Running head: DISNEY & FEMINSIM 1

It Comes and Goes in Waves

Liz Hornick

UNC Chapel Hill

COMM 450

K. Nishimura

May 6, 2019

DISNEY & FEMINISM 2

It Comes and Goes in Waves

Snow White, the first Disney princess, made her debut in 1937. Often remembered for tidying up after seven men and needing to be saved by a prince in a time of distress, Snow

White’s movie became the most successful film during its time. In its first year, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs grossed $8 million- more than any other film before it (“The Success,” n.d.).

However, today it receives a bit of backlash from feminists and other progressives due to its portrayal of stereotypical gender roles and unrealistic body expectations. Since 1937, Disney has created 12 more princesses each more bold and independent than the last. This can be tied to the progress millions of feminists have made in redefining femininity and what it means to “be a woman.” Many feminist scholars have separated the 13 princesses into three distinct eras based on different personality traits but it’s time to make room for a fourth one. By analyzing the different eras of Disney princesses through lyrics from songs in their movies, this paper will compare each era to the three waves of feminism, and advocate for a fourth era that coincides with the role of women in today’s society in what is the start of the fourth wave. This new fourth era of Disney princesses not only reflects today’s current political climate of empowering women, but also has a more positive effect on girls, especially their body image.

The concept of femininity can be defined as a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. This includes but is not limited to appearance, specific personality traits, and clothing. When it comes to understanding gender roles and expectations, many people turn to the media to see what characteristics they ought to strive for.

As a staple of American popular culture and the epitome of femininity, it’s no surprise that the

Disney princesses are a main role model for girls in America. Just to understand how well known these characters are, a 2016 study conducted by a professor at Bingham University discovered DISNEY & FEMINISM 3 that out of a group of 200 kids, nearly all of them knew about the Disney princesses regardless of the child’s gender (Paquette).

Because of the princesses’ widespread popularity, it’s very apparent as to why many young children, especially girls, turn towards them as their main role models. Each princess has her own individual movie detailing the journey she endures in order to make her dream come true. Often times this dream includes finding love and marrying her perfect man but as of late, the most recent princess movies, Frozen (2013), and Moana (2016), are taking on entirely new narratives. These new story lines exclude the famous love story and redefine what it means to be an independent woman. In Frozen (2013), Elsa is the first main character to not have a romantic theme. There’s also an important shift in the design of the characters. Moana is the first Disney princess with a relatively normal waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) hence making her the first princess with a realistic body type. Together, these two movies pave the way for Disney’s newest fourth era and provides girls with a new expectation of what it looks like to be feminine.

The first era of Disney princesses spans from 1937-1959 and it directly corresponds with the first wave of feminism (Johnson, 2015). The first wave of feminism occurred during the early part of the 20th century, 1848-1959 respectively. The wave officially began in 1848 at the Seneca

Falls Convention lead by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Seneca Falls Convention was the first official meeting held in the United States that advocated for women’s rights. Nearly 300 people attended the convention in Seneca Falls, New York and they all fought for the social, civil and religious rights of women.

Stanton started off the convention with a speech that stated the goals and purposes of the meeting. The overall motivation for the gathering was to protest against various forms of government and Stanton elaborates on this further saying: DISNEY & FEMINISM 4

We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed—to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love. (Editors, 2017) Stanton set the precedent for this first wave of feminism and the main objective for feminists during this time period was to open up opportunities for women, with a heavy emphasis on suffrage.

During the convention, a Declaration of Sentiments was drafted that described all of the demands from those in attendance. It was primarily written by Stanton and it was a call to action for all women to fight for their rights as citizens that are granted to them in the Constitution of the United States. The document states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.” The Declaration of Sentiments was directly inspired by the

Declaration of Independence and it pushed for the equality of women not only in politics, but also family, education, jobs, and religion (Editors, 2017).

This first era of princesses begins in 1937 with the creation of Snow White from Snow

White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella from Cinderella (1950), and Aurora from Sleeping

Beauty (1959). These three princesses each have very different stories, but the similarities they all share are very distinct. For example, each princess in her movie is very passive and temperate. When connecting this back to the Seneca Falls Convention, the women who led this movement stand in stark contrast to the majority of women during this time period who carried out the expectations that were set before them. These expectancies include “fulfilling their destiny” has a mother and house wife.

