This House believes that The Little Mermaid (Disney's version) does more harm than good for

women /
girls empowerment.

What’s The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature
Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The story is based on the 1837 classic Hans Christian
Anderson tale there is also a live action adaptation of it in 2023. and in the Disney version the story goes
the mermaid Ariel who dreams of the life on land and is willing to sacrifice almost anything to get it
which leads her to make a dangerous pact with the sea witch Ursula, the pact being if Prince Eric doesn’t
kiss her in time, she’ll lose her newly acquired human legs and return to the sea as Ursula’s creature. but
in the original Hans Christian Anderson tale Ariel turned into a pile of green seafoam at the end.

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Compared to the other Disney princesses, Ariel gets a bad rap. If Belle is The Girl Who Reads and Mulan
is The Girl Who Fights, Ariel is known as The Girl Who Gives Up Her Voice for a man that she just met.
But even in the original, Ariel doesn’t actually give up her voice because she’s crushing on Prince Eric.
Instead she does it because she feels powerless. In fact, Ariel yearns for the human world long before
she meet Prince Eric because she thinks it’s her best escape from her controlling father.

When her father violently destroys her trove of human treasures, Ariel runs to Ursula the sea witch for
help. In typical sea witch fashion, Ursula manipulates Ariel’s desperation to escape. She says that if Ariel
doesn’t accept her deal, she might as well “go back home to her father and never leave again.” No
wonder Ariel gives up her voice and chugs that Human Legs Potion. Ariel was put in a terrible situation,
and like so many young people put in terrible situations, she’s led to believe that she has no choice.

But, we have to give credit where credit is due, Ariel is bold and is willing to take risks, and that is an
important lesson for all of us, especially women. Because boys are always taught to be brave and girls
are taught to be careful. This makes girls less willing to take risks, and that is an important lesson for all
of us, especially women. And when girls do fail, they’re harder on themselves believing they let
someone else down. In the long term, this risk-aversion limits women’s career growth. After all, if Ariel
hadn’t defied her society and boldly rescued Eric, she’d never have become a future queen of the
surface land.

Animated movies are often a child’s first exposure to media and film. And the representation of people
of color in media influences how they feel about race as they mature, a study by the non-profit Common
Sense has found. Parents who took part in the study said they wanted their kids to see themselves
reflected in the media. In the original 1989 Disney animated classic, Ariel’s character is White, with
straight red hair. But when young Black and brown girls head to theaters to see “The Little Mermaid,”
they’ll find an Ariel that is very much a reflection of themselves.

The trailer for the new liveaction film made waves earlier this year, setting off a series of debates about
whether a real-life Ariel should be Black or White. Out of the 12 Disney princesses, seven are White. It
wasn’t until 2009 that Disney introduced a Black princess Tiana in an original animated film “The
Princess and the Frog.” Disney’s other racially diverse princesses were Mulan, Pocahontas and Jasmine.

Some critics argued on Twitter that Ariel was a White character from Danish European folklore and
should remain that way. Others, including far-right pundit Matt Walsh, suggested that it didn’t make
scientific sense to have someone with darker skin living deep in the sea.

But what these critics failed to mention is that Ariel is a fictional character from a fairy tale story. So why
does her race really matter? As the country becomes increasingly diverse, it seems only fair for Disney to
be more inclusive of Black princesses, whether animated or live. Despite the racist backlash, the
excitement in Black households speaks to the historic significance of this moment.

Maryann Erigha, an associate professor of sociology and African American studies at the University of
Georgia, said we live in a visual culture so the images young people see in movies matter. Ariel as a
young Black woman with a natural hairstyle is something Black girls can rally around, Erigha said. “I do
believe it’s a step forward,” Erigha said. “Casting a young Black girl in a very prominent role in a major
motion picture that’s going to be seen worldwide … I think that’s very much a step in the right
direction.”

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