An Overweight Disney Princess?
 

Recently there has been some heated debate on the topic of whether or not Disney should feature an overweight princess in a future movie. The debate was started by a teen girl, who you can read about here: Teen girl launches petition for Disney to create a plus-size princess - but is that an unhealthy ideal too? | Mail Online.

She launched a petition to have Disney create an overweight princess in the future, and says that it would be good for the self esteem of overweight girls everywhere. The petition hasn't gone over well, however. A lot of people believe that having an overweight princess would just promote obesity, which is an epidemic in the United States and some other countries.

I usually don't pay attention to this kind of stuff, but this debate really interested me. What do you all think? Would an overweight Disney princess be a good idea? A bad one? Do you believe Disney has villainized overweight people? Are there any other issues you can think of?

I'd rather read everyone else's opinions on this, so I'll mostly keep my two cents out of this. One thing I did read, however, that I thought was a good compromise is that Disney shouldn't have an overweight princess, rather a princess who has a normal body type.

If you are going to fat shame in this thread, gtfo.

It depends on what they mean by "overweight."

There's a variety of different body shapes. And I think that it would be cool to have that reflected in the media.

There's a difference between being curvy or chubby or even fat and obese.

That was my thinking, as well. When I first heard this debate they were using the word "obese" instead of overweight. Thanks to shows like "My 600 Pound Life," that word brings up a grossly unhealthy body and lifestyle to me. Overweight can be all sorts of different things. I would have to see what they meant by overweight before I could go either way.

One of my favorite Disney movies happens to be Lilo and Stitch. I love Nani in it. She is in no way overweight, but she has a normal, beautiful, body. That show by far has some of my favorite character designs of any Disney movie. I would like to see a switch to the kinds of bodies portrayed in that movie.

On another note...I never really noticed how grossly skinny most of the Disney princesses are until I heard about this debate. They really are sticks.

I agree. I don't condone fat shaming of any kind, but I also think it's a problem to "promote" being in the unhealthy end of the overweight spectrum, or obesity for that matter.

I took a social psychology course last semester, and one of the last things we talked about was obesity. One of the reasons cited for the obesity epidemic was the tendency of people (and society) to defend themselves and become crazy defensive about their weight instead of working to fix the problem. One thing the girl who started this argument mentioned was another psychological concept that kids who don't see themselves represented in the media have low self esteem. While that is very true, I don't think promoting unhealthy bodies would be a good way to fix their self esteem.

I don't really know what to do about the issue, myself, though. You can't go about fat shaming, but making an unhealthy weight seem normal isn't good either.

I wouldn't approve of an 'obese' princess, since that could bring in an idea that being unhealthy is okay.

And to be fair the only really skinny princesses where say Ariel and Jasmine, the original princessess. If you look at Nani, Kida, Helga Sinclair, Rapunzel, Merida, Tiana, they're all of 'proportional' weights to their body size. They're neither skinny nor over-weight. Kida may have a tiny waist, but larger thighs, for a more proportional standpoint.

I have a few body issues myself, due to weight/size, but I've been working hard to reach a goal that is healthy and I am happy with. But I've never looked at Disney Princesses as some kind of idol. They were pretty, fun characters. They're physical appearance never really mattered. Skinny, built, white skin, black, red hair, blonde. Never mattered. They were just characters and they are still just characters.

I don't approve of the idea of 'plus size Disney princess'. I mean, I personally don't think that people who are overweight (myself included) shouldn't have a high self pride about themselves. Not that I'm saying they shouldn't have any, all I'm saying is that they should at all costs be aware that they would be prone to more diseases. And as a matter of fact, it is also true that little girls want to look like their favorite Disney princesses all the time. And I don't think promoting the idea that obese women are 'cure' or anything just seems wrong to me.

