Teen girls start petition for plus-size Disney princess

[Everlong]

http://www.people.com/people/article/0, ... 24,00.html

As a plus-size female, Jewel Moore says she felt alienated by the media. So the high school junior from Farmville, Va., launched her own online petition: "Make Plus-Size Princesses in Disney Movies!"

"I made this petition because I'm a plus-size young woman, and I know many plus-size girls and women who struggle with confidence and need a positive plus-size character in the media," Moore explains on her Change.org petition page. "Studies show that a child's confidence correlates greatly with how much representation they have in the media. It's extremely difficult to find a positive representation of plus-size females in the media."

Thousands of others agree. In the several days following the petition's release, "Make Plus-Size Princesses in Disney Movies!" has accumulated 11,044 signatures – less than 4,000 away from Moore's goal.

The unattainable big eyes, tiny waists and flawless hair of Disney princesses are all make-believe, but the petition's supporters argue that their effects on young women are real. Many signers went on to share their own struggles with media standards in the comments.

Moore concludes her popular petition with hope for a more realistic media image for the countless young girls who don't feel they fit the Disney princess standard.

"It would be revolutionary for Disney to show support to a group of girls who are otherwise horrendously bullied by the media. It would make many young girls feel confident and worthy to see a strong character that looks like them."

I'm sure I'm opening up a can of worms here, but what do you guys think about this?

[PorkChop]

Where's my ten-foot pole when I need it?

[Daz]

I don't have a problem with it in theory (that theory being that the Disney princess lineup presents an idealistic looking woman that's impossible for young girls to live up to) but I also don't think we should be encouraging children and teenager girls to be fat. If only for health reasons.

You might say that having a plus sized character encouraging children to gain weight is ridiculous but oh contraire my friends, if the thin characters can cause body issues, girls trying to live up to the visual aesthetic of their favourite characters etc. ... then why would it be any different when it comes to the bigger ones.

There's also the question of who takes the appearance of cartoon characters seriously enough to let it alter their perception of themselves? I'm a fairly thin person, depending on how much Pizza I've consumed in any given month, but I certainly don't resemble any cartoon characters ... because I'm not a fucking cartoon character.

I don't know, I guess what I'm getting at is fuck this girl, and fuck her silly petition. Put the fork down and start wearing more corsets... Just not right away.

[Ali]

In my view, there's a difference between "plus-size" and "obese". Plus-size can still be healthy, and this girl doesn't look like she's struggling to be alive. Yeah, she's overweight, but she still looks happy and relatively healthy. As for a plus-size Princess, why the Hell not? Disney can handle any controversy with it, the only problem I can see is that they'd have to be careful about how they write it. I mean, if they have a fat princess who's at least active and making an effort to not go off the deep end into morbid obesity, that could work.

In terms of a movie, you can do this. I see no reason not to try it out, just as long you remember to walk that line of "Naturally fat with a healthy lifestyle" vs. "I have my cake and TV, I don't need to move". And yes, the former does exist. I've seen it first-hand.

[ShaneOfan]

If they don't get what they want they are going to march waddle on Washington.

[Locke]

Plus-size like the girl in the picture? Sure.
Obese like Gilbert Grape? No.

[SKS]

I think the problem is that people take these princesses too seriously. They aren't real people. And a lot of girls look at mainstream media and think "I'm not super skinny so I'm ugly", which is the main problem. True beauty isn't defined by what you look like. Beauty in social terms is basically if you look hot or ugly, which is stupid, because there are many people who are beautiful looks wise, but are total bitches, and then you have "plus sized" people who are actually nice and warm human beings. Disney princesses are supposed to be "perfect" aren't they? And people view "perfection" as nice skin, thin frame and attractiveness. That's just how it is in mainstream media and probably won't change. They'll see someone with a few extra pounds and be like, oh she's pretty but she's fat. And it's just stupid. Your own beauty is how you define it, fuck what everyone else says. You don't have to be skinny or thin or fat or obese to be beautiful. And I feel like as long as you're healthy, then go ahead and live your life to the fullest no matter what you look like.

[Buck]

I believe this will cause young girls to be fat.

Why? Because I'm fat, and this was my favorite cartoon character growing up:

[War Daddy]

[Locke]

^Not Disney, therefore, doesn't count.

[Kein]

The whole "fat acceptance" trend that goes around online really irritates me. Highly annoying and has simply gone too far.

