15 Lessons We Learned From Disney Princesses
We have been watching Disney cartoons since we were super young, but those princesses actually have a lot to teach us, even today. Though they live far away in a magical animated kingdoms and face challenges that do not really pop up in our day-to-day lives, like evil jealous witches and invading armies, us modern ladies can learn quite a bit from our tiara-wearing childhood idols. Disney has been criticized for promoting ideals that are not so great for girls, but we are all smart enough to know that we can fight off the Maleficents in our lives perfectly well without a Prince Phillip in sight, so let's concentrate on the good stuff. While we thought we were just watching pretty fairy tales, we were really seeing all kinds of lessons, about love and relationships, family, money and of course, ourselves. Here are 15 lessons we learned from Disney Princesses.
15 Cinderella: Always Take The High Road
Cinderella is the mother of all fairy tales and very likely one of the earliest Disney animated classics you ever saw. Though she technically doesn't become a princess until after she hits it off with Prince Charming (yep, that's his actual name), Cinderella has a thing or two to teach us about attitudes. She deals with a lot of unfortunate situations in life, from the death of her beloved parents to her stepfamily being super abusive, but not once does she ever lose her cool and take her anger out on the world. It's not that she doesn't have confidence in herself because she could never magically sneak to that ball behind her stepmother's back if she didn't believe she was worth something. But through all the crap she remains kind, honest and genuine. The lesson is that you shouldn't make others suffer because you have suffered, and it's spot on.
14 Snow White: Be Careful Who You Trust
Snow White was Disney's very first animated princess, and aside from having a prettier singing voice than Ariana Grande and an altruistic personality to rival Cinderella's, she teaches us a very valuable lesson. Through Snow's unfortunate misjudgment, we learn to be mindful of who we give our trust to. Thanks to her, everybody knows not to trust creepy older ladies in black hoods who rock up at our windows with free red apples. But we can take this lesson right out of its 19th-century German setting, and apply it to our own lives. She should not have trusted a lady bearing apples, and we shouldn't trust men bearing drinks. The poison fruit situation also teaches us that people aren't always who they say they are, and you never really know when someone's wearing a disguise. You don't have to be uptight and paranoid, but be switched on and be cautious!
13 Aurora: You Are Not Your Upbringing
Princess Aurora, or Briar Rose as she is later called-because changing names would not be confusing for the child at all-proves to the world that you can have a dysfunctional upbringing, and still turn out okay. When Aurora is still a newborn, the evil Maleficent gets her knickers in a twist about not being invited to join the 'assemblage' in celebrating her birth. Maleficent curses Aurora to die when she is 16 via spindle of spinning wheel, so King Stefan and Queen Leah send Aurora to live with the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. We do not witness her childhood but they seem like pretty overbearing foster parents, not to mention they lie to her about her identity and their magic. But despite not knowing her real parents until after she turns 16 and living with three genuine though irritating fairies, Aurora still ends up perfect. There is hope!
12 Tiana: Hard Work Pays Off
Tiana is a reasonably new princess to join the royal ranks, though she's quickly become one of the favorites. Unlike some of the other ladies on this list, Tiana isn't born into wealth or nobility. She knows from a young age that she wants her very own restaurant one day, and so she works hard as a waitress at two diners in New Orleans to save up enough money to live out her dream. In the end, Tiana marries Prince Naveen and becomes a princess, but since his parents cut him off in the first place, it's a good thing she earns the money to buy a restaurant herself! They open a fabulous restaurant together, complete with musical alligators, and live happily ever after. Tiana's years of hard work prior to her happy ending teach us to roll up our sleeves and get down and dirty for the things we want.
