When we picture ‘Disney heroine’ we often image beautiful princesses with iconic gowns. We think of Belle, Snow White, Rapunzel and, of course, Cinderella.
But what do these characters have to offer, really?
I mean, Belle ended up with someone who was emotionally and physically abusive. Snow White was ‘rescued’ by a Prince, and all anyone cares about is that she’s ‘fair’, whatever that means. And don’t even get me started on Cinderella, who talked to mice and lost a bloody shoe.
Despite the variations in these fairytales, the messages are remarkably similar. And the most prominent message is: You need to be rescued by a Prince. Pfft.
In the non-Disney world, we've made great strides for women in several arenas. Women generally don't wait around to get rescued by a Prince in 2016. They make, you know, quite significant contributions to society. They also have diverse interests and talents.
Now, we get to meet Judy Hopps. She's a rabbit, and she's not into princess dresses. She's the star of the new Disney movie Zootropolis, about the first rabbit ever to serve on the police force in the city of Zootopia.
There isn't a prince to rescue her, and (to the best of our knowledge) she doesn't lose a shoe. She wears a police uniform, and the main male in her life is not a love interest but a colleague, Nick Wilde.