Disney Princesses Effed Up My Love Life

August 19, 2008     Posted in HaHa, Sex

disney-princesses.jpg


By S.E.

Let’s get one thing straight; I am absolutely obsessed with Disney movies. But as much as I love watching them, the princesses walking around those movies always manage to make me feel terrible about my love life. They create unrealistic expectations about love and relationships all while maintaining a search for ‘happily ever after’.

So how does one attain this happily ever after? According to a Disney princess, by finding love! And how does one find love? With a song and dance, of course!

Gone are the days where meaningful conversation and actual chemistry are needed for a relationship, Disney princesses show that chiseled features and a great singing voice are all a girl really needs. Beauty and the Beast seems to be one exception as the Beast definitely ain’t no looker but Belle likes him anyway. The only downside to this love affair is that the Beast is holding Belle captive in order to make her fall in love with him so he can turn handsome again.

Ariel, in The Little Mermaid, has yet to speak to her man before claiming her love for him. She defies her father, runs away from home, and makes a deal with an evil sorceress to give up her voice, all in hopes of meeting this guy. But lo and behold, Ariel and the prince do meet and by the end of the movie they have fallen in love and are ready to live happily ever after. Maybe it was all the stimulating conversation the two had together that attracted him to her. Or the great pair of legs she traded her voice for.

Another idea that Disney princesses seem to instill upon us is that one day Prince Charming will just show up and make our lives better. But in the meantime we should probably be sitting around waiting for him. Look at Cinderella, for instance. Instead of telling her step-sisters to ‘f*ck off’ and then leaving the household to find a real job and house to support herself, she lets herself be treated like a slave to her step-mother’s whims. She is only let off the hook from this life when Prince Charming shows up and whisks her away to his castle. She doesn’t know him that well, but he has a ton of money and power, so I guess that equals out to a happily every after.

Instead of the cookie-cutter Disney Prince Charming, I’d rather go out and find a man with flaws. To me, that perfect Disney prince sounds boring. Every relationship needs a little disagreement and meaningful conversation, not just physical attraction. I think a relationship can have a happily ever after, but only if you’re realistic about it.

No guy is ever going to act perfect all the time like Prince Charming, nor are you always going to look flawless like Cinderella, but with the right amount of time and commitment, you two can make your own happily ever after. And If a guy still loves me even when I wake up looking like the Beast, that’s my idea of a Prince Charming.

What do you guys think? Do any of our relationships really turn into happily ever afters, or has the idea just effed us up when it comes to dating?

17 Comments on "Disney Princesses Effed Up My Love Life"

  1. Lily says:
    Tue, 19th Aug 200811:03 am 

    As a fellow Disney lover, I understand where you're coming from. However, I think that it's important to look at Disney's target audience (children) and also the kind of simplicity that appears in most fairy tales. It's nice to find individualistic women who can stand on their own, but that would be a different movie you would be seeking. Disney is simply following an age-old plot (damsel-in-distress falling in love) in an attempt to appeal to and entertain their audience.

    I don't think they're trying to make a definitive statement to girls about the type of woman they should be. It takes the viewer to be able to watch the film and be able to understand that the cute cookie-cutter romances that Disney creates are not even close to reality.

    Plus, have you seen Mulan? Pocahontas? :)

  2. Jen says:
    Tue, 19th Aug 200811:17 am 

    I think Beauty and the Beast is an awesome exception to the group of Disney princess movies. Yes, Belle is being held captive by the beast, so I suppose that she could be viewed as a Damsel in Distress. However, she refused an offer for marriage from that rich and really hot guy Gaston, because she knew she deserved better (and that he was a total douche). Plus, the only reason she got stuck in the castle is she sacrificed herself to save her father out of a selfless act of love. Then, she falls in love with a freakin hideous beast, because he had a sweet personality. Belle is just the sh*t.

  3. J - NYU says:
    Tue, 19th Aug 200811:30 am 

    I always thought Gaston was kind of hot, but had way too many muscles.

    Dude needed to cut back on the 'roids.

  4. Magnolia says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20081:02 am 

    Most of the classic Disney movies were made over 50 years ago. Some of the fairy tales they were adapted from, such as Cinderella, date back hundreds of years to the most popular version and even 2000 years to the first known version. There's a lot more going on in these stories than whether or not the prince & princess should end up together.

    Cinderella is a revenge fantasy and a morality tale – be a good earnest little girl and follow orders, and some day all your hard work and suffering will pay off. Guess what, in real life if you act like that you'll trade abusive parents for an abusive husband and wind up married to a wife beater.

    Be strong, have self esteem, protect and trust your friends, do the right thing always. If you are a quality woman you won't have any trouble attracting a quality man when you're ready to find one.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella

  5. Marco says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20081:14 am 

    Guys are starting to figure out the whole Disney thing is a scam too. Check out Neil Strauss's books. There's a whole community developing around teaching guys that the way to get quality girls interested in you isn't all just looks and money. It's being a real man with his act together, who takes care of himself and his loved ones.

