By Kimmy Claussen Posted March 2, 2016
Most young girls are introduced to the classic Disney Princesses at a very young age. Most of the Disney Princess movies are shown to young girls to teach morals that they will use in everyday life as they get older. But one thing that parents may not realize is that the unrealistic body types and the “happily ever after” stereotypes may be damaging their young daughters into an unrealistic and possibly unhealthy future lifestyle.
First, the body types of these Disney Princesses are extremely repetitive and can make younger girls self-conscious if they don’t have that body type. Every single classic princess seems to have big eyes, a tiny nose, a little waist, little feet, and nice hair. Seeing this image of “perfection” on a screen in front of young girls repetitively all the time can be extremely damaging. Not all girls will grow up to even remotely look like the princesses they see, and that can cause major body image issues, even at such a young age. Princesses are role models to young girls for the most part. So instead of creating the same princesses over and over again with remotely different appearances, Disney needs to create more of a variety with body image. Maybe then young girls will be able to relate more to them on physicality and have them create a stronger connection to the characters they look up to.
Second, the princess stories give extremely unrealistic life and love goals to young girls. Take Cinderella for example. She came from nothing and desperately wanted to go to some ball, and then all of a sudden a fairy godmother gave her everything she wanted with a snap of the fingers. Of course, the prince she meets along the way just happens to fall in love with her within about five seconds and spends a few days looking for his long-lost love of five minutes and finds her obviously, they live happily ever after, but in most cases in reality, that’s not even remotely close to how it works. Disney never really shows the downsides and negative parts of a relationship, and that can be extremely harmful to young girls. Without disagreement, or any other sort of relationship issue with Disney couples, it could lead young girls to believe in an extremely unrealistic “perfect” relationship in the future.
Considering this is a very controversial topic there is a lot of research currently being done. There are many trends going on with different research.
Sarah Coyne, BYU Professor in School and Family Life conducted a research project on how Disney Princesses affect young girls. Although there were both positive and negative outlooks according to the children she studied she did give this piece of information to people who care for young girls.
“‘I would say watch princess shows in moderation— like not more than once a week. It is important that parents discuss the content with their daughters, and this should also help mediate some of the negative effects,’ Coyne said.” (Bailey Kennedy, http://universe.byu.edu/)
As older teens, some even adults, make sure to protect and educate young girls on the unrealistic expectations that Disney Princesses set, make sure to be completely aware of the negative affects they could have on young girls, and be sure to properly educate them on those things without taking the magic away completely.
