A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals:
Merida and the New Princess
By
Azza El Masri
May Farah
MCOM201
Research Paper
30.04.2013
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 1
Growing up, girls dress up in pretty frilly dresses and wear tiaras, imagining
that they are imprisoned in some dungeon like Rapunzel or sent in exile like Snow
White, awaiting for the Prince Charming to come to their rescue. But then, in 2012, a
new Princess was introduced to the court: Merida, wild, rebellious and unabashedly
independent. She doesn’t wear tiaras, she isn’t obedient; instead she wields a bow and
rides her horse into the nature. Her main problem wasn’t that she couldn’t be allowed
to pursue her quest for true love: it was her mother, a domineering queen that clung to
her traditional principles. When “Brave” was released on the silver screen, news
buzzed of a new Princess that has shaken the rules of the game and lead to many
questions posed: Can Merida, the Disney heroine from Brave, be the exception to the
rule? Is Merida the first real feminist Disney/Pixar Princess? Are Merida and Queen
Elinor’s relationship an embodiment of the tension between the traditional Disney
Princess and the postmodern Princess? How does that benefit Pixar for whom Merida
is their first female protagonist? Since traditional Disney Princesses portrayed certain
norms and values, the struggle between conservatism and postmodern realism is
apparent within the dichotomy of personalities between Queen Elinor and Princess
Merida and this has lead to new implications on Pixar and on girls’ perception of
reality.
Literature Review
From a pedagogical view, Disney has become a new schooling mechanism
according to Henry Giroux (1999) who has seen tropes being reproduced in all of
Disney’s animated films, but most importantly, in order to promote values of
consumption and conservative gender role attitudes. Similarly, studies conducted
Towben, Haddock, Zimmerman, Lund, and Tanner (2004) and England, Descartes
and Collier-Meek (2011) have both shown that certain tropes concerning Disney
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 2
Princesses’ have been recurrent and have lead to a certain alienation of the woman’s
agency. Tuchman (1978) presents different key features in which the woman in mass
media in general is misrepresented, and in the case of the Disney Princesses, the trait
of domesticity is a recurrent and reproduced one. Sturken and Cartwright (2009) see
that these representations of the woman produce meaning, and in this case, meaning
about gender roles. It must be noted that the literature on “Brave” is very minimal and
restricted to op-ed pieces in newspapers and magazines like The New York Times,
Forbes and Times because of the recency of the film.
Queen Elinor embodies everything a traditional Disney Princess wants and
has: she is obedient, graceful, and kind. She is especially eligible for marriage while
also being blessed with an unrealistically beautiful and thin body. This reiterates the
discussion and debate on representations within a social and media context.
Indeed, at a young age, children need to find a certain figure or role model to
assimilate themselves to. When adults can’t help them fulfill their desires, they turn to
the “happiest place in the world”, Disney. Girls, specifically have often mirrored their
actions to that of the Disney Princesses like Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Snow White.
Henry Giroux (1999) showed that Disney has become a new “teaching mechanism”
that replaced traditional institutions, and has therefore become a very big part of
children’s lives (p. 84). But what they didn’t know was that by doing so, they begin to
incorporate conservative ideals and norms that get imprinted within the recesses of
their subconscious. Indeed, England, Descartes and Collier-Meek (2011) proved that
the gender role portrayals in films influence children’s ideas on gender, especially in
films that target them as the principal audience, namely animation movies (p.556). In
that sense, representations of gender in Disney movie impact children on a
psychological but most importantly on a social level. Indeed, according to Sturken
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 3
and Cartwright (2009), representations generate meaning that media producers and
executives try to diffuse through different forms, whether it is language or pictorial
representation. However, these representations don’t necessarily reflect reality—as is
the case of Queen Elinor’s character and aspirations—but “they organize, construct,
and mediate our understanding of reality, emotion, and imagination” (Sturken &
Cartwright, 2009, p. 13). In fact, if Queen Elinor embodies certain views of how a girl
should behave and act, it is because her character is construed within a set of value
and belief systems that reinforce these views, as is the case with all traditional Disney
Princesses. This is why Queen Elinor represents the typical traits of a traditional
Disney Princess and tries to enforce them on Merida.
First, a Princess is obedient, graceful and kind. The subordination of women in
Disney movie is reproduced within Queen Elinor’s discourse on how it is a lady
should properly behave. A lady—nay, a Princess—knows her place and follows
orders; she is graceful, well spoken and respectful. To a certain extent, then, a Disney
Princess’ agency is always produced and located within a masculine narrative, as was
the case with Mulan, Snow White, Pocahontas and many more. Giroux examines the
pedagogical implications that Disney films have on children, and shows that by
promoting these values of obedience and subordination, Disney movies are creating a
“metaphor for the traditional housewife in the making” (1999, p. 99). Elinor’s
schooling of the proper lady-like manners and characters are precisely to make
Merida a perfect and obedient wife that will have the responsibility to take care of her
household, but most importantly, her betrothal will be a sign of unity in the kingdom.