In each of their movies, all three of the princesses wind up in an awful situation, yet don’t do anything to push back or fight against it; their immediate response to hardship is to cry on the nearest set of stairs. This dramatic sob scene has become infamous in Disney movies and is now DISNEY & FEMINISM 5 a reoccurring meme within the online community. In order to ultimately escape their current situation, they rely on a man to come and save them. Snow White’s prince wakes her up with true love’s kiss, Aurora’s prince slays the evil dragon, and Cinderella’s prince brings her to live with him at his castle- away from her wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters.

The way these princesses are portrayed reflects the expectations that were placed upon women during that time period. The most apparent trait seen in all three of the animated women is their extreme indifference to the situation they find themselves in. Each one recognizes that they are trapped in a situation far from ideal, yet the only action they take is dreaming for a better life and hoping it comes their way, rather than actively trying to achieve their dreams themselves.

This specific quality is further exemplified through particular songs written for the film.

Each one has its own song in which the heroine sings melodic lyrics pining for a better life. In her movie, Snow White serenades the seven dwarfs with her famous song “Some Day My Prince

Will Come” that includes lyrics such as, “Someday my prince will come…and away to his castle we'll go, to be happy forever I know” and, “And the birds will sing and wedding bells will ring, someday when my dreams come true.” During this song, listeners are made fully aware that

Snow White believes that the only way she can be saved is if she is rescued by a prince. The princess also appears to have only one aspiration: to get married. During this time period when the first wave of feminism began to take place, women found their worth through men and the widespread expectation was that women should be married while they are still young. In the

1930s, the median age for a woman who is getting married for the first time is 20 years old

(“Median Age,” n.d.). DISNEY & FEMINISM 6

Cinderella sings a similar tune that is aptly titled, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart

Makes.” As made apparent through the song title, this ballad is all about her dreaming and making wishes until the day where they all finally come true. The lyrics that stick out most during this song claim that, “No matter how your heart is grieving if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.” Dreaming until your wishes come true is an infamous motif that perpetuates the notion that women should be complicit and wait for rescuing. It goes even further to say that if men aren’t the ones doing the saving, then it must be from some other outside source or higher cosmic power than the woman herself.

In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora combines both the theme of finding true love and dreaming for something better into her song “Once Upon a Dream.” She dances through the forest singing lines such as, “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…But if I know you, I know what you'll do, you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.” This only reiterates the passivity found within the other two princesses and highlights indifference as a defining feature of this first Disney era.

In addition to their personality traits, these three leading ladies also all display a classic ideal of beauty thus dictating the feminine expectation during that time period. While the passive and temperate personality traits are important, so was how one displayed themselves physically.

This includes light skin, bright lips, and rosy cheeks (“Beauty Ideal,” n.d.). Snow White was designed with short dark hair which was extremely popular during her time of creation in the

30s. During this time period, women donned themselves in dresses and kept their hair close to their head (“Fashion in 1950,” n.d.). Longer hair started to gain popularity as time went on and this trend coincides perfectly with the hair of the princesses: Snow White having the shortest,

Cinderella sporting hair to her shoulders, and Aurora’s cascading down her back. DISNEY & FEMINISM 7

While the first era of Disney princesses ends in 1959 with Sleeping Beauty, the second era of princess movies doesn’t pick back up until 1989. During these 30 years, Disney is on a hiatus from princesses yet they are still producing movies. These particular films feature animals as the main characters instead of people and include the well-known animated classics such as

The Jungle Book (1967), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), and The Fox and the

Hound (1981). It’s during this time period that Disney begins to experience a string of commercial failures. Once this second era begins, Disney returns back to featuring “people” in

1989 with its newest princess movie The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid was released in theaters on November 17, 1989, and is given credit for breathing life back into the company as well as kick starting the second era of Disney princesses, also known as the Disney Renaissance. While the first era of princesses coincided perfectly with the first wave feminism, this second era was created as the second wave began taper off. The second wave of feminism garnered its start in the late 1950s and lasted until the

1980s. While the first wave is characterized by the suffrage movement, this second wave is known for fighting against general societal inequalities. The 1960s experienced many protests prepared by women advocating for a different life. The majority of white and middle-class women created their own organized movements for greater rights. Many were older, married women who found the traditional roles of housewife and mother, the roles that were expected of them, unfulfilling.

