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AladdinFan92

There I was,minding my buisniess on AOL,when the main page of my mom's sn, and web page entitled "Black Voices" came up as usual. It's a webpage with various articles about current events having to do with African Americans. And I found a very interesting DP article that I thought we could all discuss.

For the record---THIS IS NOT MY ARTICLE!!! I don't own it,and I didn't write it. I simply copy and pasted it because I thought it was an item of interest to all the Disney fans on this site. Read,enjoy,and feel free to get a discussion going! (we all know how explosive that article about Jasmine was,lol)

Disney Princesses:Black Girls Need Not Apply
A Look at Disney's Animated Royalty

"Mommy, why don't any of the princesses look like me," asks the beautiful brown girl, a curious mixture of hurt and bewilderment in her eyes. It is questions like this that torment black parents or caretakers, who like everyone else, want their children to be respected, affirmed, and yes, represented.

Unfortunately, if said parents are in a Disney store, or at a Disney "Princesses on Ice" show with their kids, they'd better start thinking fast, because the mouse kingdom has never crowned a black princess.

Unless, as some wryly note, you count the character of Nala from the Africa-set 'The Lion King,' (who is in fact, an animal), African Americans are not represented in Disney's pantheon of princesses.

There are Disney princesses from almost every other ethnic group including Mulan (who is Chinese), Pocahontas (Native American), Jasmine (Middle Eastern descent), the original Caucasian princesses we all grew up with -- Snow White, Cinderella and Fantasia -- and even 'The Little Mermaid's' Ariel (of the sea).

To some, this is politics as usual, to others, not so big a deal when the black community has "real" issues to deal with. Yet, for some parents, this issue harkens back to a time when we had to explain to our children why we sat at the back of the bus. For girls, especially, notions of self-image and representation are an important part of development.

"Clearly there's always a correlation between the images you are bombarded by and how you feel about yourself," says Dr. Robert Atwell, president of the Association of Black Psychologists, who has been working with black children, adults and families for over 35 years. "So you either get presented with images that stimulate your sense of potential or images that ignore you or are negative."

In 2005, shortly after Katrina Helm and her family visited Walt Disney World, the North-Carolina-based mother started an online petition because her daughter asked such a question and Disney responded with what Helm deemed an unsatisfactory answer. According to her letter to the company, a representative from Disney responded by saying that there were "no African American fairy tales."

The Burbank based Walt Disney Company, which boasted about 8 billion dollars in sales last year, is one of the most recognized brands on the planet. Disney, the parent company to television network ABC, did not return any calls to Black Voices by press time.

Though no hard numbers exist, African Americans support Disney -- most of us have traveled to one its theme parks, bought our children a Disney DVD or have purchased Disney merchandise for our daughters, nieces or grandchildren.

The Disney company has historically been called out for everything from racism ('Song of the South') to sexism (how come all the princesses have to be rescued?) to unscrupulous labor practices. Some in the community caution that we should be careful what we wish for, especially as it relates to potentially reducing our girls to passive objects of adoration.

"I'm not sure that little black girls haven't fared better because they haven't had a princess," notes Dr. Deborah Cunningham, a New York-based psychologist. "Because if you look at the white [Disney] princesses, they've all been victimized in some way. They've all been saved by a prince, right? And they're all looking for true love."

She continues, "In other words, if [black girls] are not identifying with these delicate little white girls who are being saved by the prince and taken off to the kingdom, then that may not be so bad. Whether they feel beautiful is something else."

There also may be an effect on black boys as well -- and therefore the community as a whole, posits Cunningham, who says the whole Disney culture is a bit "scary."

"I think there's another piece to it, which also has to do with how others perceive us. So the fact that you're a princess -- whether you're a victim or not -- you still are adored. You're wonderful. Unconditional," she says. "I think that adoration, particularly when it comes to male/female relationships, is something we could work on. So you're adored, you're regarded, you're respected, all of those things. So I think on that front, little black girls may not get as much of that."

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Alright. Now,for the record,here's my two cents:

I'm African American,but the absence of a black Disney Princess never bothered me in the slightest. I love them all,and I don't feel offended by them. I also have always admired the fact that Disney embraced other cultures in their films. Further down in my ancestry,I am also Native American,and I was thrilled when they made Pocohontas,and she became my hero as a child. Of course,Aladdin is my all time favorite Disney movie,and in this day an age when there's a lot of Middle East bashing done in the US,I'm glad there are movies like Aladdin that get rid of some of those stereotypes,so that children don't have to grow up thinking that people from the Middle East are any different from anybody else.

Anyway,my point is,I love Disney movies,and I love that they have movies about all different cultures,and not just white people. Just because they haven't made one about African Americans doensn't mean they're racist.

But what do you guys think? How many people here on AC are black like me? The only one I know of is AG. Did the abscece of a black DP offend you?
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Nez · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:45 pm Post subject:

Kida from "Atlantis" kind of looks "black" and her voice was done by Cree Summer who is both of African and Native American descent. How come nobody ever mentions her?
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Oh boy, where to begin.....

Syera · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:16 pm Post subject:

AG is of African descent, though her 'blackness' is in dispute.

Kida's probably forgotten because she's been... well, forgotten. Atlantis never really did catch that much popularity.

