If Disney Princesses were Judged by Egyptians
If Disney Princesses were Judged by Egyptians
Egypt, unfortunately, is known to be a judgmental environment. That
is especially true when it comes to the way our society looks at women,
and even more so when those women’s relationships are in question. How
many times have you heard your mother and her friends discuss someone’s
new wife, fiance or ex? How many times have you and your own friends
done that before? One can argue that this happens everywhere in the
world, but we can’t help but think that it’s a bigger issue here in
Egypt. If anything, that is the case because sadly, people sometimes
succumb to those whispered judgmental words exchanged between people who
know nothing about the women they speak of.
To put things into perspective; here’s what Egyptian gossipers
would have said about the princesses – and their relationships – we’ve
all watched, known and loved while growing up.
Beauty and the Beast
The relationship between the smart and beautiful Belle, and the
sweet-natured (deep, deep down), yet extremely troubled (anger issues,
anyone?) Beast, is an inspiring one. They’ve lasted through a lot of
things that would be deal-breakers for everyone else. Belle’s patience,
strong will, and smarts made her the one to break the spell cast on
Beast. People in Egypt might not be able to see that.
Mulan
Mulan was put in a tight spot when she decided to join the army
instead of her father. Her strong heart, mind, and body – especially
after the Make a Man out of You montage – helped her save, not only her
father, but China itself. Her and Chang have faced a few more challenges
than your regular couple. Not many can start the story of how they met
their wife by saying “well, she was dressed like a man at the time, so I
didn’t know we would end up together”. Still, they soldiered on and
ended up together. Chang overlooked his ancestors’ misogynistic views on
women’s roles, but would Egyptians have been able to do that?
Snow White
It doesn’t matter if you’re the prettiest couple in the entire
Kingdom. If they want to make fun of you, they’ll make fun of you. And
if they want to start rumors about you because they were all friends
with your evil, albeit gorgeous, stepmother, God rest her, then they
will start rumors about you. When you’re Snow White, unfortunately,
you’ve gone through some things that they will count as… material.
The Little Mermaid
We won’t even come anywhere near the real ending of The Little
Mermaid because we’re not here to shatter your childhood. We will,
however, say that the wedding scene ended very differently in the Grimm
Brothers’ version. Still, Prince Eric and Ariel couldn’t have possibly
had it easy with tongues wagging about them all the time, especially
about Ariel’s… history.
Aladdin
This relationship is a little closer to home. Even though we’re not
princesses, we do come from the Middle East and have had to deal with
our parents panicking about our marital status, so we can relate to
Jasmine on that level. Jasmine ended up marrying Aladdin and we were
all happy to know that the now Royal couple is flying into the sunset on
their magic carpet. Mainly because this meant that they won’t hear
people’s comments about Jasmine’s outfit choices.
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Esmeralda is not actually a princess, and she didn’t even marry
into Royalty. Again, we won’t even touch the real ending, because that’s
just cruel. However, even in the Disney version, Esmeralda didn’t end
up with Quasimodo. Due to his work in the Church his entire life, it
might have been frowned upon. So it’s probably for the best that this
never happened…
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