Generation Y, born between the 1980's and 2000s, have suffered the most out of any generation from confidence related diseases.
-Anorexia is currently the leading cause of death of women between the ages of 15-25
- Girls are more likely than boys to experience depression
-80% of 10 year old girls are afraid of being fat
But since Elsa started belting out that she was ready to "Let It Go", young girls everywhere are learning what it means to love their true self.
Not only is the song powerful, but the visual display that goes along with it. Elsa finally ripping off her gloves and using her powers. Pulling down her bun into the now iconic messy braid (that took even longer to animate than that of Rapunzel's). Letting her cape fly off into the distance.
Believe it or not, "Let It Go" almost didn't happen, as Elsa was originally written as the villain of the movie.
Elsa's "self love" anthem is now an iconic call out to the current generation of 6-10 year olds that no other Disney Princess have never done before.
Confidence is a power in itself, of which for the past 20 years activists have been working hard to teach children, particularly girls. With the influx of Victoria's Secret models and the deceptive retail industry, who has skewed sizing so much within its evolution during 20th century, has caused most girls to hit a brick wall by the age of 13.
The sad thing is, today, girls are beginning to experience this lack of self confidence at even earlier ages. Elementary schools as we remember them are gone. Today they are just as brutal as any middle school hallway. First graders feel the competition to be liked by the cutest boy, have the best outfit, prettiest hair, and best grades.
It is well understood the importance of role playing during childhood. Children try to behave, dress like, and think like their favorite characters. Imagine what may happen if dressing up and singing in that highly priced Elsa costume, was just what this generation needed to learn about self-confidence.
Yes, critiques have pointed out Elsa's thinness as a bad influence on our girls. But I challenge you to see it in a different way. Would we really blame girls who are natuurally thinner for meeting society's established norm? Further, Elsa is a pure example of the fact that a lot of girls who are suffering from mental diseases (depression, bulimia, anorexia) are in fact the ones that look NORMAL.
Disney has always been the media vehicle of choice for parents to teach their children, morals, values and ways of life.
So what is Elsa teaching all our little girls in Generation Z:
-"I don't care what they are going to say"- It doesn't matter what other people think
-"The fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all"- Our fears are self-made, and hold us back from our true selves
and most importantly
-"That perfect girl is gone"-
Thank you, Elsa. For finally being the first Disney Princess to let us know...
There is no such thing as PERFECT.
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