    Don't worry about what the rest of society is doing. Being still into Disney Princesses when you're over 15 is like being a guy who plays video games all day. Lots of people do it but not the ones everybody admires and wants to be with. A real relationship will always be hard work sometimes, but yes of course you can find true love. Be the best person you can be and demand the same from those around you.

  6. AJ says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20087:58 am 

    Haha, I totally wrote almost this same blog a while back. Mostly though, it created unrealistic expectations for my hair. As long as I live, it will never look that amazing unless there's a wig involved.

  7. Lauren, University o says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20089:57 am 

    J – He's not using 'roids. He's eating all those eggs!

  8. giz says:
    Wed, 20th Aug 20088:53 pm 

    I love Belle too; she is intelligent, and reads even when people find her odd for doing it so often! Plus, she's a self made princess; she wasn't born into a life of luxury! :)

  9. Jess says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20085:54 am 

    I think there are definteley some unrealistic Disney heroines, but Belle, Jasmine, Mulan…I think they are all pretty strong-willed. Belle was my favorite growing up since she was such a reader and she sacrificed so much for her father, but nowadays I feel as if I relate much more towards Jasmine. Her yearning for adventure and seeing the world…and when Aladdin was in disguise and she called him out for lying he totally blew it until the end.

  10. Crunchy says:
    Thu, 21st Aug 20089:13 am 

    I guess if I were a girl I could see how Disney movies would present a pretty backwards sense of women's values and purpose. Lord knows I tried to mimic Aladdin one too many times for my own benefit.

    http://www.digitalfuntown.com/showpage.php?showid…

  11. Bridge says:
    Sat, 20th Sep 200810:09 pm 

    Yeah, sadly fairly tales have given me a false hope an idolization that will most likely never happen.

  12. Dana says:
    Sun, 2nd Nov 20086:17 pm 

    Beauty and the Beast was an ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP between Belle and the Beast.

    Come on, people. Are you really that stupid to think it's sending a good message?!!

  13. paws says:
    Mon, 10th Nov 200810:10 am 

    I always felt bad for the villains who were perfectly good men with a tragic flaw or two. Take Frollo. Ok, he's not hot (to everyone ;) and he's a jealous racist with issues. But on the other hand, he's a Catholic priest with a big black horse and he really truly wants the girl… despite himself. And unlike Phoebus he actually exhibits evidence of more than the mere presence of air between his ears.

    Or Gaston! Gaston and the beast are exactly the same to begin with – except Gaston only throws books into mud puddles to get Belle's attention, while the beast locks her daddy up (for trespassing; to get HER attention he locks HER up.) Hey, I don't like mud on my books either, but I would definately have gone for Gaston.

    OK so I am biased, I had a crush on Gaston as a kid, but it doesn't cahnge the facts. Belle and the beast is a seriouos Stockholm syndrome pairing.

  14. Katie says:
    Fri, 6th Nov 20097:12 pm 

    Well, the thing is, Walt Disney created these with the goal in mind that everybody could have the happy ending. All of those princesses wanted the guys of their dreams, and thats what they got. You want a guy with flaws. Thats the guy of your dreams. And these women are kind because they obviously want to set a great example for everybody. A lot of people are rude and demanding. But really, if you want people to like you, you want to show kindness to everybody. And plus, thats what Jesus Christ wants us to do.

  15. Lauren says:
    Thu, 13th May 20109:58 am 

    Well, you do have a valid point. But really when it comes down to it they're only children stories directed at CHILDREN, and if you really dissect them than the message is not one that would make life harder on anyone really.

    Cinderella- She worked her butt off and in the end all her hard work paid off.

    Snow White- Even when things got bad you can always count on your best friends (the seven dwarves)

    Ariel- If you want something you gotta be determined to get it. And in the end she did, and by going about it the "good" way.

    Mulan- She risked her life for her father. Enough said.

    Belle- Did the same as Mulan AND showed looks are only skin-deep, there's more to love than that.

    Jasmine- Follow your dreams no matter what you're expected to do.

    Pocahantus- Risking her life for peace.

    So really, if you take the general message of all these movies into account, you'll basically become the model citizen.

  16. trey says:
    Fri, 16th Sep 20114:58 pm 

    the beast releases belle and she comes back on her own accord to save him. now how is that abusive. also I love disney and don't like it when people bash it. DIsney is a good place and has a lot of good stories. would u rather we tell the real story of the little mermaid or hercules or would u rather have Disney's version. I will say I don't the the prince of snow white because he looks like a wimp and doesn't fight to save Snow White. the dwarfs save her and then he waltzes in and steals her away from them.

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