Comments on: Disney Princesses & Dissapearing Waistlines

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:18:01 +0000

Just stumbled upon this after watching Snow White and realizing how normal she looks compared to hourglass-shaped princesses like Jasmine–I wanted to point out, in the images you have above of the first three princesses, you are using Disney’s redrawn and updated version. If you pull an image of Snow White from the original movie, her waist line is even more “normal” (and demonstrates your point even more dramatically). Cinderella, too, isn’t so bad. They look like realistic women–a shape we don’t see again from the Disney princess line until Mulan. Nice article, thanks.

By: Jill G.

Jill G. — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:27:12 +0000

In my experience people who comment on an author’s (real or imagined) size instead of what the person actually wrote don’t have any legitimate information to back up their opinion ;)

I don’t HATE Disney, nor was I calling for a fat princess either (though there’d be nothing wrong with that.) Instead, I was asking Disney for some body DIVERSITY (princesses that come in a wide range of sizes and shapes, just like real girls do) which should not be that big of a deal.

(Also, no idea where you pulled the “positive cartoon image” quote from as I didn’t write that anywhere above.)

By: Steph

Steph — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:09:57 +0000

In my experience, women who write articles like this are usually a bit on the heavier side and that is what causes all the hate for skinny disney characters!

I love Disney, and they just give the public what they want. I didn’t want to be a fat princess growing up and no “positive cartoon image” would’ve changed that.

By: Alana Q

Alana Q — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:18:13 +0000

This article is absolutely and sadly correct. Pretty much since birth I’ve been observant, deep thinking, and overanalyzing. Since age 2 I was enthralled by and obsessed with Disney movies, particularly Disney princesses, and I played with Barbie dolls all the time. It came to be that my idea of beauty was the dainty, wispy, almost floaty bodies of Disney princesses and the bodies of Barbie dolls. At age 4… AGE 4… while on a hayride before Halloween, I looked over at my mom, worried, and asked her if my legs were fat. Keep in mind that I have ALWAYS been slender and was far too young to even know that the media existed, so that was not what influenced my thoughts… I was analyzing the bodies of Disney princesses and Barbie dolls and came to the conclusion that THAT was what it meant to be beautiful. Since then, again always being slender, my mental issues with my weight continued since 4… at 6, 7, 8… I continued to cry over my body and tried dieting until my parents stopped me… at 10 I’d wear tights and pantyhose under my clothing to constrict my body. I developed body dysmorphic disorder. At 12, my life-destroying anorexia began. I started as a distinguished honors student but later I dropped out of high school because of so many hospitalizations and treatment programs and from being sick due to anorexia related gastroparesis and other health problems. I was diagnosed as Bipolar type 2, anorexic, and with body dysmorphic disorder…. though those diagnoses couldn’t truly explain why I became anorexic and had such a distorted image of my body, as I was never overweight and though I was bullied badly by some girls in middle school (and later found out it was because they were intimidated by the fact that they thought I was pretty), it was not a severely traumatic event like rape or beating and did not truly explain why I’d have developed anorexia or why I’d have such intense body image issues since an age as young as 4. In treatment, I was almost always the only person that could not figure out why I had anorexia. Recently, after years of contemplation between myself, my family, and therapists, we came to the conclusion that my body image problems began as a result of my deep thinking and analyzing creating the illusion in my mind that beauty equated to the wispy thin Barbie dolls and Disney princesses that I had loved and admired since age 2. I am now 21 and continue to struggle with my body image and eating disorder. Now I know what I have to blame for it. Thank you for writing this spot-on article.

By: Beauty: When is it defined? « missmelch1031

Beauty: When is it defined? « missmelch1031 — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:39:55 +0000

[...] Disney is evolving. They are adapting to the world’s views by including more cultures and female rescuers. However, I found this blog post about the issue of Disney’s representation of beauty. I definitely recommend reading it! [...]

By: Evey

Evey — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:14:43 +0000

Brandy, you make an excellent point! I just wanted to add that Pocahontas ultimately chooses to stay with her family – where she’s NEEDED, not merely where she’s WANTED (as she would be in John Smith’s London). I always considered that an extremely monumental point in Disney history. She is an undeniably strong woman and remains so through the end.

Of course, I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who has only seen the first film (in my opinion, the only one that truly counts)!