Historically, women have always been expected to be the nurturers/caretakers of the house and family. Petitioning this traditional ideal was sparked in 1963 with the publication of the Feminine Mystique. The book was written by Betty Friedan and it was the first book that actively challenged the belief that it was a woman’s destiny to get married and give birth to DISNEY & FEMINISM 8 children. It became a best-seller and the women who read her book all agreed that they were being drained of their individualism (Second-Wave,” n.d.).

While Elizabeth Cady Stanton spearheaded the first wave of feminism, it was Betty

Friedan who fronted the second. In 1966, the National Organization of Women (NOW) assembled and they established a series goals they hoped to achieve during this second movement. The group’s statement of purpose was written by Friedan herself and stated that the organization sought, “To take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of

American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men” (Rosenberg, 2017).

According to Rosenberg (2017), the purpose of NOW was to provide women with a type of support group to work together with to combat gender discrimination. During this time period, women were still being discriminated against in the workplace and there was an apparent wage gap. They also addressed issues such as maternity leave rights in employment, child day care centers, equal job training opportunities, reproductive rights, and the prohibition of sex discrimination in the workplace. The strategies these women took up in order to actively fight for gender equality include lobbying and holding rallies, marches, and conferences. NOW was also the first organization to fight for equality through an intersectional lens and fought for certain issues that pertain solely to black women.

While Disney’s second era of princesses isn’t perfectly aligned with this second wave of feminism, the character traits represented by women in the 1960s are very apparent in these characters from the 1980s. During the nine-year span of the second era, the world is introduced to Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine from

Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas from Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan from Mulan (1998) (Johnson, DISNEY & FEMINISM 9

2015). These five women are very headstrong in their films and are genuinely curious about the world around them. Each of them pining for a different life, Ariel wishes to live with humans while Belle dreams of a land much more exciting than her own, Jasmine hopes for a life outside of the castle she is confined in, Pocahontas fights to break out of her arranged marriage, and

Mulan goes off to war in place of her father. All of the heroines are rebellious and push against the status quo. They seek adventure and find it through embracing their independence.

Similar to the first era, the personality traits of these princesses are made extremely apparent through the songs they sing in their films. Ariel paves the way for this era and is famously known for her song, “Part of Your World.” The song details her desire to break out of the typical life her father, King Triton, has prepared for her and become human so she can live life on land. Ariel often gets in trouble for swimming up to the surface to watch Prince Eric, the human she loves, do human things. One of the most popular songs in the line states, “When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore above? Out of the sea, wish I could be part of that world.” These lyrics stand in stark contrast to the ones the princesses sing in the first era because, while it is true Ariel is dreaming of a different life, she later turns that dream into action doing what it takes to achieve her goals on her own volition.

This same curiosity translates over into Belle’s self-titled song. This song stands out from all of the others because it not only includes Belle singing, but her father and the townspeople as well. It’s important to note that in her film, Belle is often ostracized from her community because of her peculiar sense of curiosity. In order to escape her current reality, Belle often turns to books and there she finds the adventure and excitement she’s always longed for. The townspeople chant a line detailing this character trait of Belle saying, “Look there she goes, that girl is so peculiar, I wonder if she's feeling well. With a dreamy, far-off look, and her nose stuck in a DISNEY & FEMINISM 10 book, what a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle.” Later in the film, Belle reprises the song with the famous lyrics, “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell.”

These words only further prove that curiosity is the defining character trait of Disney’s second era.

