Princesses Disney et cheveux texturés : de Tiana à Ariel, une représentation qui évolue

Zoom on the highlighting of textured hair in Disney princesses

Apr 12, 2024Aldjia Aït-Meddour

This week marks the 32nd anniversary of the Disneyland Paris theme park. For the occasion, Jia Paris is shining a spotlight on the Disney Princesses who wear their natural curls.

For many years, Disney heroines were often portrayed according to very specific beauty standards, which almost systematically included long, straight, silky hair. This is notably the case for the most iconic Disney Princesses such as Ariel (The Little Mermaid, 1989), Belle (Beauty and the Beast) or Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), who all have long straight hair.

This observation takes us back many years, to a time when curly, coily and afro-textured hair was made invisible and sometimes mocked. Reading these few lines, some of you are probably wondering what the link is between Disney Princesses and textured hair. The answer is very simple: inclusivity.

Disney Princesses are much more than simple characters from cartoons and animated films; they are an integral part of Pop Culture and are known all over the world. Above all, they are greatly admired by little girls who, as they build their self-esteem, identify with them and want to look like them. When shown only one ideal of beauty, they end up absorbing and believing that to be beautiful, they must come as close as possible to these imposed standards. Unfortunately, it is often at this stage of their lives that children with textured hair begin to reject their hair type. It is also these same children who, from adolescence onward, will tend to hide or alter the texture of their natural hair.

Fortunately, since the birth of the Natural Hair Movement (a movement that champions the acceptance and celebration of textured hair) some fifteen years ago, more and more people are choosing to proudly wear their natural hair and are calling for more diversity and inclusivity in the media so that all types of beauty are represented.

Disney clearly understood the importance of this issue and seized the opportunity to refresh the image of the Disney Princesses.

How Disney's representation of hair has evolved

In 2009, the film The Princess and the Frog was released and, for the first time since Disney studios were founded in 1923, we discovered a Black princess.

Almost 15 years after its release, the character of Tiana still leaves a strong impression: just a few weeks ago, a challenge recreating a scene from the film went viral on social media, with textured-hair users rushing to reproduce the moment where she happily lets her natural hair down.

In 2012, Disney made another big statement on inclusivity with the release of the film Brave. Once again, it was the first time a Disney heroine was shown with curly hair.

And finally, the icing on the cake: the remake of The Little Mermaid, released in cinemas in 2023!

For this project, Ariel gets a makeover, as she is played by American singer Halle Bailey. So it’s a Black mermaid with locs that we see on our screens. This sparked months of controversy on social media and in the press. This backlash is a sad indicator of how far there is still to go in accepting diversity and inclusivity in the media.