I was watching an episode of Dragon’s den when 2 woman were asking for money to expand their business.
Their company was started after one of the woman was decorating the Christmas tree with her daughter who asked “Can a Christmas angel have black skin?”
They then started to sell decorations with black skin colour.
This got me thinking about Disney princesses and the fact that the majority of them have white skin.
When I was working as a registered child minder I made a considerable effort to make sure that my setting promoted equality and diversity more on that here
Imagine how a child with black skin would feel going anywhere that everyone and everything around her was giving the impression that you have to have white skin to be beautiful?
Disney have released films and merchandise on the subjects Pocahontas and Mulan.
And I do remember Tiger Lily being mentioned in Peter Pan, but is that enough?
Please share any thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment.
As always questions and comments are welcome,
Until next time.
Karen
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I read a short story (in a collection called Growing Up Queer in Australia) about how as a kid this guy had never seen any gay relationships on tv. He felt very weird about himself, as if he wasn’t normal and he felt isolated (alone?). It made me think about the importance of representation. I think race, disability etc are the same. If you are never there, how does that make you feel (and think?). I saw an Asian American actor say he didn’t even know he could be an actor because he never saw any. If we need and want female supereros, surely this is all the same thing, just different representation. Good post.
Thanks for taking the time to share your detailed experiences and thoughts, Lydia, it is apricated
I also want to say, I’m white and hetro (and old) so I didn’t notice any of this until probably the last 10 years when it got pointed out to me by different groups and activists…it’s so easy to keep perpetuating the status quo without any intention to do so.
#Dreamteam
My cousin’s daughter is mixed race and feels very sad that Disney films don’t represent her. I think they are trying hard with diversity more now! We bought Zach a doll with male private parts as I thought it was important he had boy dolls to play with. Thanks for linking up with #DreamTeam
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, Laura
I think they are starting to become much more diverse, which is such a positive. But it probably won’t be fast enough just yet, to really have a big impact. I’ve been loving the new Turning Red Disney movie…. with characters who are a mix of plumpness and not all stick thin 🙂 Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeam
I am not familiar with that movie, Annette, thanks for telling me about it, I will watch it with my grandchildren when they visit
Growing up as a person of color, I never felt represented in the cartoon world. You would watch a cartoon and know that people from that part of the world didn’t look like that and it left you asking questions. I am old man now and I feel that we are doing a better job of telling the truth of how people look. #alittlebitofeverything
Thanks so much for telling your personal story, it is apricated