Ahh, feminism. What is it, really? Because apparently, the majority of Fanpop does not have the faintest idea what it is. By definition, feminism is a noun meaning, "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." For those who were confused, this does not mean the most "man hating" princess or the most feminine princess. Now that we've cleared this up, we can move on.
One might argue it's insanity to even consider mixing feminism with its most feared foe, the Disney Princess franchise. There are people who would suggest I am trying to, "pick a fight," by even posting the polls. To those people, I say nay. I am simply giving people the chance to express their opinion on something more than the much repeated question, "which princess has the best hair."
Now that I've cleared up the obvious confusion and misguided hatred, we can actually get to the results. Ladies and gentlemen, I present, number ten!

10. Aurora
Movies: Sleeping Beauty, Enchanted Tales

According to the majority of Fanpoppers, Aurora is all fluff and no substance. She's a "brainless damsel in distress." Though in these early rounds there was much discord between voters, as we battled in out in a fashion similar to soldiers in battle, trying to decide who is truly less feminist: Aurora or Snow White. Many argued that Snow White is less feminist than Aurora because Snow White doesn't stand up for herself and willingly places herself in traditional gender roles. By the end of the day, Aurora's grievous lack of screen time worked against her as usual. Aurora spends all of her screen time dancing, singing, cleaning, and fawning over Phillip. Well these are not bad things per se, Aurora's general lack of backbone and inability to fight for herself made her the first to leave the countdown.



9. Cinderella
Movies: Cinderella, Dreams Come True, A Twist In Time

Interestingly, Snow White was voted out now according to percentages. But the wave of commenter’s voting out Cinderella won out in the end. People applauded Cinderella's emotional strength, her subtle defiance, and her small acts of rebellion. But at the same time people found Cinderella's defiance too subtle, her acts of rebellion too small. The fact Cinderella doesn't do really anything for herself secured her early elimination.



8. Snow White
Movies: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Things got pretty heated at this point. At first, it was obvious Snow White should go next. She is the first princess after all, how could she be feminist? Well, many people argued that since Snow White is more feminist friendly than princesses like Ariel, because she survives without her prince and even puts herself in a position of power over everyone she meets. But she is still very much a damsel in distress, being saved by everyone from the huntsman to the dwarfs. This, plus her inability to do very much for herself made her the next to leave.



7. Jasmine
Movies: Aladdin, The Return of Jafar, The King of Thieves, Enchanted Tales, Aladdin Series

Jasmine leaving the countdown so early shocked a lot of people, considering she is one of the only princesses who verbally acknowledges her worth as a person. But even though Jasmine is a proud advocate of her own self worth, she still continues to deflect back into the typical damsel in distress role, and is extremely hypocritical about her own morals. While she claims she is no prize to be won, for the majority of the movie she allows Aladdin to treat her like one. This combined with her highly sexualized appearance caused her elimination.



6. Rapunzel
Movies: Tangled, Tangled Ever After

People often praise Rapunzel as a feminist icon because of her hold over Flynn and the fact she uses a weapon. While Rapunzel is a very feminist friendly princess, these claims are along the same vein as claims Mulan saving China makes her an automatic feminist hero. Even though Rapunzel is a strong, capable young woman who saves Eugene a number of times, she relies very heavily on male help and often reverts to being a damsel, which many members argued eclipses her positives.



5. Ariel
Movies: The Little Mermaid, Return to the Sea, Ariel’s Beginning, TLM Series

Ah, Ariel. Many claim she is the least feminist friendly princess, stating that she changed herself for a man and doesn’t do anything worthy of feminist notary. While many commenters’ do agree that Eric had some sway in her decision to become human, they defended Ariel in the fact that she had an interest in the human world long before meeting Eric. Some members argued that Ariel enforces a women should be seen and not heard type of mentality, as well as the frame of thought that it’s okay for a woman to change herself for a man. Others argued that Ariel is feminist because she choose Eric as her goal, and because she, unlike most of the princesses, was fighting a form of male oppression in the form of her father. There’s enough material on the matter to argue about Ariel’s feminist qualities, but for now it’s plain to see why she left the countdown now.



4. Pocahontas
Movies: Pocahontas, Journey to a New World

I personally whole heartedly disagree with Pocahontas leaving so early, as I, and many others, believe she is the only princess whose worth as a woman is never questioned. A few commenters’s pointed out that Pocahontas is obviously respected and independent, and she brings peace without ever resorting to violence or dishonesty. Others argued that since Pocahontas doesn’t seem to have much faith in her abilities and spends much of her movie confused, this made her less feminist than the remaining princesses.



3. Belle
Movies: Beauty and the Beast, The Enchanted Christmas, Belle’s Magical World

For me personally, Pocahontas leaving so early really threw me off and I wasn’t sure who to vote for. Around now is when the debate over Belle versus Tiana began, and both sides made excellent points. Many of the voters pointed out that Belle did fall in love with an abusive man, and she was an extreme case of damsel in distress. But others were quick to mention that Belle didn’t fall for the Beast until after he started to change, and also Belle is one of the few princesses that have an outwardly feminist attitude, shown in her dealings with Gaston and the Beast. Alas, at the end of the day more people spoke out against Belle, than for her. So she was next to leave.



2. Tiana    
Movies: Princess and the Frog

On the surface, Tiana appears to be exactly where she deserves to be. She is a business woman, she’s talented and hardworking, she proves everyone wrong by achieving her dream. She proved that a woman, and a woman of color too, can do anything that a man can do. But despite all this, many voters still believed Tiana should be lower. This is mostly because of her endgame, and the infamous line about how her dream wouldn’t be complete without Naveen. She did give up everything for Naveen; her dream, her career, her life, even her family. To me personally this is much worse than Ariel’s infractions. With one sentence, Tiana completely crushed everything else she had built up, it was basically her saying ”Yeah I almost have my dream, but this guy is waaay more important that my family and my career. Like so important I’m going to give up literally everything.” Is that an exaggeration? Maybe, unless you remember that Tiana didn’t know that she was going to become a princess. She was going to give up everything to live as a frog. Feminist win? You be the judge.



1. Mulan
Movies: Mulan 1 & 2

Of course Mulan won. She’s often heralded as the most feminist animated character ever, was there really any doubt? Not really. Of course there was hope, but still... Mulan is considered a feminist win because she saves China. She’s a warrior, she’s awesome. But is she really that feminist? If you apply a lot of the reasoning many of the voters used on other princesses at Mulan, she doesn’t really stack up. Mulan had to forgo all femininity and “become a man,” to save China. They had a whole song about it, you can’t argue this one. She didn’t directly oppose gender roles, she just wanted to be respected as a human being. Of course this isn’t a bad thing, but when you add all this together, does Mulan really deserve to be your number one?