Why Showing the Disney Princesses with "Realistic Waistlines" is Completely Ridiculous.

So I've been seeing a lot of people "liking" and commenting on this link, and others like it.

Here's why it's bullsh*t.

1)  If you're going to start on about how unrealistic Disney's depictions of the princesses are, why would you start--or stop, for that matter--on their appearance?  

Think about it.  Almost all of the Princesses that we grew up watching had completely unrealistic lives.  Snow White's stepmother hired an assassin, who couldn't go through with it; she ended up living with seven MYTHICAL CREATURES in the forest instead.  Cinderella was treated like a slave when her father died, and her cruel stepmother was responsible, but with the help of TALKING MICE AND BIRDS she was able to attend the party at the castle, wearing GLASS SLIPPERS, meet her prince, etc.  Ariel was a MERMAID.  Jasmine was swept off her feet and onto a MAGIC CARPET.  Mulan defeated the Huns with the help of a MINIATURE TALKING DRAGON, AND HIS CRICKET SIDEKICK.  Belle lived in a castle where the FURNITURE WAS ALIVE.  

Do you see the problem with pointing out the unrealistic expectations set by Disney's ANIMATED princesses?  If you start with one thing, then you'd better be prepared to tell your little girl about every tiny little thing that Disney enchanted so that her expectations aren't blown out of proportion.

2)  Disney is not responsible for society's obsession with being thin.

All you have to do is look at the magazine rack in any given convenience store to realize this.  Models are primped, preened, made-up for hours at a time, photographed, and then stretched, airbrushed, photoshopped, and edited into the unrealistic ideals we see around us all the time.  Huge and perfectly perky boobs, a waist that a man could easily fit between his two hands, a round but toned butt, and legs that taper nicely with the thighs being perfectly fit and the muscles defined--oh, and heaven forbid if you have cellulite.

Disney's princesses are animated, and it's obvious that they're animated.  But if everywhere you turn you see women who, apart from their photoshopped features and figures, look real, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO ABSORB THAT AS REALISTIC.  Cartoons aren't supposed to look real.  So, if they have tinier waists than is physically possible, FINE!  They're FAKE.  Get over it.

Not only that, but if you blame Disney for this unrealistic expectation, you'd better be ready to point your remaining fingers at Barbie and every other doll company out there.

3)  If we are criticizing Disney princesses for the way they look, that tells a lot about our society today.

Seriously, though.  Doesn't that point to a much deeper underlying problem?  Y'all are criticizing CARTOONS--ANIMATED PEOPLE--FOR LOOKING UNREALISTIC.  Why??  Doesn't that strike you as a little...pointless?  Can they change?  NO!  They aren't real.  Why not put your energy into something that matters, something that will actually make a difference.

Besides, even if you don't like the way they look, the princess movies have some pretty great qualities.  They give little girls something to hope for, dream about, wish for.  And they each, in their own way, teach every little girl that being herself is okay.  Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Pocahontas--all of them.  Every single one is so different than all the others, and every little girl has a princess that she can relate to more than the others.  In my opinion, that's kind of a beautiful thing--something that has created so many different characters, and yet united millions and millions of people...yeah, I don't see a problem with that.

Also, if you criticize the princesses about the way they look, how is that going to translate to the little ones when they dress up as those princesses?  Aren't you ingraining even further the ideals we should be ridding ourselves of?

4)  Why stop at the waistlines?  Let's start on every other physically impossible feature.

I don't think it's healthy if your eyes are as big as Ariel's or Rapunzel's.  And please, let's not even start on the unrealistic expectations of hair.  (Seriously, has anyone not watched these movies and been ridiculously envious of the volume, the waves, the effortless style, and ugh, just....let's just stop.)

Pretty sure their feet and hands are all waaaaaaaay too small for their proportions.

See what I mean?  If you open this can of worms, you'd better be ready for the multitude of tiny impossibilities in every single Disney movie.

Don't get me wrong--I see where these artists are coming from.  I know the struggle of body image.  I've experienced it.  I just think they are going about change in the absolute worst way possible.  Animation is all about fairytales, things happening that probably wouldn't happen in a regular life.  That's kind of the point.  That's why they are so magical and so much fun!  Don't ruin it by picking apart stupid little things that don't matter.  Don't ruin the magic.