11 Belle: Don't Settle
Beautiful Belle leaves us with some very appreciated insights about the dating world. The golden rule is quite simple: don't settle. Gaston is infatuated with Belle and makes unwanted advances over and over again. But she just isn't feeling him. Maybe it's because he's despicable and maybe it isn't, but there is no attraction there, so she rejects him. That seems like the normal thing to do, but lots of people do settle into relationships with people they're not really feeling all the time. It can come from a fear of being alone or not being able to find anyone better, or even feeling that you better settle down because that's what everyone else is doing. But remember Belle next time! Even if the person you're considering settling for isn't despicable like Gaston, you can't force feelings that aren't there. You're better off leaving yourself open to the love you deserve!
10 Jasmine: Money Isn't Everything
Aside from having the most voluminous hair that anybody has ever seen, Princess Jasmine is adamant from the second we meet her that money isn't all it's cracked up to be. While most girls would love the chance to be with a guy that's got his own horse and title, Jasmine rejects suitor after suitor after suitor, and they are all princes! Yes, she doesn't have to worry about feeding or housing herself given her father's fortune and position as Sultan, but somebody who's brought up around that much luxury could easily turn out prioritizing it above all else. Not Jasmine, though! She sees all the suitors for the misogynistic tyrants that they are instead of being blinded by their cash. Plus, from the beginning, Jasmine is never happy to be loaded and royal and is more concerned with her personal freedom and having a good time. Take note, ladies!
9 Ariel: Don't Trade Who You Are For Love
Everybody's favorite mermaid has to learn this lesson the hard way, but if she didn't have to, it wouldn't be so clear for us! Ariel is convinced that life up here on the land is amazing, and when she sees Eric, that's it. She is ready to do anything to have a chance with him, and Ursula the eight-tentacled sea witch takes full advantage of that. Ariel trades her unique and pitch-perfect singing voice for a boring old pair of legs so she can meet Eric, and ends up causing a huge mess! It can be tempting to change things about ourselves to fit somebody else's tastes, but that's probably not the fastest route to happiness. You want somebody to like you for you, and anyways, opinions don't equate to truth. It'd be pretty silly to alter yourself for something so subjective! Don't be like Ariel. Keep doing you and your fins!
8 Kiara: Parents Don't Always Know What's Best
Most people have never even heard about Princess Kiara, which is pretty messed up because she's only Simba and Nala's cub. Just because The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (1998) went straight to video, and the characters are lions instead of humans, doesn't mean Kiara is any less of a princess! While we all love Simba, Kiara's journey shows us that parents don't always know best. When the outsider Kovu starts getting close to Kiara, Simba does the usual dad thing and gets majorly overprotective. This is warranted in the beginning since Kovu is secretly trying to kill him, but then Kovu changes his ways and becomes worthy of Kiara's love. Simba still isn't having it, though. Luckily, Kiara ignores his warning and lets herself fall in love with Kovu, who ends up being the perfect mate. Especially when it comes to love, mom and dad don't always know what's up.
7 Snow White: Beauty Is Overrated
Snow White has so many lessons for us that she's made it onto this list yet again! Another fairly obvious message of the story is that, just like being rich, being beautiful isn't as great as everybody makes it seem. As girls, we were all jealous of Snow White's tiny waist, shiny black-as-ebony hair and perfect little symmetrical face, but look at all the trouble it lands her in. She is shunned as a child, then nearly killed and temporarily poisoned by her psychotic and narcissistic stepmother! You shouldn't feel guilty or bad about considering yourself beautiful, but it's also cool to know that the title comes with its own list of negative side effects to be wary of, like jealous and insecure people trying to kill you. Special shout out to the Evil Queen for teaching us all that vanity gets you nowhere except thrown off a cliff and a bent, warty nose.
6 Pocahontas: Love Has No Color
Who doesn't love Pocahontas? Although the film is slightly historically inaccurate, the Powhatan princess's journey teaches us a priceless lesson about the nature of love, so that has to count for something! Pocahontas falls in love with John Smith, which is unheard of where she comes from, and where he comes from. Chief Powhatan wants his daughter to marry Mr. Personality himself, the too-serious-for-his-own-good Kocoum, while John Smith has been trained not to get too close to the 'savages', especially romantically. Their love was able to overpower all of that, though! The lesson is to be open to other cultures because you never know what part of the world your soulmate is currently residing in. Pocahontas taught us to respect each other's differences while at the same time accepting ourselves, and the variations in culture, beliefs and skin color won't be enough to deter true love from running its course.
