The Evolution of the Disney Princesses: Our Once-Flawed Role Models

This paper dives into Disney's problematic approach towards portrayal of women's role in society, lack of realistic body representation, and the trivialization of merchandising. The research and analysis elaborated upon in this paper is based off of three old and three new Disney princess films, which highlighted the differences in the portrayal of the characters across all categories depending on the time period their film was released. The sociopolitical contexts of each of the periods surrounding the film releases of the six films were relevant to the content of the film and the woman's role in society. Besides the overuse of the belittling Damsel in Distress archetype, there are still hints of misogyny and fake "wokeness" that are sewed into the fabric of these films, which impacts audiences of impressionable children around the world who are more susceptible to these stereotypes.