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So this is another article I'm writing based on a poll I recently done. This time the question was "Do you think a princess has to be perfect?" At the time I'm writing this, 28 people votes 61% no, 39% yes.

People are allowed to have their own opinions and thoughts, that's something I will always respect. But when the topic of perfection is up for debate, it makes me wonder if people really have any idea of how harmful being "perfect" can be.

So some of you might ask me, what's wrong with perfection? In what way can it possibly be harmful? Well, have a seat, make yourself comfortable, maybe get yourself some refreshments, because I'll be more than happy to explain.

Let me explain now why the idea of perfection is harmful.


Rose from Titanic
Rose from Titanic

So for centuries women have been taught to be polite, soft spoken, to be seen and not heard, to look as beautiful as possible, to be a porcelain doll. We're told if we act a certain way that's not the "right" way we won't find husbands or we'll be made fun of for being "different". Even girls today are taught this.

Why is this a bad thing? It's because if girls grow up thinking they're not perfect enough in anyone's eyes they start to hate themselves. And there's times where the stress can be so bad that they end up going down a dark road.

Now I love Disney, the movies, the tv shows, the actors they've had over the years, but the company itself isn't as nice as it appears to be. The company will threaten to fire their child actors if they don't act the way Disney wants them to act. If you wear a bikini that's not "family friendly"? You better hope you have a huge fanbase or you'd be getting fired on the spot. It doesn't matter how old you are, you have to look a certain way and act a certain way. Even if you're not on tv, you know how bad that kind of pressure is? It's not pleasant at all. And as mentioned before it can be so bad that you'll want to walk a dark path, like alcoholism, drugs, or self harm.




Esmeralda, I feel, is the best woman to use an example for this kind of topic. She's a character who has been talked about a lot recently and the way people here were saying reminded me of this bit of interesting trivia I read in the IMDB page of her movie.







"Esmeralda's decision to marry Phoebus at the end of her film was likely the result of the way both Quasimodo and Frollo treated her throughout the movie, according to the Madonna-Whore complex: Frollo constantly viewed Esmeralda as an evil seductress, causing him to want her as his own and threatens to kill her if she refuses, while Quasimodo instead views her as a pure, angelic being, seeing her as being only kind and caring. However, both portrayals are considered insulting to women, and Phoebus, seeing her as being feisty but good-natured, was the only male character that saw Esmeralda like a normal woman, therefore becoming her husband"

The way a lot of people talked about her was pretty much the same way Frollo would think; they focused mostly on how "inappropriate" she is, literally nothing else. There is so much more to her character than what she wears or what she did in one scene. She's also very caring and wants to protect her people.




Jasmine is another example, I've seen some negative comments toward her about how "hard she is on others" when most of the time she's in the movie is spent with her standing up for herself. She obviously doesn't want to be forced into marriage, she obviously wants more than just being trapped in the palace her whole life, and she obviously doesn't like that people are, as she said "Standing around deciding my future"






Meanwhile the men are given different treatment. Oh you don't like Esmeralda because she wears that one dress? (that was somehow too inappropriate?) Well better not watch Aladdin because he doesn't wear a shirt for half of the movie! Oh and I'd avoid Mulan too because Shang's shirtless for an entire song and there's one scene where the characters bathe which means they get naked






Oh and how could I forget the other princesses/heroines! I mean Ariel only wears a clam bra for half of her movie! And Jasmine's outfit shows her stomach! And Elsa's blue dress is so tightfitting and has that slit on her leg! so inappropriate!

We are in 2018, can we please stop judging a woman's character by what she wears? If a woman likes to wear a certain outfit then let her!

The princesses and heroines, though not real, are human beings. Human beings are not perfect. Can you think of someone in real life (and I mean real life, as in anybody you actually know, not an actor you love) who is "perfect"? Who is well-mannered and even-tempered?

In fact, the princesses themselves said they're not perfect in the upcoming Wreck it Ralph 2 movie, And instead of just picturing your favorite princesses as angels who could do no wrong, you might notice that some of them are naive, don't think things through, act like brats, aren't graceful, or aren't, as some of you would say well mannered. I mean I love Mulan, she's my number one favorite princesses but I'm still aware of her flaws. She's not graceful all the time and while she does have some good plans they don't always end perfectly (avalanche and blowing up the palace)

Also these princesses are all teenagers and people feel the need to judge them by how perfect or imperfect they are. Would you do that to a teenager in real life? As long as the teenager isn't hurting anybody or saying hurtful stuff why would it matter if they act or dress a certain way?

Let teenagers be teenagers and let women do what they want that doesn't just involve them being the porcelain dolls society wants them to be
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