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fisticuffsandadventure:

thesavagesalad:

feministdisney:

“Are you sure this movie was created in 2010?” Said the other Stabbington brother, in disbelief.   “And they think we’re the bad guys of this movie?  Talk about underrepresentation.”

“Well if you or Gothel are interested in reading more about it, I found a really good tumblr discussion about this entire issue,” said the first Stabbington brother.

(*POC: Person or People of Color)

but seriously tho

even though Tangled had a cute story and amazing art

for a movie that was made in like what? 2010? 2011? It is incredibly unsettling knowing that there was not a single POC. 

idk- story time

Little Bangladeshi girl I used to babysit- she’s got dark brown skin and curly black hair and she owns this blond wig you know? And when ever she feels “ugly” (which is most of the time which breaks my heart) she puts on that blond wig so she can feel pretty again. She got that wig after she watched Tangled. She was so distressed by the fact that she was nothing like Rapunzel (or anyone in that whole movie) or all the other girl focused movies where the leads are always white ( with exception to Tiana, Mulan, Pocahontas and Jasmin) with long straight hair- that she got that wig so she could console herself with the fact that she isn’t “white girl pretty” as she likes to call it.

It’s the same bullshit I grew up with and internalised. There is an 18 year age gap between the two of us and I shit you not, the perceptions of beauty and what it means to be beautiful have not changed at all. Only difference is where I used to put powder all over myself to look white, she’s got a blond wig.

I know there’s gonna be people out there who say “it’s just disney! it’s just a kids movie! you’re an adult so you have no say”

Yeah, it is fucking Disney. If you knew about the history of Disney, it’s loaded with racism. The kids movie bit also turns to shit because what- aren’t our POC babies not worthy of being called kids? Aren’t they deserving of having kids shows that have folks who look like them in it? These things matter- believe me, they do.

As for the adults comment- that is actually really fucking scary that it is adults who make this. It’s adults who have a say in what kids can watch. And the adults who made this movie made it pretty darn clear that POC weren’t good enough for kids to watch in this movie. Or that POC kids aren’t deserving of a diverse viewing experience.

:/

man one of my biggest problems with people who are like ‘omg stop complaining it’s not like kids will notice’

kids DO notice

shit, i noticed

and my friends all noticed too.

why do you think i got told to be jasmine or pochahontas when we played around w/ that shit when i wanted to be snow white? because kids notice. they looked at snow white in all her lily-white fucking adorable-ass glory and looked at me and saw some frizzy-haired brown bitch and they’re like, ‘nope.’

kids can develop massive complexes over this shit. little white girls start acting like they’re better because they get the quote-unquote cool princesses and little poc girls feel like shit that they don’t look like the ‘good’ princesses.

so while it may not be the most important thing ever omg in terms of race relations, it does have an effect so can we please stop pretending it doesn’t ok yes thank you.

[WARNING for racism/privilege-denying/victim-blaming under the “read more” cut]

antoinette721:

Sorry guys I work at disneyland.  And you know the little girls that dress up in the princess dresses.  I see every race and creed as every princess.  White girls as Mulan,  Asian girls as Ariel, black girls as snow white, hispanic girls as Tiana and it mixes and matches for every character and race.  I’ve seen it all and I love it!  They don’t look at the character and see a race.  They see their confidence and personality and want to emulate it.  I’m not saying that the girl previously mentioned has a warped sense of beauty.  Yes its true that in America, the white skinny blonde girl is the “standard” in beauty.  But that’s ALL media.  Not Disney.  And yes you’re right.  A lot of the old movies, like Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc. have racist sentiments.  Its not right but you have to consider the time period they were made.  Racism was common and acceptable in those times.  ALL the studios had those sentiments, not just Disney.  That was just the thought process back then.  Thank goodness its changed.  Look guys Disney isn’t perfect. But they don’t intentionally want girls to feel bad about the way they look.  In fact its quite the opposite.  We have Tiana and Rapunzel who are strong female leads who don’t spend the whole movie trying to get a boyfriend or going to a ball.  They’re focused on they’re dreams and if someone worthy comes along who has proven himself that’s when they get the guy.  And did I forget to mention that Flynn had a thing for brunettes? Not blondes.

As for the girl with the blonde wig, its unfortunate that she doesn’t think she’s pretty because she sounds gorgeous. I certainly wouldn’t want her to be anything but who she is.  But there are many cultures that throughout the centuries have preferred paler skin and lighter hair as a standard of beauty. Being pale meant you were rich because you didn’t have to work in the sun.  That’s how things were back then. 

But here’s another factor.  Does anyone in her family call her beautiful?  Sometimes families are weird and don’t show their kids that they love them.  (this is just a hypothetical question that refers to all families and not just this specific one.)

Plus she’s little and kids are mean.  That’s just a fact.  Kids will call someone ugly because they’re different.  I’m white with red hair and I was the ugly girl in elementary school.  Boys would run away from me disgusted and not many girls would hang out with me.  And we were a pretty diverse bunch of kids race wise.  So its not like it was just out of a bunch of white people.  And my heroes at that age were Pocahontas and Mulan.  I would always pretend I was them, strong and brave.  I had Pocahontas costume jewelry that I would constantly wear even to school.  So maybe this Bangladesh girl admires Rapunzel for her courage and wants to emulate her the only way a kid knows how.  Dressing up as her.  

