The Foolish Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is by far one of the most noticeable films perpetuating the stereotypes of women that Disney produced. It is interesting that a little more than ten years prior, Disney released The Rescuers which showed less traditional female leads in the past and yet this movie sets back the progress of more modern gender roles several decades, reminiscent instead of the Cinderella and Snow White era. The entire plot revolves around the idea of sacrificing everything for a man. Despite this being one of my favorite movies as a child, I can now see how absolutely ridiculous the concept of this 1989 film is. Ariel is a sixteen year old mermaid princess and one of seven daughters to her father, King Triton. She longs to be part of the human world and spends her days collecting artifacts from the surface. During one particular surface visit, she notices Prince Eric on a ship, and true to Disney fashion, immediately falls in love with him. A storm hits and Ariel rescues Eric from drowning, bringing him to the beach. She sings him back to consciousness but then disappears as he wakes up; Eric swears to find the girl who saved his life. Triton had forbidden visits to the surface, fearing the humans because of fishermen, and when he finds out about Ariel rescuing the prince, he destroys her collection of artifacts in a fit of rage and Ariel swims off.

A pair of eels then take Ariel to visit their master, the sea witch Ursula, who strikes up a deal with Ariel. For the price of her voice, she can have human legs for three days, but in that time she must receive true love's first kiss from Eric, otherwise she turns back into a mermaid and her soul belongs to Ursula. During her time on shore, Ariel can't seem to manage to get Eric to kiss her. Without her voice though, he cannot recognize her as the girl who saved him. Ursula then disguises herself as a girl named Vanessa and puts a spell on Eric, forcing him to fall in love with her. The next day Ariel learns that Vanessa and Eric are to be married that day on a ship. Heartbroken, she wanders off, crying, but her seagull friend reveals that Vanessa is actually the sea witch and they chase after them. Her animal friends attack the ship which leads the magic spell to be broken and restores Ariel's voice as well as breaking the spell on Eric. Ursula kidnaps Ariel and in order to save her, King Triton offers his soul in place of his daughter's. Ursula then claims his powers and a fight breaks out. Eric  ends up stabbing her with the broken end of the mast on the ship and kills her. Everything goes back to normal and he washes up on the beach as Ariel watches afar from the ocean. Triton sees how in love his daughter is with him and turns her human again. Ariel and Eric are married and of course live happily ever after.

The morals being portrayed in The Little Mermaid are essentially telling little girls that giving up everything you love and care about for the sake of a man is absolutely normal and even approved of. Ariel doesn't just sacrifice her voice to be with Eric. She also must give up her family and friends as well as her life under the sea. In the song below, Ariel is even conscious of the gravity of her decision, saying, "If I become human, I never see my father or sisters again." Ursula counters with, "that's right, but you'll have your man." Ariel is also only sixteen years old and yet in the end, her father allows her to get married to a man she's known for less than seventy-two hours. This is sending a message to young girls that not only can you find your "true love" at that age, but also be mature and responsible enough to make that sort of life-changing decision.

It is interesting because Ariel is shown as being a little more independent than Snow White and even Princess Aurora. She runs off on her own a lot and demands to be treated as an adult by her father. She has a bit of a habit of being a little mischievous and getting herself in trouble too. Contrasting that though, those same gender stereotypes are still being perpetuated. For instance, this video is a perfect example of how a lady is seemingly supposed to behave in regards to her man:

"You'll have your looks, your pretty face. 
And don't underestimate the importance of body language, ha!

The men up there don't like a lot of blabber

They think a girl who gossips is a bore!

Yet on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word

And after all dear, what is idle babble for?

Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation

True gentlemen avoid it when they can

But they dote and swoon and fawn

On a lady who's withdrawn

It's she who holds her tongue who get's a man!"

(ST Lyrics)

Obviously Ursula, the leading female villain, is telling the girl that she cannot win over her man if she's talking, suggesting that physical attributes and sexuality are more important when it comes to relationships, and more specifically for the woman to be attractive enough for the man. There is definitely an uneven balance of power here because the woman is again being shown in a submissive position next to the man. She has to do all the work, make all the sacrifices, be beautiful enough all for him (there's a sense of always needing to improve your looks), whereas the male lead is often good-looking and shown with strong features but rarely has to make sacrifices for his partner. Eric could have just as easily joined the merpeople instead of making Ariel give up her entire life to be with him. The decision was completely assumed as well. No one questioned who would be the one to give up their life for the other person, it was just automatically assumed the girl would do it. Even Ariel and her family all unconsciously agreed to this choice without even taking a moment to discuss the options. If a girl wants to live happily ever after, she must do what will please her husband.