Princess of the Patriarchy
When I was little, The Little Mermaid was my all-time favorite Disney princess movie. I don’t know why but I think I just fell in love with mermaids and what life would be like if I became one, like the girls in the Australian TV show H20. As a kid, there was just something so magical about the idea of life under the sea. Something about that movie just had me in a chokehold.
Growing up, I realized that there were some deeper themes and many problematic storylines within the characters of Disney’s 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. It almost makes me wonder what that says about myself and the ways I may have internalized the patriarchy in loving the movie. There is important hidden messaging about femininity to younger audiences about the types of girls who are acceptable, and the types of girls who aren’t. When I started to give it more thought, It hit me that neither positions provide a positive representation of real, modern femininity.
For example, one of Disney's most prominent villains, Ursula, has a very interesting story, as she disrupts traditional gender norms with her powerful and ambitious persona. Nicknamed “The Sea Witch”, Ursula is immediately identified as the antagonist character in a way that makes her stand out from every other character. Ursula’s representation draws on traditional witchcraft imagery, reinforcing historical associations between women and unconventional feminine power. She looms in her giant dungeonous cave, concocting spells and harvesting trapped souls as girls just do. Notably, she has two masculine characters by her side, manipulated into doing her bidding, which heavily implies the idea that evil women are manipulative and can bend the will of man. I mean, we most definitely can, but who said that that makes us evil? The audience is meant to believe that these are all negative traits to have, and that young girls should not aspire to be like Ursula. At 20, I would actually love to use magic in a cave and pursue ambitious goals, so I’m not so sure she’s all that bad. I mean, sure, she is deceitful and manipulative, but I’d argue that men in power in the U.S. tend to be that way too.
On the other hand, Disney’s favorite mermaid princess, Ariel, is a beautiful example of the positive image the media wants young girls to internalize. Our main protagonist from the film is a beautiful young princess who conforms to traditional feminine roles and inevitably gets a happy ending at the end of the story. Ariel adheres closely to classic ideals of beauty through her youthful and conventional physical attractiveness. Her appearance reflects societal norms that prioritize a woman’s looks over other qualities. Ariel's hopeless romanticism was another piece that I always seemed to idealize. I thought it was so romantic that she wanted to join a new world for the sake of true love. One of the major plot points in the film is Ariel’s goal to change her physical appearance to be “part of their world” and gain the attention of some clueless man. Speaking of this clueless man, Ariel is shown the whole film yearning for the attention of Prince Eric at the cost of her entire life beneath the ocean. I think there is nothing wrong with these life goals, and part of me romanticizes that idea too, but when it’s put in the context of being the key to happily ever after, it changes the connotation of it. I also think it’s an unhealthy message to young girls that in order to be loved by a man, you have to silence your voice and change to become conventionally attractive.
The Little Mermaid will always hold a special place in my heart, but to me, growing up includes noticing all of the problematic themes and archetypes of the time. These anti-feminine tropes were very common at the time, and looking back, I am able to compartmentalize the realities of them in today’s culture. It is no longer realistic to think that ambition makes you a witch, or that love is a woman's life goal. In today's society, it’s beautiful to think that we can form our own conclusions and embody both sides of that coin without question. If I want to be an ambitious woman and seek love, I absolutely can, but these things don’t make me inherently a “good” or “bad” woman. What may have been internalized patriarchy can now be molded into whoever we want to be. I think it’s beautiful to flip the perspective around and gradually dismantle the patriarchy step by step.