5 Ariel: You Can't Hide Who You Are
Ariel gets herself into such a mess when she trades her voice for legs, that a whole heap of cherished lessons are derived from the ordeal. We know that she shouldn't have traded her voice, which makes her special, for legs just to be with a guy, but it's also important to note that she isn't able to keep her mermaid identity a secret forever. When it comes down to it, you can't hide who you are. Technically, if you wanted to live a life of stress, bottled-up feelings, and psychological captivity, you could. But for all intents and purposes, learn from Ariel's mistakes and be honest. It all ends up being okay for her because we're talking about Disney here, but in real life, people aren't guaranteed to be so understanding when they uncover the truth about you. Nobody likes being lied to, but most importantly, the real you is pretty great and definitely worth sharing.
4 Merida: Appreciate Your Mama
Brave's Princess Merida makes us all envy having out-of-control ginger hair, but she also teaches us about the importance of appreciating our mothers. Merida's own mother, Queen Elinor, gets magically transformed into a big black bear and is at risk of permanently staying a bear for most of the movie. It's inconvenient that Merida's dad, King Fergus, has a chip on his shoulder about big black bears, so the Queen is in danger of being hunted by her husband in addition to everything else, and Merida realizes that she could lose her. We all fight with our moms at some stage in our lives, but sometimes it's important to remember that, while they're probably not going to be transformed into a bear, they could be gone in two seconds. Life happens, people get sick, people move away, and if your mom loves you, remember to appreciate her before it's too late.
3 Elsa: You Never Know What People Are Going Through
Elsa is responsible for one of the most iconic and over-sung tunes in Disney history, and as an added bonus, she brings us an important life lesson: you never know what people are going through. Elsa becomes distant and stops building snowmen with her little sister, Anna because she is afraid of the powers inside of her. Because she is not initially honest about it, Anna assumes she's done something wrong to her sister and feels unnecessarily hurt. It would have helped if Elsa had been open from the start, but life doesn't always make it easy for people to be honest. It may be your first instinct to take it personally when someone is in a bad mood but try not to jump to conclusions. Elsa also teaches us not to judge people too quickly, because we might form opinions and then learn the real story and feel totally guilty!
2 Anna: If He Seems Too Good To Be True, He Probably Is
There's nothing wrong with being optimistic and keeping your hopes up, but Anna teaches us to tread with caution when we meet someone who seems perfect. Prince Hans seems too good to be true when Anna meets him, but rather than taking the time to suss him out, she agrees to marry him. She thinks she's found someone handsome and caring and just like her in every way, so it's a major shock for her to discover that he is just using her to get to the throne. Besides the fact that Hans turns out to be a total nuisance, getting our hopes up because someone seems perfect and then finding out that they're not can be pretty hard on our hearts. That's not to say that you should assume the worst of everyone. Just make sure that you know what you're getting yourself into before being swept off your feet.
1 Mulan: You Can Thrive In A Man's World
Fa Mulan may not be a princess as such, but she teaches us the most important lesson of all: you can thrive in a man's world. In order to save her father from war, Mulan disguises herself as a man and fights instead. In the beginning, she encounters a few problems relating to her lack of masculinity. But guess what? They make her tough! Not only does Mulan survive life in the army, but she totally makes a name for herself by saving the life of Commander Li Shang, and working with her ancestral gift, Mushu, to defeat the leader of the Huns. She joins the army to save her father, and ends up getting noticed by the emperor of China! Watching Mulan's story, girls learn that they are not defined by gender, and can end up making an unprecedented difference in the life of one person, or a whole empire.