By: M4dd15on

M4dd15on — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:50:11 +0000

I, like many others in my generation, was brought up on disney movies and have to say i always enjoyed them, especially the princess movies. However, i do not agree that disney princesses promote a negative body image amongst young girls. I am a perfectly healthy size 12 and have in fact fought my entire life to the polar opposite of the disney princesses cos although i loved their stories and dresses, i realised very early on that wasn’t how women were supposed to look. Also, Meg in Hercules is probably the worst of them all although not a princess…

By: J

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:02:19 +0000

Thanks for the comment! :)

I can’t comment on voice or mannerism, having never seen the Three Musketeers, I do know who Tim Curry is, though, and I can see the resemblence you speak of! However, Jafar is still much darker skinned than any of the good-guy counterparts in this movie, and his facial features still read (at least to me) almost as a version of Tim Curry’s face skewed to look more like a caricature of what an American person would assume an Arabian (I’m sorry if this is the wrong word) person to look like.

I’m not saying he should be super-Americanized like the rest of the good characters, but maybe the good characters should instead be drawn to look like the people in the region they are depicting?

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:10:42 +0000

Great article!
One disagreement though…. You say that Jafar, the villian of Aladdin, is the only stereotypically Arabic character.
I don’t agree. It seems to me that Jafar is modelled in every respect – voice, appearance and mannerism – on Tim Curry. Don’t believe me? Watch Disney’s movie of The Three Musketeers, and see if you can differentiate Curry’s evil-advisor-to-the-king Cardinal Richelieu from Aladdin’s evil-advisor-to-the-sultan Jafar.

By: Brandy

Brandy — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:09:40 +0000

Excellent article, very well written. It’s upsetting that our society puts women into two categories; women who are smart or women who are beautiful, no if, ands, or buts. However, you have to admit that Disney is definitely moving forward, what with the interracial princesses and, as you mentioned, a small step towards realistic female bodies. At least Mulan, Pocahontas and the newest princess have actual dreams and aspirations. They aren’t floored on getting married, they just happen to in the end. I would love to see a princess who chooses her dream instead of marriage. Disney is trying though, and I’m proud of them for that.

By: Ariel (seriously my name people)

Ariel (seriously my name people) — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:53:05 +0000

I understand where you are coming from with this, but at the same time, they are cartoons. Plus, Barbie is just as harmful to young girl’s body image. And I think the Disney Princess movies have a better message than modern media/culture. The women are not objects in (most) of the Disney movies. Jasmine, most notably, refuses to be ‘a prize to be won’. Belle and Ariel are also great examples of strong women. Snow white is probably the most passive of them all, probably because she was the earliest. Also, I do not expect myself or any of my partners (I’m a lesbian) to have their body type, which, on a human would look really weird. I watched all the Disney Princess movies as a child, but it was my mother who taught me that not everyone can look like that. People are shaped all different ways. I have a normal body image. I went through anorexia, but I honestly don’t think it had anything to do with the ‘influence’ of Disney Princesses. In fact, I think my disease gave me a better body image in the end, because I realized how amazing my body really is, not only to be able to function on less than 300 calories a day, but also to be able to recover and still carry me on my bike and run me through the park. That is what we should tell little girls…they are all princesses, no matter what they look like or where they came from, and they all deserve respect and happiness. And if that involves a tiara and a sparkly dress, so be it!

By: sarah bambi

sarah bambi — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:20:09 +0000

incredible keep up the good work and expose this injustice

By: roo

roo — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:35:19 +0000

Im thirteen, and i hate the way i look! i grew up watching disney my whole life. I do love the girls but looking back and watching them now i can see theres usually not happy ever after, and that no one looks like they do! i agree completly with this article! if disney ever dicides to portray real beautiful women i would love to see it!

By: Princesses Revisted « medicinal marzipan

Princesses Revisted « medicinal marzipan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:53:40 +0000

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By: J

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:16:54 +0000

You make a valid point – blaming the media alone is in every way a cop-out but, in my writing, that is not what I try to do. All too often I feel that, while we acknowledge society informs the media, we tend to forget that the media also, in turn, forms society.

I like to think of it as a cycle that goes both ways: the media’s values shape society’s values which then, in turn, shape the values portrayed in the media and so on… this is why I find it equally important to call out negative media messages and negative cultural messages – if we can disrupt the cycle of negativity in one of those spaces, most likely the new positive message will cycle around.