Role Models 'Princessified' (Holocaust Princess)

Here's what the artist, David Trumble, had to say about the project, via Women You Should Know.

“This was a response to the furor kicked up over the glossy ‘princessification’ of Pixar’s Merida character, both in image and doll form. I drew this picture because I wanted to analyze how unnecessary it is to collapse a heroine into one specific mold, to give them all the same sparkly fashion, the same tiny figures, and the same homogenized plastic smile.

“My experience of female role models both in culture and in life has shown me that there is no mold for what makes someone a role model, and the whole point of Merida was that she was a step in the right direction, providing girls with an alternative kind of princess. Then they took two steps back, and painted her with the same glossy brush as the rest. So I decided to take 10 real-life female role models, from diverse experiences and backgrounds, and filter them through the Disney princess assembly line."

OK. I like what he's getting at. Trumble, who collaborated on the project with psychologist Lori Day, also said he's well aware that the images are polarizing.

It's great to recognize these role models for who they were. But it's a disservice to "princessify" them and present them to the Facebook masses without clarifying the satire for the lowest common denominator who will likely "Share" the images a billion times. Except I think we should leave Anne Frank out it, basically 100% of the time. Yeah I think Justin Beiber proved that one... Anne Frank is just not someone who's memory is for anyone's gain.

The statement I wanted to make was that it makes no sense to put these real-life women into one limited template, so why then are we doing it to our fictitious heroines?

PHWOAR! look at the boobs on Rosa Parks and Jane Goodall (!), is exactly what we all shouldn't be saying? This whole concept is confusing. I get it but I have no idea what it 'achieves'. DW, it was meant in a sacastic way, I'll add a (!)


Images via David Trumble

Ever wanted to see a Disney Princess explode?

Well now you can, I spied this gem on Jezebel.

I Do Not Want To See 'Brave' Turned Into 'Babe'. LEAVE MERIDA ALONE

Before

After

Merida, the 'feisty' archer princess has been disneyified. Her 'make-over' is because She will officially be crowned Disney's 11th princess on Saturday, She's lost her hard wearing gown, grown breasts, and  lost her bow. Her hair has also changed dramatically, as a curly haired lass my self, sing it sister, I know that that kind of curl is simply not possible living in the Scottish Highlands, never has a truer word been said, Merida's original curl however, completely plausible. In fact she was a completely plausible character, now, not so much. I admit that the fact that it has being converted into 2-D may have something to do with the curl factor, but the waist? And the lack of bow? She's lost character. What was refreshing about this new breed of princess has been destroyed. And yes, I know that it's simply a cartoon, but Disney princess representation really affected me when I was little. It set up infeasible expectations, as does this new Merida. They don't want to portray role models, they want glamorous princesses. 

Other Views

Glamour.com beauty writer, Petra Guglielmetti.

'Having a curly-haired daughter has changed my feelings about hair texture in this world. More specifically, I wish there were more celebration of natural curls in our popular culture,' wrote the mother-of-two.

'So you can imagine how I feel about the news that Disney has given a keratin treatment to its heroine Merida. Yeah, those curls have definitely been smoothed a bit. They’re more like Victoria’s Secret model waves now.'

Merida, lauded for her refreshing representation of an authentic teenager, was originally created to offer little girls a 'different kind of princess,' according to Brave writer and co-director, Brenda Chapman.

Ms Chapman envisaged Merida as 'a stronger princess that both mothers and daughters could relate to, so mothers wouldn't be pulling their hair out when their little girls were trying to dress or act like this princess,' she said. 'Instead they’d be like, "Yeah, you go girl!"'

Peggy Orenstein, the author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter, which looks at how princess culture affects young girls, is also against the redesign.

The writer, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her daughter, Daisy, said: 'In the end, it wasn’t about being brave after all. It was about being pretty.'

The petition to change Merida back to her original form is here

I've just noticed that Mulan lost her sword in her Disney princess picture.... She was my favourite! Fuming. And they've given Rapunzal her locks back, guess a bob isn't princessy enough...