I’m not saying there isn’t a warped sense of beauty in modern media.  I’d be one of the people to agree with you.  And I think its crazy that people think they have to be white and blonde to be beautiful.  That’s just dumb.  And you can go ahead and blame Disney all you want. You’re probably right on a few points.  But if you’re so against what Disney represents then why do you let her watch it?  Why not try to find some media that pertains to her race if you want her to be proud of herself.  I mean women didn’t get rights by sitting around and complaining about it.  They did something about it.  And hey if you’re posting this story on tumblr you obviously have acess to the internet.  So go out and find some stories about Bangladesh heroines and bring it over next time you babysit.

i wanna point out a few things [although since i’m extremely out-of-it i’m sure i’ve missed a lot and i’m sorry]:

@antoinette721:

* you, fellow whitey — i.e. fellow person who **benefits from racism** — do not get to try to talk over people of color talking about their life experiences wrt racism.

* you think you, fellow whitey, know best about racism.  you think your [white] interpretation of things matters the most, is the most ~objective and ~rational.

* you want to blame the family of the girl thesavagesalad babysat, assume her feeling ugly is THEIR fault somehow, and/or assume the girl’s exposure to white supremacist garbage is thesavagesalad’s fault.

* really this **whole post** has you defending and excusing racism and **blaming people of color for the damage done by white supremacy, blaming people of color for their own oppression**.  and you also seem to be saying “shut up and be grateful it’s not worse”.

* there sure do seem to be a shit-ton of ridiculous assumptions you’d rather entertain than consider that  fisticuffsandadventure and thesavagesalad **know what they’re talking about**.

* “I had Pocahontas costume jewelry that I would constantly wear even to school.” — nice appropriation there [/sarcasm].

* “I’m white with red hair and I was the ugly girl in elementary school.” — your white privilege would make this VERY MUCH NOT THE SAME as what the girl thesavagesalad babysat is going through, asshole.

* “they don’t intentionally want girls to feel bad about the way they look” — even if this is true, it doesn’t matter.  the RESULTS are what matter.

* get off the internet, you’re disgusting.

post notes:

  1. girlwithbeestunglips reblogged this from arseniccupcakes
  2. esmethenotsogreat reblogged this from feministdisney and added:
    Thank god, I thought I...only person who had a problem with
  3. ismichi reblogged this from chinchillaghosts
  4. chinchillaghosts reblogged this from inspiremeindigo and added:
    It’s like playing ‘Where’s Waldo’
  5. inspiremeindigo reblogged this from feministdisney
  6. psstpendragon reblogged this from jackpendragon
  7. ejdoyle reblogged this from feministdisney and added:
    But…. the movie’s set in medieval Scotland. Should Disney draw some more characters and stories from other settings?...
  8. broken-endings reblogged this from feministdisney
  9. avillagetoraiseachild reblogged this from morgandea and added:
    It may mean very little, but my two cents: Pocahontas and Mulan were incredibly heroic and proactive. Whereas the...
  10. morgandea reblogged this from cuntofdoom and added:
    As much as I love Disney, stories like these are really distressing. Disney really needs to work on their diversity -...
  11. insignificantuser reblogged this from thefullmetalbitch
  12. thecrazyassmagician reblogged this from ferrets-are-awesome and added:
    Why does everyone think that POC were only in Europe during and after the slavery era? Why has history classes and...
  13. versipelles reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach
  14. unknown20troper reblogged this from ferrets-are-awesome and added:
    There were POC in medieval Europe.
  15. damnlayoffthebleach reblogged this from ferrets-are-awesome and added:
    TayTay: Point missed Perhaps you should read the tumblr discussion there is a link… Actually no- GO READ IT READ IT
  16. ferrets-are-awesome reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach and added:
    Wasn’t the movie set in medieval Europe, or such as?
  17. masteradept reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach
  18. nowherezone11 reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach
  19. thefullmetalbitch reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach
  20. johnsonslittlefishingbuddy reblogged this from damnlayoffthebleach
  21. torbies reblogged this from feministdisney and added:
    Wow, blinded by my own privilege: I didn’t even notice
  22. haveyouseenmyjohn reblogged this from comedanceintherain
  23. www-fuck-this-shityolo reblogged this from stopwhitewashing
  24. smdy reblogged this from historicalslut
  25. grabmoriartyscrownjewels reblogged this from aspireandconspire
  26. aspireandconspire reblogged this from feministdisney
  27. slimmingthehealthyway reblogged this from inspirationwithdedication
  28. bananacupcakes reblogged this from seriouslyamerica
  29. kresh962 reblogged this from solavis and added:
    important! Something
  30. improbableomnicide reblogged this from yamino
  31. kmgreh131 reblogged this from yamino
  32. cockleshells reblogged this from moon-rabbits
  33. moon-rabbits reblogged this from glompkitty
  34. tealrallythong reblogged this from adailyriot
  35. icecream-sandwich reblogged this from brambly-hedge and added:
    To everyone who’s tired of children of colour growing up on white Disney princesses, the film industry needs you. If...