Jasmine’s song is featured in Aladdin and is one of Disney’s most well-known songs: “A

Whole New World.” The song features Princess Jasmine singing with her love interest Aladdin about experiencing an entirely new life. During the movie, viewers discover that Jasmine grew up as a princess in the castle of Agrabah but, as it comes time for her to get married to a prince, she rebels against her father, the Sultan, and sneaks out to live life as a commoner. “A Whole

New World” emphasizes the change Jasmine so desperately wants, especially with lyrics such as,

“A whole new world, a hundred thousand things to see. I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far;

I can't go back to where I used to be.”

Each of these three songs show how this era allows the women to have more agency than those of the first era. In addition, the songs also highlight how these princesses realize there is something better for them than doing what has been traditionally expected. This narrative corresponds directly with the characteristics of the second wave of feminism and prove that women are just more than their looks and being a good wife. While this second era is much more progressive in terms of gender roles and how the women are portrayed, the characters are still hindered by their need to be rescued. Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine alike all have their special love interest that ends up saving them and protecting them from harm’s way whether it be from an evil sea witch, unruly townspeople, or a power-hungry sorcerer.

On the other hand, Mulan and Pocahontas break out of the mold and are the heroes of their own story. Their creation occurs during a time when society was transitioning from the DISNEY & FEMINISM 11 second wave to the third, and traits from both of these waves can be found within each of these two movies. The third era of princesses arises during the years 2009 through, arguably, the present, and at the end of the third wave of feminism, with Mulan and Pocahontas bridging the gap between the two. The third wave begins in the early 1990s and lasts until the fourth wave takes over in 2009. This wave was commanded by Generation Xers, those born in the 1960s and

1970s, and started to expand on the intersectional work that was started in the Second Wave by focusing even more on Civil Rights. Third wave feminists embraced individualism and diversity, and sought to redefine what it means to be a feminist.

The third wave was defined with the help of “Riot Grrrl,” an alternative subculture built around opposition to preconceived notions that young, typically white, U.S. girls and women are more focused on themselves and boys, and therefore have no interest in being political, creative, and loud” (Garrison, 2000). Riot Grrrl was unique in the fact that not only did it consist of punk style and music scenes, but it also incorporated feminist politics into their identity. The formation of the third wave can ultimately be solely credited to the Riot Grrrl subculture because, as stated by Garrison (2000), these feminists a “are both ‘popular’ and subcultural, they provide spaces for youth-controlled conversations, and they can operate as an inter-face between different third wave cohorts (they connect Riot Grrrls to one another but also to other feminists and women)”

(p. 143).

Riot Grrrl was effective in spreading their message because of their subculture status as well as their unique composition of combining feminist thought with an already well-known music subculture. According to Hebdige (n.d.), subcultures are an interference with mainstream expectation and this leads to their representation in the media. Often times this representation is accompanied by “hysteria” and other forms of backlash, but being consumed by a widespread DISNEY & FEMINISM 12 audience allows for a range of emotions that fall on a spectrum between dread and fascination, and outrage and amusement (Hebdige, n.d.). While subcultures don’t compose the dominant ideology, it’s important not to underestimate their power because they do have the power “to provoke and disturb” (Hebdige, n.d.). This characteristic seen throughout subcultures as a whole played a critical role in the formation of Riot Grrrl and their eventual formation of an entire third wave feminist movement.

In his writing, Hebdige notes that there are two different forms of subcultures: commodity and ideological. The commodity takes the form of its name by converting important signs of the subculture into a product that can be consumed. On the other hand, the ideological form of subcultures consists of taking the “deviance” of the subculture and having those principles adopted into the mainstream society. Riot Grrrl consisted of both of these different forms which then can be attributed to its widespread impact on society and politics. When it comes to the commodity form, the emergence of the Venus symbol happened during the third wave which gave feminists a prominent sign in which they could be recognized by, in addition to profiting off of. The subculture was also ideological because, as previously stated by Garrison, they connected Riot Grrrls to other feminists and women around the world, which promoted their message and what the group stood for. Protests during this wave are also similar to the ones seen today with the cheeky posters and feminist signage. In the end, it’s these protests that bridge the gap between the two forms of subcultures and allow for the effectiveness of the third wave.