Indeed, if a Princess is taught to be obedient and subordinate, it is because she
is always eligible (and should be eager to be) for marriage. As Merida laments in the
beginning of the film: “I’m the Princess. I’m the example. I’ve got duties,
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 4
responsibilities, expectations. My whole life is planned out!” (Chapman & Andrews,
2012). That Elinor’s eyes lit up at the mention of all three suitors accepted the offer to
compete for Merida’s hand prove not only that a lady should be happy that she is
being offered such an opportunity, but that the domestication of women in films and
media is still the most reproduced theme. In reference to Gaye Tuchman’s essay
(1978), the misrepresentation of women in media is frequent and now cultivated
certain tropes, one of which is the domestication of the female character. That Disney
is reproducing such a gender role is no surprise since it has been reinforcing this
conservative worldview of gender roles since the first Disney Princess movie, Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs, and therefore since 1938.
And finally, a Disney Princess is forevermore thin and careful to take care of
her appearance. This skewed and unrealistic representation of the Disney Princess’
appearance directly affects and annihilates the audience’s self-esteem, especially for
young girls. Indeed, according to a study conducted by Towben, Haddock,
Zimmerman, Lund and Tanner (2004), four main traits have been recurrent in Disney
Princesses. The first one—and probably the most important one—is that “a woman’s
appearance is more important than her intellect” (p. 30). That Disney focuses on the
appearance of its female leads transmits to children that you can’t get your prince
charming, you cannot be successful if you aren’t beautiful (and not if you’re not smart
enough). Elinor’s stressful fussing over Merida’s attire and posture during the games
(in which three suitors competed to win the Princess’ hand) is a testament to Elinor’s
attempt to rule Merida’s wild, defiant side in order to bring out her beauty by
parading her in a flattering attire.
We must remember, then, what a Princess truly strives for: it isn’t just
marriage or respect or a perfect body, “a Princess,” proudly proclaims Queen Elinor,
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 5
“strives for—well—perfection” (Chapman & Andrews, 2012). A Princess must
become this perfect symbol of obedience, eligibility, and beauty in order to get men’s
attention.
If Queen Elinor embodies the traditional characteristics of the Disney
Princesses, then Merida, by comparison, is the symbol of the contemporary, reckless
teenager. Merida’s case has been ironically ignored (or forgotten) in the realm of
feminist studies on Disney, perhaps because of the film’s recency. However, an
interest has been registered between media and film critics, reflected in the many
Time, New York Times and Forbes articles on Merida’s character.
Princess Merida, first of all, is a 21st century teenage girl set in a mythically
envisioned medieval Scotland. Indeed, in a New York Times article published on 21,
June 2012, Manhola Dargis sees Merida as the long-awaited rupture from the
traditional Disney Princess line. Merida is the different, she’s the “anti-Rapunzel”
(Dargis, 2012) meaning that she, Merida, goes after her own destiny, she seeks it. She
doesn’t await it. In that sense, Merida is an active Princess, not a passive one. But
most importantly, she is a Princess that preteens and teenagers could relate to: she’s
rebellious, pigheaded and blames everything on her mom. She feels misunderstood,
done wrongly to, and alienated. She nags and huffs at her mother’s every request but
she also exudes independence. Merida, unlike the traditional Princesses, is able to
fend for herself. She mans a bow and knows how to shoot it. She defies the
stereotypical and traditional tropes of the Disney Princess films by showing herself to
be able to live in the wilderness, to climb the highest of cliffs and drink from a
legendary fountain, a testament of bravery that was restricted to the “Ancient Kings”
according to her father, Fergus. In the same time, when Merida realizes that she may
lose everything that she holds dear, she—and not a man—saves the day (Dargis,
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 6
2012, June 21). Therefore, Merida is very much like The Hunger Games’ Katniss, a
bow-wielding heroine who is conflicted about the traditions upheld within a
postmodern framework.
Second, the originality of Merida’s character and plotline comes with the
absence of romantic interest. Merida, unlike the Princesses before her, is not
concerned about marriage or finding true love. If anything, she is concerned with
upholding her independence and this is why no men are allowed. In a schism with the
fixed Disney Princess storyline, “Brave” doesn’t delve into romance and the idea of
true love, but rather focuses on a mother’s relationship to her rebellious teenaged
daughter. In that sense, Eric Kain in Forbes (2012, February 3) sees Merida as “the
hero of the story. Not as its defiant damsel” (p.2). Going against traditional Disney
tropes, Merida doesn’t need any man saving her; she is the one doing the rescuing.
