Anna and Elsa, the most recent obsessions of children worldwide, have endearing personalities that catch the adoration of the movie's older audiences. For the younger viewers, it's all about the pretty hair and sparkly dresses. It's difficult for young girls like Sophie, who oftentimes refers to herself as a princess, to believe that real people, even royalty, don't look like the characters on the screen. This truth became evident to me the day that Sophie told me something deeply troubling.
"I Wish I looked like Elsa."
I was appalled. I didn't know what to say to correct such a twisted desire. I don't remember the exact words I said to diffuse the aura of shock that hung over my head, but it must have been something like "that's silly! If you looked like Elsa, you would be a cartoon!" The giddy five year old laughed at my words and turned back to the hectic happenings inside her doll house, but what she said just a minute before stuck with me for a while. It got me thinking about how women are presented in the media to young girls, and how these portrayals can effect such pliable minds. Characters like Anna, Elsa, Ariel, Cinderella, and the rest of Disney's princesses are unrealistic molds for any woman to fit. Their disproportional waists, unnaturally large eyes, and other "perfect" features are simply unattainable for any human being. It is a great misfortune that movies loved by little girls like Sophie can condition in them false ideas of what beauty looks like.
So what can we do to prevent the princess effect on little girls? Nothing much. Disney and others like it will continue to present us with characters that are visually appealing rather than realistic. However, we can work to combat the harmful effects of the standards of beauty forced onto girls by unrealistic animated characters. We need to show girls that there is more to being a woman than physical beauty. The determination of Helen Keller, charisma of Hillary Clinton, and courage of Eleanor Roosevelt are all qualities to strive for, and that is what we should be teaching our children. Real-life role models, rather than works of fiction, should be used to teach little girls like Sophie what it means to be a woman.
As a 19 year Disney enthusiast, it is difficult for me to write these words. Princesses were a staple of my childhood, and although I don’t personally feel the deeper effect their films had on me, I can see them poisoning the body images of the children I work with. We are entering an era where elementary school girls are putting themselves on diets, teenagers are reduced to skeletons by anorexia, and college students are more concerned by their bodies than their grades. This cycle can stop, but only if we learn to view what is on TV with a critical eye. Disney should still be praised for its songs, music, and animations. However, we need to mix in some reality with the pixie dust if we are to save our nation's girls.