Notably, the third wave was led by feminists who took charge of their life, weren’t afraid to go against the status quo, and this wave of feminism broke out of the hegemonic white feminism that had dominated society up until this point. These themes translate over into

Disney’s third era of princess, the last defined group of movies. The ladies in this era include the DISNEY & FEMINISM 13 intersection of Pocahontas and Mulan, in addition to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog

(2009), Rapunzel from Tangled (2010), and Merida from Brave (2012). These main characters possess a side to them that’s stubborn; they have a specific goal set in mind and they don’t care what it takes to achieve it. All of the princesses have strong convictions and, for the first time, they are the hero of their own story. Mulan hails from China while Pocahontas is a Native

American that represents the Powhatan tribe, and Tiana is Disney’s first Black princess who grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ever-present romantic narrative still finds its way in each story line but, in these movies, the princess is the one who does all of the saving.

In her film, Pocahontas has been placed in an arranged marriage by her father to

Kocoum, the tribe’s bravest and most agile warrior. She refuses to follow the norms of her culture and ends up falling in love with an Englishmen who originally came to her land with the intention to dig for gold. A battle breaks out between the two groups and it’s up to Pocahontas to restore the peace, saving the life of Smith and her father in the process. The most well-known song in the movie, “Just Around the Riverbend” details the internal conflict Pocahontas feels when faced with the choice to obey her father, or take a path of her own choosing filled with adventure and new experiences. She sings, “Should I choose the smoothest course steady as the beating drum? Should I marry Kocoum? Is all my dreaming at an end? Or do you still wait for me, dream giver, just around the river bend?” The narrative of dreaming and true love stays consistent in this film as with the other eras, however, the roles have been reversed where the princess rescues the man.

Mulan’s character stands in stark contrast to any princess before her time because of her incredible bravery and heroism. The Huns have just taken over China by breaching the Great

Wall and all men are called to go to war. Mulan recognizes that her father is aging and his health DISNEY & FEMINISM 14 is declining so she disguises herself as a man and goes off to battle in his place. Many stereotypical gender roles can be seen throughout the film and these sentiments are emphasized through the songs. In “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” Captain Li Shang is preparing his army of

“men” to go off to war. In his song, he describes what it takes to be a man such as being “swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, and with all the strength of a raging fire.”

It’s here that Mulan breaks all expectations by fighting in her father’s place, learns the skills she needs to lead the army, and ultimately wins the battle to save all of China.

Even though Jasmine was the first Disney princess of color introduced to the world,

Pocahontas and Mulan expanded upon this racial representation which led to the creation of

Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess. Tiana officially begins the third era and continues to uphold the racial diversity and bold character traits that began before her. She grew up in the heart of

New Orleans and has worked hard every day of her life to save enough money to open up her own upscale restaurant. In her song “Almost There,” Tiana describes all the work she’s put in to make a living for herself by saying, “This whole town can slow you down, people takin' the easy way. But I know exactly where I am going, getting closer 'n closer every day. And I am almost there I'm almost there, people down here think I'm crazy but I don't care.” Ever since the creation of Snow White, the princesses have become more progressive and independent often times baffling the people in their movies with their hard work and determination.

The establishment of these hardworking ethnic characters was a major milestone for the company which lacked any diversity up until this point. While it was a step in the right direction, it did garner its fair share of compliments and critiques. Many critics claimed that Disney white washed the characters leaving out important details to each princess’s respective culture such as skin that could have been darker, hair that could have been curlier, etc. With that in mind, other DISNEY & FEMINISM 15 responses to the characters and their movies included praises to the company for creating princesses that children of different cultures and colors could look up to.

Researcher Ytasha Womack takes a deeper look into the importance of Black representation. In her article Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-fi and Fantasy Culture,

Womack (2013) writes about the blatant exclusion of people of color in sci-fi/fantasy media, and details what she is doing to combat the problem. Representation, or lack thereof, has always been an issue, but Womack and other scholars are taking stride in a new and emergent genre:

Afrofuturism. Afrofuturism is a type of science fiction that features people of color as the main characters. This genre covers all types of media such as movies, comics, novels, etc. Womack has taken a part in the movement first-hand by creating her own multimedia series featuring dark-skinned “rebel strategist” Ralya Illmatic. She also talks about other creations/events that are emerging with the sole purpose of being more inclusive of black people (the black geek community, cosplay, online listservs, etc.).

