In the late 80s and early 90s, the second wave of Princess produced by Disney includes: Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Mulan, and Pocahontas. With the creation of the second wave princess, Disney claimed their company wanted to deviate from the passive and submissive depiction of the first wave princess and instead portray a better role model for young viewers. In an attempt to create a new princess, Disney assigned the female protagonists a new set of personality traits. Instead of submission, these heroines demonstrate assertiveness, a desire for exploration, and a need for independence. However, these new characteristics did not change the sexist messages continually sent to Disney audiences. There had been changes made but were these changes for the better? Research suggests no, still remaining were archetypal, traditional, and sexist depictions of gender.
The second wave of princess does not sit and sing as she waits for her prince to come, and yes there is some progress in the roles women are allowed to play. For example, Ariel wishes to escape her father and explore the human world, Belle yearns to escape the prison of her small town, Mulan impersonates a man and joins the Chinese army, and Pocahontas navigates the wilderness by herself with no fear. However, one stereotype is merely replaced with another. Pacifism is replaced with the self sacrificing daughter troupe, with the end goal of pleasing their father. Any independence previously established crumples under the male gaze and the ending? These happily ever afters mark the shift from accepting any prince to accepting the right prince, still our heroines are unable to lead independent lives as their happily ever after.
In The Little Mermaid, we see Ariel depict the “daddy’s little girl” motif perfectly. Delivering the final line “I love you daddy”, her happily ever after comes only after her father approves of her marriage, ending her adventurous streak and once again placing her back in her assigned role. Ariel sacrifices her voice so as to attract the attention of Prince Eric, thus trading her ability to connect intellectually to connect sexually, with human legs as a sex symbol. (Maity 30)¹. Ursela tells her that she has both her looks and pretty face to win him over, and not to forget the importance of “body language”, suggesting that women serve the purpose to be seen, not heard.
Mulan and Belle both sacrifice themselves to help their weakened fathers. Mulan dresses as a man to serve in the Chinese army in her fathers place and Belle replaces her father as the prisoner of the beast. Both are seen as outcasts in society due to their strong spirit and unwillingness to fit into the traditional mold for women in that period. Mulan is rejected from the matchmaker after displaying inappropriate behavior for a woman. I.e. speaking out of turn and the inability to host and serve others (pouring the tea). Belle is the town outcast, as the townspeople sing she is “a beauty but a funny girl”, they think she is odd because she chooses to read and educate herself instead of marrying the town alpha male, Gaston. Though Mulan has become a successful warrior, her true happiness comes with the satisfaction of her father and romance with an alpha male. (Maity 30)¹. Belle’s strong spirit is merely used in the plot to rescue her father and the beast from the prisons they were trapped in, in the end her desire to explore is doused as her character arc finally ends in marriage and the fulfillment of the males around her.
Gender Inequality in Disney Films 