Normal weight, perhaps. But overweight? No. It's unhealthy just as underweight is unhealthy.
btw, there ARE several disney characters that have a normal weight -

Mulan

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7n3N2GzZP8...h47m22s143.png

Pocahontas is thin but she is lean more than just plain skinny - she got muscles ya? :P

Jessica Rabbit... well, she's not exactly a "princess" but she's not thin. Betty boop is the same.


Besides, Disney always changes their art. By due all respect to Aladin and the Little Mermaid, they're really old movies. I haven't seen such thin characters that Disney made for a very long time - and even if they did, they're usually dressed up so you can't really see their body too clearly.

This was the first thing that came to mind when I heard about this debate. I don't ever remember thinking that Jasmine's body, or Aurora's, or any of the Disney princess bodies were attainable.

I don't know if it was that my parents made sure that I knew the difference between reality and fantasy, or if I was just never gullible enough to think I could actually look like a cartoon. The unrealistic body expectations I had as a child came from fashion models with anorexia, not cartoons.

I did look at the Disney princesses as a model for how to treat other people, though. They were all kind and strong in their own ways.

@admonished: My take on it is that you should support someone as they are, but encourage improvement. I know several people who are overweight. I never tell them they're hideous, or that they are less worthy of love and respect than people who are skinny. I tell them they're wonderful as they are (and that's true) and encourage them to be happy and healthy people.

Similar to your "my weight is beautiful" reference, I hate the "only girls with curves are women" crud that goes around. Yah, no. That is also a thinly veiled body shaming comment.

I completely agree that people spend a lot of time finding ways to justify their problems, and not a lot of time fixing them.

@Mogwai: I agree. I think the worst of the skinny princesses are in the past, but I do think that the new princess in Disney's Frozen is borderline.

http://www.rotoscopers.com/wp-conten...n-fabulous.jpg

@Asma: I think there are plenty of attractive overweight people. I just don't think "being cute" should be an excuse to stay unhealthy.

Wasn't Elsa locked in a room all the time? I want to know how she ate and went to the bathroom. I mean, if I was Anna, I would never leave that door and be like, "You have to come out here at some point!" So if she's skinny, I just equate it to that -- the lack of food. D:

@Elysium: I agree. I would like to think many, if not most people understood that one could not actually obtain such a figure, at least in the past. Sadly, with the changing of times, people seem to think that if it's in the media, then it is what they should look like.

And I think I'm with Xavi when it comes to Elsa. You never see her leave her room and being in the Nordic regions of the world I would presume there could be food shortages or they would eat differently throughout the years. Even with how slender she is, her body isn't misproportioned; the areas where women normally gain weight are not overly exaggerated which one could assume means that she could very well be underweight due to life style and diet.

On my own thoughts and notes though, I adore seeing normal weight princesses and figures for both men and women. I do not think that having a Princess being overweight (unhealthy so) would be wise as it would only promote the weight and health issues already plaguing areas. At the same time, having someone a little more 'full' would not be a bad thing either.

Now, on a similar yet different note. I find it interesting that it's the Princesses that catch the flack with everything. What about the Princes? Thinking back on the Princes, if they weren't bean poles (like Milo), they were pretty beefy men, or at least having that triangle design of a torso. I find it interesting that this has not become such a big deal...

In all honesty though, Disney knows what they're doing. They've been around for a long time and should the public feel that having characters of varying weight classes would make their audiences happy, they'll do it. A business this big isn't just going to jump because one person says jump, they'll do their research and see if that's what people really want.

I would actually expect Elsa to be overweight if she was always shut in her room all the time (no exercise whatsoever). She is also royalty. Royalty don't have food shortages even when their entire population is starving. Scandinavian food is pretty high calorie in general, too. I do like Elsa's body, though. It's proportional, but it is pretty darned skinny. She looks like a runway model.

I agree that men get left out of this debate a lot. If you haven't seen Jackson Katz' Tough Guise documentary, I highly recommend it. It talks a lot about how men have been more and more pressured to be manly buff men over the last few decades. It also talks about how that has led to an extreme increase in violence over the years.

