Little Mermaid: A Feminist Tail?

OK, sorry about the bad play on words, but I was delighted to see the same controversy emerging on epinions as has been present at several cocktail parties I've attended recently.

I believe that those who object to the message of Little Mermaid to little girls are missing the point. Detractors feel that it's not so good to teach little girls that you have to be 38-19-34 (Barbie's approximate measurements, if you made Mattel's staple human) to be beautiful, nor is it good to teach little girls that catching a man should be a number one priority.

With these arguments I agree, but let's look at what Little Mermaid really teaches:

Our heroine, Ariel, rescues the handsome price from drowning (he does not rescue her) and falls in love with him, as teenage girls tend to do in the presence of handsome, suave young men.

Then, she strikes a deal with Ursula, the evil sea witch, to trade in her tail for legs, such that she can live happily ever after on dry land with said prince. But to gain legs, she must give up her most precious asset, her beautiful voice!

There are some standard elements of teenage life here, including young love, and some degree of rebellion from ones parents, in this case King Triton, her father.

But what happens when our heroine gets her legs and evil Ursula courts Handsome Prince with Ariel's stolen voice?

Ursula almost wins!

It was not Ariel's physical beauty that the Prince loved, but her voice! He is enraptured by the voice even in the presence of Ariel's physical beauty and great legs.

The metaphor here should be obvious.

What does a woman lose when she becomes subservient to a man, or male-dominated culture in general? She loses her voice!

The point of the movie (I think) is that a young woman's beauty should come not from her physical attributes, but from her voice, her personality, her SELF.

Yes, embracing her voice WAS rewarded by the successful courtship of a young man. I suppose there's nothing better than everlasting love to appeal to the hearts of young girls (and perhaps young boys, as long as you throw in a bit of heroism).

But it's important to note that Ariel is no wimp. It was she who rescued Handsome Prince from drowning. And she who rescued Flounder from a shark attack.

And it's also important to note that she gets her reward only after working TOGETHER with her father, King Triton. Teenage rebellion, catching a man with beauty, and giving up ones voice are shown to be merely a stage that young girls may pass through. (Can you honestly tell me that many bright junior high girls don't act giggly and stupid to be more attractive to boys?) But her dreams are fulfilled only when she works TOGETHER with her father against the forces of evil, and embraces her TRUE self--her VOICE.

The kids I work with (even the boys, but especially the girls) LOVE this movie, and I'm more than OK with the message it imparts.