Disney princesses have been around for a long time. In fact, Disney's very first "full movie" was none other than the 1938 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, times have obviously changed since the 1930s. Back then, all women were really expected to do was cook, look after the children, and keep house. So, naturally, that's how most films portrayed them. Disney princesses in particular were often shown as naive and completely incompetent when it came to caring for themselves. Luckily, with changing times comes changing films. These days, the expectations for women are far higher. Women now have the chance to go to college, start businesses, study medicine, play sports, and do all kinds of other things that they wouldn't have dreamed of being able to do 50 years ago. Of course, Disney realized that its traditional princess films weren't going to work in this new "feminist era", and therefore they had to up their game by creating new princesses that were diverse and had ambitions of their own. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the evolution of Disney princesses throughout history.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-1938

Main character: Snow White

Feminist rating:1/10

Snow White is, in virtually every way, a stereotypical Disney princess. She serves very little purpose in the film besides getting rescued. Throughout the whole film, she is dependent on men to take care of her and keep her alive. Snow White spends her days cooking and cleaning for the dwarfs while they slave away in the mines. She is ditzy, clueless, naive, and has literally no vaguely empowering traits. At the end of the movie, the prince kisses her to bring her back to life. The fact that she literally depends on a man to stay alive is definitely not the kind of content modern-day feminists are looking for. If you're looking for literally any kind of character development whatsoever, stay away from this film-and this character in general.

Cinderella-1950

Main character: Cinderella

Feminist rating: 3/10

Cinderella, the second major Disney princess film, is only slightly better feminist-wise than its first. Cinderella spends the majority of the film fretting over whether or not she'll be able to go to the ball to dance with the prince-which appears to be her only objective in life. Ultimately, she does go against her stepmother and sneaks out to the ball, which does earn her a couple of extra points. However, considering that Cinderella's only life goal is to get married, she really doesn't deserve a rating that's any higher.

The Little Mermaid-1989

Main character: Arial

Feminist rating: 5/10

Now, let's skip ahead a few movies to The Little Mermaid. It was made in the 1980s, so the princess will naturally be a lot more empowering, right? Well, only sort of. At the start of the movie, Arial actually comes off looking pretty good feminism-wise. She is rebellious, adventurous, and stubborn. She refuses to be held down by her fathers rules. Instead of attending singing practice like her sisters, she spends her days collecting stray "human objects", exploring old pirate ships, and even venturing to the surface to look for humans. She even rescues a prince from a shipwreck. Arial didn't get rated higher for a few reasons. Number one, she trades her voice for human legs so she can walk and hopefully attract the attention of the human prince, who she develops a crush on. Obviously, no woman should feel obligated to change themselves for a man, so that brings the character down a few points. Also, at the end, Arial ends up abandoning everything and so she can marry the prince that she barely knows. She leaves behind everything-her family, her friends, her life. Clearly this is not a good message to send to young girls, so she definitely is getting points deducted for that as well.

Beauty and the Beast-1991

Main character: Belle

Feminist rating: 7.5/10

Beauty and the Beast, the tale as old as time. Or, at least, as old as 1991. Right from the start, it's obvious that Belle, the main character, isn't your average Disney princess. While many of the Disney princesses are displayed as naive, clueless, and even unintelligent, Belle is the complete opposite. She spends nearly all her free time reading, automatically making her an outcast in her small, mostly illiterate town. Also unlike the other Disney princesses before her, Belle's main objective in life isn't to find herself a handsome guy to marry. In fact, when Gaston, the "hero" of the village and the object of affection for many young women, proposes to her, she quickly rejects him and shoves him out the door. For this move, Belle definitely earns some points. Belle also sings about wanting to do more than just marry off and continue to live life in a small town. Instead, she wants to go on adventures and experience the world firsthand. Belle also shows bravery in difficult situations. When her father is taken prisoner by the Beast, she is quick to take his place. The reason why Belle did not score higher is because of how quickly she was to fall in love with the Beast. Although it may have been "true love" in her eyes, falling in love with your captor is usually not the way to go. At the end of the film, the Beast turns back into a human, and the two get married. However, she seems awfully quick to trust the man (or beast) that captured her father and ultimately held her hostage. So, while Belle is a pretty good role model in general, this one major downfall is why she wasn't ranked higher.

