I first heard about Merida’s new look through my university women’s department, and my response was (literally, a Facebook comment): “Brave can be sexy too?” But it seems I was in the minority with this viewpoint. Snow White looks like she could literally eat Cinderella.Īs it is, the campaign quickly gained over 200,000 supporters and Disney have apparently withdrawn the new Merida concept from their website (though they have manufactured a doll version that people aren’t happy about either). What is perhaps more concerning than the “new” looks is how their heads each differ vastly in size.
Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior that for girls and women to have value - to be recognized as true princesses - they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty. The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls’ capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. The content of the petition gives a sense of the kind of reaction the new image garnered. Last week, website A Mighty Girl started a petition to have Disney revoke Merida’s new look. CGI-Merida, hero of the 2012 the film, was stylistically re-designed as part of a re-branding of many of the Disney Princesses. The recent controversy over Disney’s “makeover” of Brave character Merida, has been troubling me. Merida “before” (left) and “after” (right)
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