Womack advocates for Afrofuturism because of the effects it has on people of color. She gives an example of one student feeling disheartened because she wanted to create a love story centered around two Black main characters but felt as if she couldn’t do so because of America’s extensive past of racism. Womack advised her to think about the future; the future hasn’t happened yet and no one can dictate who is represented and what they can/cannot do. This in and of itself has inspired a multitude of black people to create a whole new future, and even new worlds, where they are the ones leading the way.

Disney has a major cosplay community and the creation of Pocahontas, Mulan, and

Tiana, has only expanded all of the different types of people who feel represented and are more eager to participate. Many people who actively participate in what’s known as Disneybounding. DISNEY & FEMINISM 16

Disneybounding is the company’s own form of cosplay in which, instead of wearing full-on costumes as cosplayers do, Disneybounders dress up in stylish, everyday outfits (known as

Disneybounds) that are simply inspired by a particular character. This type of dress up allows people to participate in the culture when doing everyday activities such as going to work or school.

This form of cosplay has created a subculture that is very different from the Gothic and

Lolita culture in Japan. Gagné (2008) takes an in-depth look at the Gothic/Lolita subculture and begins by stating, “Gothic & Lolita (hereafter, Gothic/Lolita) is a fashion-oriented subculture of young females who wear elaborate, antiquated dresses and aspire toward looking, acting, and speaking like ‘princesses’” (p. 131). When actively participating in the subculture, it becomes part of the person’s lifestyle. What’s typically deemed as “costumes” are their everyday clothes, participants change the way they act to fit into the culture, and they even manipulate the way they speak.

Disneybounding on the other hand, enables the participant to still be their authentic selves while reflecting certain aspects of a character’s design in their outfit. The main difference between the two subcultures is not only how in-depth they consume (or not) a person’s life, but also how they are perceived by the public. In Japan, many men and tourists flock to

Gothic/Lolita hubs to take pictures of the girls and hypersexualize them (Gagné, 2008).

Disneybounding also differs because it allows the participant to blend into society, and it often goes unnoticed that they are even dressed up at all. Even though the differences are apparent, both forms of dress allow the participant to “escape” from themselves and show a different side of them that portrays their interest. Disneybounding allows a way for people to dress up as their DISNEY & FEMINISM 17 favorite Disney princesses while Gothic/Lolita style enables people to become a princess of their own.

Disneybounding originated due to the company’s policy stating that no adults can be in a princess costume at the Disney parks because people may confuse them with the actual park characters. This new culture allows for adults to participate in the cosplay culture, but at a subtler level. With the release of Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana, more people felt represented and they could now dress as a princess that they felt looked like them.

Representation should be of the utmost importance to the company due to its widespread popularity and how many kids are exposed to the Disney princesses. In a research study of 200 preschool children, nearly all of them knew about Disney princesses: 96 percent of girls and 87 percent of boys had consumed some form of princess-centric media (Paquette). In fact, Disney was listed as the strongest, most powerful brand in the world in 2018 (Fuller, n.d.). This third era of princesses provided the world with the cultural diversity it so desperately needed as well as examples of brave, headstrong, independent women.

Rapunzel and Merida compose the other half of the third era and they both continue the message of powerful women throughout their film. Rapunzel was a young princess who was stolen from her castle and spent most of her life living locked away in a tower. Each year her parents, the King and Queen, released paper lanterns in hopes that one day their daughter would return. Not realizing these lanterns were meant for her, Rapunzel annually watched the lights and wanted more than anything to leave her tower to see them in person.

In the song “I’ve Got a Dream,” Rapunzel has just escaped from her tower and sings alongside a group of men detailing their goals and aspirations. She sings, “I've got a dream: I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam. And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower! DISNEY & FEMINISM 18

Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream.” This song appears to pay homage to the first era by placing emphasis on dreaming, but Rapunzel exercises her agency in order to actively make her dreams come true.