APK · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject:

Well, I'm black. And I like all the princesses. It never bothered me. I never wanted to become white or be someone that I wasn't. I never let cartoons get to my head like that. I knew it was just fantasy.

It isn't fair to say that all Native Americans are represented by Pocahontas. And not all white races are represented by Belle. Not all Asian people are representesd by Mulan. Can they really say that the only kind of African music out there is the kind heard in TLK? There isn't a Filipino princess and I haven't heard any complaints from them...

It isn't their race that matters, it's how the princesses treat other people and treat themselves.

I'm glad there isn't a black princess yet (although everyone forgets Kida) because when they do a black princess, I want it to be because they were inspired by a great story and not because they felt they had to be "politically correct." Whenever soemone does a story with other intentions other than telling a good story, the story ends up like crap. Besides, I'd want it to be in 2D.

If I knew a kid that took Disney cartoons this seriously, I'd have to tell them to get a life. But I'd probably just make them cry. Laughing

Kids like that have serious self-esteem issues that go beyond cartoons. Their parents should teach them how to love themselves instead of fueling the pointless fire by saying, "Yes, honey, Disney doesn't like you because they think you're too ugly to be a princess. Now shut up and go watch that entire Disney library I bought you because I'm trying to get work done around here" Rolling Eyes

This reminds me of another thread on AC about something on Oprah's magazine. Didn't we email them? Did they ever reply?

AladdinsGenie · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

Amen

And that brings up another point: do they want a movie based off an African tale or a African Disney princess? Because just because they get an African tale doesn't mean there's going to be a princess in it. I can almost bet you if there was a African Disney movie and the girl wasn't made to be a princess, you would here the "Well, how come she's not royalty?" rant Rolling Eyes

There's very few princesses in Disney's history reguardless of how popular the six they promote are.

APK · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:26 pm Post subject:

That was funny what your cousin said. Laughing

Although I admit it's racist and I probably would've thrown a pencil at him too. Laughing

I wonder what Jasmine's "secret" race is....since she has a tiger. Laughing

AladdinFan92 · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject:

AladdinsGenie · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject:

He had me rolling at "honoring him for Black History Month" Laughing

APK · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:59 pm Post subject:

Syera · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject:

AmethystFae · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:50 pm Post subject:

When I started reading the article, I thought, "Hasn't Disney come a long way with Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan?" But apparently that's not good enough for some people. Did it ever occur to them that Disney just didn't get around to coming up with a black princess, and probably for the reasons mentioned?
I know there's African tales out there. It wouldn't take me long to find some, since I have two or three fairy tale sites bookmarked. However, I don't think I've ever read an African tale with royalty in it, and that could be because the African government isn't a monarchy.

Besides, as mentioned, Disney does have African-American (black) characters. They're strewn throughout the Aladdin movies and series, there's the Muses from Hercules, the crows from Dumbo (which I thought were awesome, racial stereotype or not.) and there's also The Proud Family. I don't like the show, but it's there, and people seem to forget.
I think these parents of black children are going about the whole issue all wrong. Probably without knowing it, they are telling their kids, "You have to be a princess to be loved." Princesses are great, but a girl can be just as appreciated without the royal bloodline. Supposing I were black, and had a daughter who asked me, "Mommy, why isn't there a black Disney princess?" I'd be more inclined to explain the different cultures than to be all, "Because Disney's racist."

Oh, yeah. And about the needing to be rescued thing? Shut the hell up! Jasmine has come through for Aladdin probably about as much as he's come through for her, Belle was the one who did the rescuing in Beauty & the Beast, Ariel saved her prince from drowning, Prince Phillip got mucho help from the three fairies, and as was mentioned probably in more thread than one, all the Disney princesses have strong characters for different reasons. I won't get into my "you have to bust balls to be a strong female" rant, as I'm sure I've gone off on that tangent before.

I swear! Some people are just never satisfied.

~Hikaru
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AladdinFan92 · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject:

And here's another item of interest:

http://blackcommunity.blackvoices.aol.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=152442&webtag=ti-entertainmnt

It's a discussion board posted in response to the article. As you can see the dicussion got a little heated. Laughing

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Iago · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:38 pm Post subject:

Yeah, you people have covered pretty much anything I was gonna say Laughing

IMHO I think people should just let it go, the princesses are what they are, there's no need to discuss some of this because it sort of is "undiscussable" because everyone has different political views on it and are biased at times because of their race and such. ex. certain catholics saying you can't have abortion because it goes against gods rule. um hello, can't use it because not everyone has the same religion but I digress even if it was an example. it's fine to have your own opinion but using stuff like that is never going to get anyone anywhere in discussions. When I read the article, I really think stuff like "ZOMG NO BLACK PRINCESSES!!1one!" isn't really worth the time that is being invested in it. So there is no Black disney princess, that's life. If there was one then great let's support that princess as well! I'm hispanic (south america) and you don't see me getting all huffy about not having a hispanic princess *shrug*
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AladdinFan92 · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:42 pm Post subject:

I agree,Billy Joe. Like I said,I'm black,and not having a black princess didn't bother me.

If u ask me,if u want more "ethnic" versions of these stories,watch Happily Ever After,Fairy Tales For Every Child. It has a Chinese TLM,a black Jack and the Beanstalk,a Hispanic Cinderella,and so on.
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