Maryum Khan
Yes, Sir. Break the stereotypes!
We were all obsessed with the Disney channel in our childhood, we were really inseparable, no one could change the channel in our presence. It was Disney and the kids all day and all night long, even watching the same shows on repeat. This is how much of a big effect Disney had on us. Especially the little girls who were shown princess movies and cartoons. They literally had a big obsession with the Disney princesses. They wanted everything specific Disney princess themed, they would relate themselves to a specific and favorite Disney princess out of them all. This is actually cute but if we think and research about it thoroughly, we will realize that these movies are extremely problematic. They are filled with gender based stereotypes and there is not anything educational about them.
This guy from Minnesota who is a father to two daughters got popular on TikTok after he posted a video in which he talked about how annoyingly stereotypical this Disney book his daughter reads is and how he decided to make some changes in the book for his daughter’s sake, that video went viral. He reimaged the fairy tales of many famous Disney princesses such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Ariel etc, in a completely unpredictable and mind blowing way. He tries to teach his daughters about equality, hard work, reality, morality and diversity in the updated version of the book. The main reason behind revamping the Disney book is that the father wants his daughters to grow up as strong, independent women and to break the stereotypes. His videos have caused a fiery debate on the internet. Some support and praise him while others think he is overexaggerating everything. His TikTok username is @dcaspers. Keep on scrolling down to see his work…
1. Princess Tiana does all the baking for her prince and even feeds him herself?!
Sorry, Prince Naveen. That is not how it works in here. If you want to eat Nachos, make them yourself! Princess Tiana bakes a pan of nachos for only herself in this updated version of the Disney book and tells prince Naveen to make his own nachos if he wants to eat too.
2. Rapunzel participates in a baking contest, she manages to win the best pie contest with Flynn’s approval…
No, no. Rapunzel makes big dreams come true by winning on top of her class and he bakes her a pie to congratulate her. In the updated version Rapunzel has big aspirations, she is a hardworking and intelligent girl. She does everything in her will to achieve her goals and to fulfill her dreams.
3. The original version says Cinderella was forced to cook and clean, she was constantly bullied by her step-family and she was waiting for her Prince Charming to come and save her somehow.
No, Sir. Cinderella should fight back her bullies and stand up for herself, your fate is in your own hands. You are your knight in shiny armor. In the updated version Cinderella stands up for herself bravely and takes authority over her destiny.
4. Cinderella goes to attend the ball and dances with her one and only, Prince Charming.
There is more diversity in the updated version. Cinderella fell in love with her true love after dancing with her at the ball she attended.
At the moment, the father has reached 48.4k followers and around 2.4 million likes on his channel. The admirers of his work call him the best dad ever, people are blown away by his restless struggle to break the stereotypes for his daughters. On the other hand, some of the people are very suspicious about his work. They think he has gone too far with the gender equality debate. They think he is creating a bad precedent for his daughter by changing the original work that he does not approve of into something he likes personally. Some users also noted that these changes might be that helpful for his daughters, he is unnecessarily stressing over them and the changes he has made to the character do not represent their actual personalities. People think there are many other alternative ways to educate our children, updating a book would not be that much of a help because kids easily get bored of reading the same book, they would want to get rid of it and soon the information would be forgotten as they get old. Keep on scrolling down to see more of the updated versions of the Disney book…
5. When the beast was feeling down, Belle wanted to do something to cure his depression so she bakes him brownies.
In the modified version, Belle decides to buy oatmeal creme pies because she is a working woman on a tight budget. She wants to remind beast that being a woman does not mean she is obliged to take care of the house alone. The domestic tasks, additional responsibilities and financial support should be equally divided between the couple. They should have this conversation to avoid any arguments in the future.
6. Ariel loses her real identity after transforming her body which results in her losing her voice, abandoning her family and friends for him. All of this for what? To bake him a cake?
So in the updated version, Ariel decides to order pizza instead of baking and finds her true love on TikTok while the prince eats.
7. How can one assume holding a dustpan is a caring gesture? Maybe, Doc is not that wise after all.
The real wise men should clean the whole house if they want to help out their partner because they actually care. This is what we call equalism in a partnership. Women should not be forced to do any kind of chores because chores are not gender based. No chore requires a specific gender to do them. Responsibilities must be shared daily between a couple.
8. Merida requests assistance from her brother for baking cookies but the boys quite rudely refuse her but still, Merida gives them cookies to eat.
Firstly, she should make them apologize for their bad behavior and should not share her cookies as a punishment for not helping her make them. In the updated version, Merida makes them clean the kitchen obediently if they want to eat cookies because you do not get served everything on a silver platter. You must work hard for the things you want in your life.
A person should not be forced to do anything, be it a man or a woman. Both should be responsible for themselves, both should know how to take care of themselves and learn to be independent. What are your opinions on this? Let us know in the comments down below…