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Faith Orlandi
Professor Beadle
English 115
27 October 2016

The Modern Day Princess Society

Once upon a time, there was a shy, beautiful young girl, who lived a life different from
the rest. Brought into a family of royalty, a princess has challenging expectations and
requirements, following the rules to the system of femininity. Thus, placing the choices and role
of a princess at greatly admired and influential status. A Disney Princess, from the start of most
stories, has a life different from the kingdom in which they live for many different reasons. That
is, rules, safety, royalty, etc. Not only do they share those characteristics, but the same flawless
appearance and elegant, helpless personalities they carry. However, the modern day Disney
princesses are looking past the perfect princess image, and lowering the standards of what seem
like unrealistic expectations. With this change, the future generations of young girls will have a
set of strong, adventurous, independent role models to look up to. These modern day princesses
that are presented in this visual stand with strong posture, grim unkempt looks, with weapons
and powers challenging the typical image of a princess lifestyle. Through many of their choices
and actions these few test the limits of these so-called gender-norms of a girl, directing the
world to follow a more gender-neutral path.
With a modest and noticeable progression over many years, the typical theme of princess
movies has shifted its main focus from finding true love to development one's self character. This
more improved generation of Disney Princesses have presented the world with a new group of
young girls from royalty, but add a touch of reality. In other words, they boost the idea of the

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more important aspects of life rather than just endlessly searching for their prince charming. For
instance, Frozen, the most recent Disney Princess movie, shatters all previous of gender role
limitations by incorporating two strong female leads, Princess Anna and Queen Elsa. Following
the adventures of Anna as she selflessly goes off in search of her sister, Frozen centers around
the idea of family, (Garabedian). Another improvement is from the original story of Rapunzel
from the 1950s, in which the young girl would sit in her tower and weep helplessly until one day
a Prince came to her rescue and she willingly fled with him. Whereas the 2010 version, Tangled,
tells the story of an evanescent teen who doesnt want to be imprisoned in her towerand
longs to go on an adventure to see the lights of Corona, as well as fight the man who helps her
achieve this dream (Garabedian). For young viewers, this sets an example of inner/outer strength
and independence rather than allowing girls to think they need to succumb to a male for the sake
of his masculinity. Creating this kind of mindset and pathway for children at a young age is
important due to the fact that, children five to seven years old understand gender as a function
of role rather than as a function of anatomy, (Devor 37). To put differently, children follow by
example of actions presented by others rather than applying proper actions to the correct gender
system. For this reason, it is necessary to teach the youth that all activities performed in life are
gender neutral. Introducing this generation of adolescents to good examples from strong role
models will contribute to the growth of a more accepting and equal society. After all, there is no
better example to follow than the role of a princess.
Not only did this generation of princesses take a turn from damsel in distress to the
heroine, their traits and appearances became much more realistic and rounded. Merida, from
Disneys Pixar Brave (2012), is the most recent princess to portray mainly masculine traits and
the unkempt tomboy look while still being a girl of royalty. Meridas heroism is why Brave

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signifies a turning point for Disney, (Garabedian). While still having the feminine appearance of
a petite body and pale fair skin along with domestic traits, Merida makes it very well known she
does not care for the princess lifestyle. Merida wants to be free and live her own life. Shes a
careless, independent young girl who craves adventure and lets her curiosity lead the way. This
idea opens the mind of girls and stops the pressure on [them] to look right, and teaches them
to do what feels right (Hubbard 48). Merida despite her messy hair and love for wilderness also
has one talent that shocked many viewers. She would train on her own and with her father
developing a hobby with an athletic skill of shooting a crossbow and arrow. Merida, having a
vast amount of self-value, believed that not only she, but also what she had to offer was too good
for any man. Leading up to the event in which she interrupts the competition for her hand in
marriage, winning over all the men for her own hand. Following her beliefs rather than the
expectations of the kingdom and her own family serves as a powerful lesson of inner strength
and the importance of self-value. Meridas influence on showing inner strength provides the
youth with a message that is ignored in life. This bold example from a princess allows the
younger generations to begin building their self-confidence at a young age, structuring a better
future for themselves and upcoming generations.
Even though some people might say the behavior of these new princesses portray a
rebellious example, these new Disney Princesses go against the traditional depictions of women.
Since testing the limits of gender and slight adjustments are labeled as inappropriate gender role
behaviors, young girls prevent themselves from expressing these so-called masculine traits
(Devor 39). According to Mcbride, gendered behavior can become problematic if girls avoid
important learning experiences that aren't perceived as feminine, and limit the freedom to
express who they truly are. However, when young girls see princesses display similar situations

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to their everyday life, and accept the traits usually seen as flaws it contributes to the growth of
their self-confidence. These teachings will direct the focus of trying to have no flaw to working
on fixing or accepting those particular traits, empowering and building the mind in a positive
manner. With a growth in self-confidence, young girls will be willing to broaden their interests
and try new things developing their skills through the opportunity of new experiences and
challenges. Personality characteristics, feelings, motivations, and ambitions flow from these
different life experiences, and visuals allowing adolescents to grow to their full potential
(Lorber 21).
With this new outlook presented by the modern day princesses, children will be able to
recognize earlier on that it is okay to be who you are. This progression will guide young girls to
love themselves first before throwing their love at the first man they believe is the one. Parents
will grow to realize that encouraging the youth to be accepting and allowing of more genderneutral activities begins with a good role model. With this change of act in the princess society,
the developing generations will have a stronger grasp and much more acceptance of the
participation in the growth of gender-neutral roles. With activities becoming more availible to
both sexs, mixed interactions generate a new level of variety in society drifting expectations
away from these traditional gender portrayals. Young girls will have more freedom to do what
they please in the world without the weight of having to follow the strict feminine expectations
of society. The performance of masculine acts and challenging the abilities of oneself presented
by a not only a female, but a princess, opens a door to a more equal environment and therefore
positively change the views of the youth and future.

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Works Cited

Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender.

Composing Gender, edited by John E. Sullivan III, Bedford St. Martins, Leasa Burton,
2014, pp. 35-43

Fanpop, Inc. "The Four Disney Seasons Video: Disney Four Seasons: Choose Your Destiny."
Disney Four Seasons: Choose Your Destiny. N.p., 15 June 2015. Web. 03 Nov.
2016.

Garabedian, Juliana. Animating Gender Roles: How Disney is Rede ning the Modern Princess.
James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal. 2.1 (2014): pp. 22-25. Web.
http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=jmurj

Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Composing Gender, edited by John E.

Sullivan III, Bedford St. Martins, Leasa Burton, 2014, pp. 46-52

Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing
Gender, edited by John E. Sullivan III, Bedford St. Martins, Leasa Burton, 2014, pp. 1930

McBride, Jon. Study Finds Disney Princess Culture Magnifies Stereotypes in Young Girls.
Study Finds Disney Princess Culture Magnifies Stereotypes in Young Girls, Brigh Young
University, 20 June 2016, phys.org/news/2016-06-disney-princess-culture-

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magnifiesstereotypes.html.