Similar to Pocahontas, Merida, in her appropriately named move Brave (2012) was expected to marry a man who proved himself worthy for her hand in marriage. In order to do so, suitors from all over Europe came to shoot a bow and arrow to marry the princess. Whoever shot a bull’s eye won the princess. Merida protested against this marriage and shot for her own hand in marriage ultimately shooting the best arrow out of the whole competition and beating out all of her potential partners. Similarly, Rapunzel finds herself locked in a tower and, in order to escape, she relies on herself to get out of her predicament.

While the third era stands in stark contrast to the ones before, each of these five princesses are still held back by other aspects of femininity, particularly her appearance.

Representation becomes more diverse and inclusive in terms of race, but is highly lacking in body type. Disney princesses are notorious for their slim figures; so much so that researchers have started to look at the effects that the princesses have on a girl’s body image. In a study conducted in 2018, researchers found that the Disney princesses all had an extremely small hip- to-waist ratio; one that was nearly impossible to obtain naturally.

According to Aung and Williams (2018), “The ‘what is beautiful is good’ stereotype relates to the perception that physically attractive individuals possess morally favorable qualities.” Disney implements this ideology into every single one of their films. Each character is designed in a very specific way which includes the beautiful princess who always does what is right, and the evil villain whose traits are far from attractive whether its wrinkly skin, rotten teeth, or bony fingers. DISNEY & FEMINISM 19

When it comes to determining how attractive a woman is, a lot of emphasis is placed on her WHR (Aung & Williams, 2018). In order to determine the WHR, a person needs to measure both the circumference of their waist and hips. The waist measurement is then divided by that of the hip, and the total constitutes the WHR. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), having a WHR over 1.0 may increase the risk of developing conditions that relate to being overweight, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It’s advised for men to have a WHR of

0.95 or lower and women to have 0.8 or lower in order to reduce health risks. The average WHR for women is 0.7.

It’s clear how important of a role WHR plays in determining one’s health, but again, it’s also a significant variable in how attractive someone is perceived. This fact has evolutionary roots showing that women who have lower WHRs signal high reproductive potential and therefore are more attractive to men (Aung & Williams, 2018). Aung and Williams’ (2018) study looks at the WHR of 20 Disney characters either being a princess or a villain. Their research showed that that the princesses have WHRs ranging from 0.309 to 0.689 with Jasmine as the former and Mulan as the latter. These are significantly lower than what is seen in real life. When compared to the WHR of the villains, these numbers are more varied with theirs ranging from

0.473 to 1.293 further proving the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype.

"Disney princesses have extremely small waist-to-hip ratios that are nearly impossible to achieve naturally," writes Aung and Williams (2018). They argue that such characters "might heighten or reinforce our preference for lower waist-to-hip ratios, and the perception that physically attractive individuals with lower waist-to-hip ratios possess morally favorable qualities” (p. 5). Aung and Williams (2018) develop on this idea further stating, “Repeated DISNEY & FEMINISM 20 exposure to lower WHRs, seen in Disney movies, may be a contributing factor for some young women to pursue unhealthy lifestyles to obtain extremely small WHRs” (p. 5).

One trend known as the “Cinderella Challenge” took the internet by storm during 2018 and it gained popularity through the use of social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.

The goal of the challenge was to develop a body with Cinderella-like proportions which included the unnaturally thin WHR. The goal weight of the challenge is calculated by taking a person’s height, converting it to meters, then squaring that number and multiplying the total by 18. For example, the Cinderella weight for a woman that’s 5 feet 11 inches tall would be 128 pounds. In order to achieve this extremely low weight, girls would starve themselves with one teen mentioning how she would only consume 500 calories per day. Starving oneself with the end goal of losing weight has proven to be detrimental to one’s health both physically and mentally with some cases leading to the development of an eating disorder (Tyler, 2018).

