I will be the first to say that Disney (and a few choice non-Disney cartoons) corrupted me as a child. It just did not corrupt me in the ways that you might think. Yes, during the last few years I have mixed copious amounts of wine and Disney and in doing so have had some of the most fun experiences of my life (I’m pretty tame, if you haven’t figured that out). But in all seriousness, Disney taught me important life lessons, some of which I have only recently begun to understand.
The women of Disney taught me how to think for myself. They instilled a deep-seated need to want and to expect more out of life, while telling me that I would only be able to fulfill these expectations by going out and creating my own adventures.
Perhaps the earlier princesses waited around for their princes to come sweep them off their feet, but the women who were my first role models—Jasmine, Megara, Ariel, and especially Belle, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Esmeralda, and non-Disney heroines like Kayley, Anastasia, and Odette—fought for what they wanted; never mind that a few of them “sold their souls” in the process.
These women taught me how to dream. To this day I say that I want to be a princess; as a child, it absolutely never occurred to me that princesses were only princesses and nothing more. My childhood dream was to be a princess…and a dentist; a princess…and a hair stylist; a princess…and an archaeologist; a princess...and an OB-GYN. I learned from an early age that anything was possible and that the world was my oyster, and if I wanted to go just around the riverbend, then so be it!
These heroines were not just princesses. Ariel was an actress and a singer. Megara was a damsel in distress, but she could handle it. Odette was transformed into a swan and held captive in an enchanted lake, but managed to orchestrate her own escape with the help of her clever frog, turtle, and puffin friends. Esmeralda, besides being a beautiful gypsy temptress, was a respected leader in her community and was probably the most self-reliant and sexualized woman my five year old brain had ever encountered by then. Anastasia was a street-wise ruffian who wanted nothing more than to know her past so she could realize her future. Pocahontas, Kayley, and Mulan were adventurers, setting their own rules, fighting for what they believed in and for the forces of good; Kayley and Mulan were both knighted at the end! And Belle. Belle was my idol, the woman I wanted to be (I still want her library). Belle taught me that reading did not make a person strange; if anything, reading could help you find your prince, your best friends, and your adventures by expanding your horizons and enabling you to realize that everyone and everything has a story, you just have to delve deep to find and understand it.
Even the women who were not as well-developed character-wise were able to see beyond themselves and take in the bigger picture. Encumbered by family values and social, cultural, and gender-related restraints, they proved how powerful women can be. They knew that the world beyond their line of sight held more potential than they could ever imagine, and they took it upon themselves to reach as high and as far as they could, and then reach a little bit further.
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