Luckily, times have changed, and there are new princess films with new characters that are definitely more up-to-date. Little by little, Disney princesses are becoming the role models we expect for 21st century girls.

Move title: Brave, 2010

Main character: Merida

Feminist rating: 10/10

You can't watch Brave and deny that the main character, Merida, isn't pretty cool. Unlike the other Disney princesses before her, Merida does not fit into the royal atmosphere that she has been born into. Instead, she is tomboyish, daring, and adventurous. Merida fights with a bow and area and loves riding her horse in the woods, things that "typical" princesses are not expected to do. This is something that her mother struggles to deal with, leading to conflict between the two. Merida is, as the title suggests, brave. She is also kind, determined, and, of course, imperfect, the most notable mistake being when she tries to get her mother to change her mind about how Merida must live her life by giving her mother a potion that turns her into a bear. But everyone messes up sometimes, and these flaws only make her seem more human. Merida also, unlike the other Disney princesses, shows 0 interest in getting married. When some princes from neighboring kingdoms are trying to impress Meirda with their various physical "skills", she crushes them all in an archery contest and refuses to marry any of them. So that definitely earned her some points in my book!

Movie title: Frozen, 2013

Main character(s): Ana and Else

Feminist rating:

Ana-8

Elsa-10

Frozen is probably one of the most popular Disney films of all times. It stars Elsa, who has magical icy powers, and her younger sister, Ana. The girls are best friends when they are very little, but after almost killing Ana with her powers, Elsa stops interacting with her sister. Their parents keep the girls apart and force Elsa to hide her powers, causing both girls to become isolated from the outside world. In fact, the girls hardly interact at all until their parents die and Elsa goes on to become queen. Both girls are positive female role models, but to different degrees and in different ways. Because they are both so unique, I'm going to talk about them separately.

Ana is portrayed as the main protagonist in the film. In general, she is a pretty good character. She is kind, brave, quirky, and sweet. However, she is also quick to trust, and therefore easy to fool. She is also desperate for love. When Ana meets a man named Hans on her sister's coronation day, she instantly falls in love with him and even agrees to marry him that very night. Ultimately, she realizes that Hans was a jerk and only wanted to marry her so he could become king, but by the time she did, it was almost too late. Ana does have many redeemable qualities, though. When Elsa runs away, she follows her, even though she knows it's dangerous. And when Hans goes to stab Elsa at the end of the film, Ana sacrifices herself for her sister, proving that she is selfless and cares for her sister more than herself. Even though Ana is a great character, her overwhelming desire for love-and the trouble it ends up getting her into-brings her down a few points.

Elsa, Ana's older sister and the main antagonist of the film, is pretty awesome. Unlike Ana, her desire for romantic love is pretty much non-existent. She does not depend on men for anything. Also, Elsa is pretty much the first Disney princess to become a queen and rule without a king. Elsa is the opposite of her sister in many ways. Ana is always rushing into things, but Elsa prefers to think things through first. Elsa is very cautious, but Ana is the exact opposite. Elsa is quiet and prefers to keep to herself, but Ana likes to socialize. Elsa also is careful about who she trusts, while Ana clearly is not. Elsa also has very strong icy powers that she does not know how to control for most of the movie. This leads to her accidentally causing an eternal winter in her kingdom. Elsa is also quick to run from her problems. However, she is ultimately able to learn to control her powers, therefore unfreezing the kingdom-and her sister. Although Elsa is far from perfect, from a feminist's stand point, she is one of the strongest female characters Disney has come up with thus far.

Although all of the Disney princesses listed here were in movies that came out quite a while ago, in the next post, I will be rating and analyzing some modern-day Disney princesses. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!