I thought Hans *hisses* from Frozen was a pretty normal looking male body though. At least he was a little better...

Tis true on the royalty aspect. I wish the movie had been a bit longer so it could have gone into more details on so many things (but I stop there).

I shall have to look that documentary up! It sounds very enlightening!

Yes, Hans (such sad feelings about him) was much more normal in many aspects, especially when comparing him to characters such as Gaston, though I have a feeling he was more the personification of all that is 'manly' O.o

I don't want to come off offensive or like a jerkbutt here, but I just find this whole thing silly. I find it weird for someone to even bring up a proposition about the weight of the Disney Princesses. I'm a little flabbergasted to be honest.

Just looking at that article how it pinpoints the Little Mermaid and Jasmine is odd. One thing is, it's a cartoon and cartoons have exaggerations in any type of animation. For this girl to say there needs to be an "overweight" princess is just.. what?

I never viewed Disney princesses by their weight but more by the stylistic of their artwork. It's not even about their weight, it's a style of art. I really dislike how weight can be brought into almost anything. It's so overly touchy and okay, lets say Disney creates this overweight princess. I bet it'll have negative effects on some overweight people, and they'll be offended.

I just feel like she's making a mountain out of ant hills.

I hate to say it, but I agree. Weight is one of those things that can be brought in to invalidate just about anything. Race is similar, but more legitimate.

There needs to be representation of all types of people in media, but obesity shouldn't be made to seem okay.

Disney isn't there to mirror real life but it's there to represent standards and ideals. Obesity just doesn't fit into western ideals of perfection.

It's also easier to make stylized females that are skinny. How would you go about making a stylized female that looks overweight? It''s just not common in cartoons and animation.

I can picture a stylized overweight princess. I think she could be pretty.

I didn't care an awful lot about this until someone brought up the fact that Disney shouldn't promote obesity. I think that an overweight princess could be pretty, but I don't think she'd go over very well because you're right...she would by far not match most people's ideals.

I don't really support this petition...I just feel like little girls will get the idea to start eating a lot if their is an obese princess because they want to reach that princess' ideal weight....but then again I don't want to be rude and say it shouldn't happen because there are overweight people and I don't think they should be ignored and should have someone they stand up to. I'm neutral on this matter.

These two statements go together well. I REALLY don't think that people who are skinny will EVER decide to gain weight to match an overweight Disney princess. That's a ridiculous thought to me. I think the problem would be that overweight children would stop trying to get down to a "healthier" weight if they saw an overweight Disney princess.

I don't think an overweight princess would be bad, though. I think that what I said above would be the problem that would keep Disney from creating an overweight Disney princess.

I think RoadtoGallifrey is right, too. Health risks happen to everybody. Sometimes overweight people live to 100 and sometimes super fit people die at 25 from a heart attack. You can't predict that stuff.

This is interesting :o I'm assuming the girl making this petition is overweight? It's an unrealistic request, but then she's 16, still of the age when you do ask for unrealistic stuff.

I think a fat princess would be going too far the other way. Too skinny = not good, overweight = not good; just make 'em a healthy size!

You know what I'd like to see? Film producers stopping using a fat character to portray a jolly/happy person. Now that is stereotyping that really annoys me, the comic relief often ending up being fat.

Happy/good guy = short and fat
Evil/sinister person = tall and thin

It's like they can't portray the character adequately without these visual cues : /

@jelly: She is overweight, yeah.

That or overweight people are portrayed as disgusting, lazy, slobs. I think they spent an awful lot of time making Ursula from The Little Mermaid look grotesque.

I find it interesting that skinny people aren't looked at as evil because of just how many evil characters ARE skinny. Ursula is the only character I can think of that was anything other than a toothpick.

Maybe a more rounded (lol...) way of looking at it is if a character is anything other than on the straight and narrow, they tend to be given what are classed as physical flaws. Where as the "good" people tend to be made to look "perfect" by current fashionable standards.

I suppose I should be pretty astounded that Ariel was given red hair...