, both she and Flynn are great. It seems in these kinds of movies that either the girl is sleeping and the boy saves the day, or the girl is awesome and the boy is a doofus.
Flynn is great. He fights for his girl. And lets be real, no matter how much feminism tells us otherwise, a girl wants a boy who is going to fight for her. A man who is going to defend her. I believe that is what we were created to long for. And in the end, both were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others well-being.
Merida in Brave was hailed as a Disney princess for feminists. She was fierce and a fighter. Like the awesome Katniss Everdeen, she was an amazing archer. And most importantly, she didn't want to get married. I had one problem with Merida...
She was a brat.
I couldn't stand her. The way she treated her family and threw temper tantrums was just annoying. (sorry if you liked the movie- the animation and music was beautiful, but I couldn't stand her).
This is not who I want girls emulating, they get enough brattiness from other TV shows and movies.
Why can't a girl be cute and girly? Why can't she be sweet and naive? Why can't she use a frying pan as a weapon?
Obviously, the person that we want our girls to emulate the most is Jesus first and foremost and then the Bible and Christian history is full of amazing women who gave their lives to God and others.
But when it comes to role models in secular culture, I really like Rapunzel.
*I am all for watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my favorite princess), but I definitely think that those movies need to be watched together and discussed (as most things do). However, the ones where the girl literally just sleeps while the prince slays the dragon (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) nope, just nope.