The total absence of romanticism in this film shows the undoubted schism with the
traditional Disney Princesses. In that sense, Disney, with Pixar, is entering in a new
realm that sees to break the customary gender roles.
But if Merida is a great archer and the sole hero in the film, does that really
make her empowered? Isn’t the fact that she is a princess hinders the total notion of
empowerment, especially in relation to girls? In a controversial Times op-ed piece on
“Brave” and Merida’s character, Mary Pols (2012, June 22) attempts to reconsider
Merida’s independence and empowerment. The problem with Merida’s character,
according to Pols, is that it reaffirms the princess trope, the one that girls immediately
relate to. That it is being reproduced shows that Pixar (and not Disney) has not just
offered a new female lead, but also has imprisoned her within a context of fairytales.
Similarly, Dargis (2012, June 21) criticizes Merida’s galvanized rescue at the end of
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 7
the film since it is deeply set within domestic dimensions. Indeed, Dargis (2012, June
21) explains it plainly:
But [her struggle] is a contingent freedom won with smiles, acquiescence and
a literal needle and thread with which she neatly sews up the story, repairing a
world where girls and women know exactly where they stand. (p.2)
In that sense, Merida’s heroic character is limited within a reproduced
framework of domesticity that Gaye Tuchman (1978) explains in her essay: the
woman is domesticated and placed in roles that locate her within the private realm,
and in this case, that Merida saves day by sewing up the tapestry she had willingly cut
reproduces this representation of the woman’s place in society.
The fact that “Brave” has been a film made by Pixar, an animation studio that
dealt mostly with male leads and storylines that reflected on friendship, camaraderie
and other issues that appeal to 12-year-old boys, and not Disney, holds heavy
implications on the animation universe but, most importantly, on girls of the 21st
century. In that sense, Pixar breaks apart the old film tropes.
First, girls are pushed to pursue their own adventures. They are pursued to be
the heroes of their own stories in the sense that Merida is given agency that had been
absent in traditional Disney Princess movies. This is mostly because Merida’s
character is a representation of the current reality of how a teenage girl behaves and
acts. She demands independence but also yearns for the permanent protection from
her parents. In that sense, Pixar break away from the stereotypes that come with being
a Princess, something that Disney has not tried (has not been willing?) to do
(McMillan, 2012, June 20). In fact, Merida is the embodiment of what Brenda
Chapman, creator and co-director of “Brave”, calls a “real girl” according to Murphy
(2012, June 15) in The New York Times. Chapman created Merida’s character to “give
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 8
girls something to look at and not feel inadequate”. Therefore, Merida gives girls
something to relate to, because her struggle is their struggle (Murphy, 2012, June 15).
Second, the absence of romance in “Brave” gives girls an opportunity to think
outside the outdated and reproduced formula of true love. Indeed, “Brave” teaches
girls to stop waiting for a man in a white horse to sweep them off their feet, but to
work on themselves as women first. Merida’s rejection of customs and marriage
reflects a set of values that make girls rethink their priorities. That all Disney
Princesses’ stories end in marriage is an attempt to instill this certain value is colossal
to a girl’s happiness while the end of the film “Brave” sees Merida and Queen Elinor
deciding that the Princess can choose her own suitor, in her own time whenever she
desires, effectively breaking with tradition. In other words, Pixar is urging girls to see
outside the scope of true love and marriage and see through a lens of self-achievement
and independence and this is reflected through Pixar by making Merida their first
female lead.
Indeed, that change has come after a 17-year history of male leads shows that
Pixar in itself has evolved into an animation studio that is trying to bring in new
perspectives, especially with the chairman of the animation studio hiring Brenda
Chapman to direct “Brave” and thus making her the first female director. Chapman
created the story behind “Brave” by touching upon her real-life experience with her 5year-old daughter, in that sense pouring heart and soul into this project. Yet, when the
glass ceiling crashed on Chapman and Mark Andrews replaced her in the last 18
months of production, the implications for women in the animation industry were
considerably clear: this was a man’s world. In a Los Angeles Times piece, Nicole
Sperling (2011, March 25) describes the increasingly patriarchal context within which
the animation industry is embedded. However, this is slowly changing with the rise in
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 9
numbers of female filmmakers and female filmmaking students. This would open the
opportunity for female veterans like Chapman to mentor these aspiring filmmakers.
In conclusion, if Queen Elinor represented the values and norms held by the
traditional Disney Princesses, then Merida breaks away from them as she asserts her
independence and individuality. Merida in “Brave” allows girls to move away from
the ideas of true love and prince charming to the ideas of independence and agency.
A “Brave” Schism From Traditional Gender Portrayals 10
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