Discourse surrounding body image and physical expectations was scarcely in the discourse of the previous three waves of feminism, but the discussion surrounding physical appearance has become so heavily contested within the past decade that it’s one of the defining features that calls for the establishment of a fourth wave of feminism. Researchers have begun to loosely define a fourth wave and this new feminist movement is largely being shaped by social media and the advancement of technology as a whole. Journalist Kristin Sollee writes about six important characteristics of the fourth wave that sets it apart from the previous three. She claims that fourth wave feminism is queer, sex-positive, trans inclusive, anti-misandrist, body-positive, and digitally driven (Sollee, 2015).

The body-positive campaign is a social movement that can attribute its development to the rise of social media. The movement advocates for the acceptance of all body types regardless DISNEY & FEMINISM 21 of shape or size, and calls into question what is considered “beautiful” as well as challenging expectations that have been previously placed on women to look a certain way. It also raises awareness of the harmful aspects of diet culture, calls into attention diversity and representation in ads pertaining to size, and coins the term “fatphobia” while looking at the effects it has on people’s lives. One of the pioneers of the movement, Megan Crabbe, harps on the progress the movement has made. “Accomplishments like brands banishing Photoshop, TV shows casting a wider range of body types, and magazines vowing to stop splashing weight-loss promises on their front covers are small changes in the grand scheme of things, but hopefully are also signs of bigger changes to come” (Malacoff, 2018).

Aerie and Dove are both brands that have played an integral role in the representation of different sizes in the media, and in turn has developed a reputable brand equity with the general public. Many other companies have begun to follow suit with Disney as no exception. Beginning the new fourth era of princesses, the world is introduced to Anna and Elsa in Frozen (2013). The film follows the bond of two sisters who sacrifice their lives in order to ensure the other is safe.

Frozen (2013) became Disney’s most popular film with the movie earning $1.2 billion worldwide making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time (Konnikova, 2017). It also implements fourth wave ideals as it is the first princess film in which the princess’s motives aren’t influenced by a man. With the release of a sequel in November of 2019, rumors are surrounding Queen Elsa claiming that she may defy the heteronormativity imposed in society by having a queen rather than a king. Nothing has been confirmed by Disney, but if they were to make Elsa a queer leading lady, it would further exemplify the characteristics of the fourth wave as well as provide a different type of representation often lacking in mainstream media. DISNEY & FEMINISM 22

Following that, in 2016 Disney released Moana, a feature length film about a Polynesian princess that defies all odds by sailing across the open ocean to save her people from their dying island. Moana carries the same characteristics as the princesses before her, however, there is one important difference that sets her apart from any other before her time: her body. "We wanted her to be an action hero," director John Musker told Buzzfeed. "Even the visual development drawings we had done and stuff, based on drawings of people in the South Pacific...it just seemed right for this character to have her look like she could physically hold her own for what kind of stunts we wanted her to do." According to journalist for Fitness Magazine Faith Brar

(2016), several women were involved in the making of the movie and they all really pushed for her to stand out and be realistically aspirational. Musker states that they wanted Moana to have

"a more realistic body shape and feel like she's not going to be blown over by a strong wind."

There are currently no studies on Moana’s WHR, but from appearance alone, Moana has received unlimited amounts of praise towards her figure as it can be clearly seen her waist is not the same size of her neck. Rivkie Baum, editor of plus size magazine Slink, believes the creation of a princess with a realistic looking body could help Disney’s young viewers learn that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Baum claims, “This is an exciting step forward in helping very young girls to see that bodies come in more than one size and a leader doesn’t have to be size 0 to succeed” (Moss, 2016).

Since the creation of the first princess in 1937, Disney has made leaps and bounds in terms of representation. Over time, the company’s films have become more diverse including characters of different colors and now sizes. Each princess has become more bold and independent than the last and this phenomenon can be directly tied to the progress millions of feminists have made over the years in redefining femininity and what it means to “be a woman” DISNEY & FEMINISM 23 through the multiple waves of feminism. While there are currently only three defined eras of princesses, Disney finds itself in the midst of a fourth and, if done correctly, the company has the power to accurately reflect today’s current political climate of empowering women as well as having a more positive effect on girls and providing them with a wide variety of positive role models that look beautiful and real, just like them.

DISNEY & FEMINISM 24

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