Comments on: Disney’s Pocahontas reconsidered

By: Tammy

Tammy — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:48:58 +0000

As a Native American and a mother I find it ludicrous that nobody has a problem with the kidnapping & raping of Pocahontas. Nor that she supposedly had a love relationship at approx the age of 10 yrs old with a man in his 30s. So much for feminine power eh?

By: Perceptions and Assumptions « sparker10

Perceptions and Assumptions « sparker10 — Sat, 14 May 2011 22:46:23 +0000

[...] 4.) Pocahontas: http://www.historiann.com/2010/09/17/disneys-pocahontas-reconsidered/ [...]

By: ntbw

ntbw — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:39:32 +0000

Fow what it’s worth, some preschool boys have a princess phase too. I have adorable pictures of my older son wearing the pink “princess dress” from the dress up box at his preschool. It was his favorite. He never watched the Disney princess movies that I can recall, but he loved that dress. Now he’s 9, and it’s all cars, machines, and things that explode all the time. I sort of miss the dress.

By: FrauTech

FrauTech — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:40:25 +0000

I grew up loving Disney movies. And I still do! So for all their faults on women’s body images, racism, etc I just can’t help but be rooting for Disney. I really hope they continue making animated feature lengths. I consider how far they’ve come with the “Indians/Savages” in Peter Pan to the Native Americans in Pocahontas. Yes there’s always progress to be made, but you always know what you’re going to get with a Disney movie. I don’t see anything wrong with a Princess phase as long as little girls are also taking on ideas of independence and confidence. I think what makes a disney “princess” has really changed. And I love how diverse the princesses have gotten. It may seem kind of silly, but I just tear up knowing that little girls of various ethnic backgrounds now have their own princesses who look just like them. And we need more of that.

By: takingitoutside

takingitoutside — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:55:37 +0000

Whoops, that link was here.

By: takingitoutside

takingitoutside — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:54:26 +0000

I was only 11 when Pocahontas came out, but I remember looking down, in my 11 year-old way, on all the silly adults who just didn’t get that John Smith and Pocahontas fell in love in the movie because that’s the way Disney movies go, duh! And so forth.

Really, it seems like Disney’s animated films need to be dealt with as a group. At this point they have years of not history so much as past practice, and they fit all new films into the older oeuvre. I wrote about how you can see that in http://takingitoutside.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/the-princess-and-the-frog-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day/"The Princess and the Frog on my blog awhile back. I’m very interested in seeing what the next film looks like, and I’m worried that Disney will stop making them. For all their problems, I hope not.

By: JJO

JJO — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:04:45 +0000

My youngest, a 3 year-old boy, frequently gets in fights with his older sisters about who gets to wear the red Snow White princess shoes. We also have pictures of him (on multiple occasions) in a Wonder Woman costume. We’re saving those for his prom night.

By: Hattie

Hattie — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:24:21 +0000

Like they say, enjoy the princess phase! What follows is a good deal more difficult!

By: Historiann

Historiann — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:02:23 +0000

She may just be bemused by it all, or she may really enjoy it. I have friends in their 40s who are more into Disney stuff than their kids are. And if it’s not her only child, she may know that it’s a fleeting stage after all, and just want to enjoy it. As Western Dave suggests, there are other interests after Princesses that may make parents nostalgic for the days of dress-up ballgowns.

(Most parents think whatever their kids do or are into is pretty special, even when it’s not really!)

By: truffula

truffula — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:53:45 +0000

arents who are traumatized by their daughters’ princess phase

But in this case, I’m the one who is traumatized by the child’s princess phase, not her mother. Her mother seems not-so-secretly pleased while at the same time denies responsibility for it. It’s not what I’d expect. Probably good for the child though, to have a mother who says okay kiddo, whatever.