"men should see your inner beauty"
"you shouldn't have to change yourself to be accepted"
"you should be proud of who you are"

I understand self-acceptance, but ignoring health risks and encouraging people to not better themselves and expect to be loved while not work for a change for the better is a bad idea as a whole. Everyone should work on improving themselves, and not expect others to cater to them. I think this mentality bothers me mostly because of how self-centered it is and it just seems like these kinds of opinions expect the world to revolve around them.

[Hanley!]

The whole "fat acceptance" trend that goes around online really irritates me. Highly annoying and has simply gone too far.

"men should see your inner beauty"
"you shouldn't have to change yourself to be accepted"
"you should be proud of who you are"

I understand self-acceptance, but ignoring health risks and encouraging people to not better themselves and expect to be loved while not work for a change for the better is a bad idea as a whole. Everyone should work on improving themselves, and not expect others to cater to them. I think this mentality bothers me mostly because of how self-centered it is and it just seems like these kinds of opinions expect the world to revolve around them.

I see your point of view, but it's obviously not that these people expect the world to revolve around them - they just don't want the world to revolve around everyone else exclusively.

I agree that we shouldn't be glorifying being overweight by any means. And I know some movies do kind of gloss over the health implications in trying to sell a message about being beautiful on the inside, so that it becomes questionable whether or not the message the movie is selling is a good one.

But how much does it suck, both from an offensive standpoint and a creative standpoint, that there aren't more plus sized characters on television or in movies that get to be anything other than "the fat character". It becomes their only defining character trait most of them time. And this goes not just for characters that are particularly fat, but anyone whose weight is a little over the average.

If you click on the link above and look at the picture of the girl, she's not really overweight. She's a larger girl, but she doesn't look fat. It would definitely be possible to draw a girl of that size and just not bring up the weight issue at all. The audience's minds wouldn't necessarily jump to it right away because it's not an extreme example by any means. I think the real point of this petition is to see a Disney princess who ISN'T ridiculously thin.

Now I'm actually a huge Disney fan, and the thin characters have never exactly put me off a film. Frozen is one of the best films I've seen in ages, and the two lead females in that film were as ridiculously thin as other Disney princesses. But on the other hand, their facial expressions, movements and general demeanours made them stand out and seem more like real people. If film makers can do anything like that to make their characters stand out a little from what came before, I think it's something that should definitely be considered and this weight issue is definitely an example of where they could make a change.

[Locke]

For the record.. 10/10 would do

[War Daddy]

I've always remembered seeing fat women characters though. They are usually evil villains, but they are there.

[Locke]

^Well that's the point of the petition, have the fat character be the heroine instead of the villain or goofy failure of a friend.

[War Daddy]

^Well that's the point of the petition, have the fat character be the heroine instead of the villain or goofy failure of a friend.

Well, then disney would probably have to go the "fat to skinny" route. Start off fat, then show success in losing the weight by the end of the movie.

[Locke]

Yes, because all fat people are unsuccessful failures and/or evil.

Fuck, I didn't really think Disney needed to do this but clearly some of you are so god damn delusional maybe it couldn't hurt to show that all larger people aren't fuck ups.

[War Daddy]

Yes, because all fat people are unsuccessful failures and/or evil.

Fuck, I didn't really think Disney needed to do this but clearly some of you are so god damn delusional maybe it couldn't hurt to show that all larger people aren't fuck ups.

Never said that. The petition is for plus size princesses, right? Well, if it helps motivate younger children, I'd go with the fat to skinny route.

[Locke]

I guess I read it wrong, I read it as "In order to show success she'll have to lose weight first."

I don't get the whole "Don't encourage them to get fat" thing. As a parent, it's easily understood that children get fat because of their parents choices of foods for them. Honey Boo Boo is Honey Boo Boo because her mom is motherfucking Godzilla.

[War Daddy]

I guess I read it wrong, I read it as "In order to show success she'll have to lose weight first."

I don't get the whole "Don't encourage them to get fat" thing. As a parent, it's easily understood that children get fat because of their parents choices of foods for them. Honey Boo Boo is Honey Boo Boo because her mom is motherfucking Godzilla.

Oh no, it was a more a you can successfully lose weight thing. I want media to show that you CAN lose the weight. Well, I can never count on the media anyways.


As for kids, most of their food choices come from the disgusting food lunches(depending where you are). Most parents DO try to give better choices, but most of the time, it's usually on the school to give better choices. Parents these days are working longer days to provide so they are usually their for breakfast and dinner. Hell most kids just eat breakfast on the go or at the school too.