It’s clear from the get-go that Ariel is dissatisfied with life under the sea. She feels suffocated because of her overprotective father, King Triton. Instead, she is fascinated with and curious about the human world, collecting human items such as forks, hairbrushes from shipwrecks. The grass is greener on the other side, to say the least.
But I felt that the moment she encounters Eric and falls in love with him at first sight, the lines between feminism and anti-feminism become blurred.
On one hand, Ariel’s rebellion against her father, despite his disapproval of Ariel interacting with the human world, can be viewed as her defying a patriarchal society where a man dictates a woman’s life. Ariel is free-spirited, brave and determined, and Disney moulds her into the epitome of a girl seeking independence and breaking the “glass ceiling” limiting her freedom.
But is this really the case? My take is that The Little Mermaid demonstrates some fairly skewed feminism. It seems that Disney strives to portray Ariel as a feminist, but sadly fails at realizing that her portrayal still perpetuates many gender stereotypes and a patriarchal society.
As a mermaid princess, Ariel leads a very privileged life underwater, but doesn’t fully appreciate it. Just like Cinderella, she falls in love with a guy at first sight she knows absolutely nothing about. Worse of all, she literally gives up her voice in order to be with Eric. She is obviously doing everything she thinks will please him, and chooses to defy her mermaid heritage to join the human world.
Further, it’s noteworthy that Ariel is quite the damsel-in-distress. She is constantly saved by others, particularly King Trition who sacrifices his power for her, and Eric who kills Ursula. How can a strong female be portrayed if she can never save herself?
There also seems to be a “transfer of ownership” from King Triton to Eric over Ariel - even though Ariel breaks free from the restrictive control of her father, she eventually still becomes dependent on another man. Throughout the film, her life seems to center around a man. Is she truly free?
Even Ursula recognizes the sexism and misogyny that exists in the “real” human world. When she wants Ariel to sacrifice her voice, Ursula reassures her that her stereotypical pretty female looks are all that she needs to attract a man. She goes on to sing, “The men up there don't like a lot of blabber / They think a girl who gossips is a bore / Yes, on land it's much prefered / for ladies not to say a word.”
Ultimately, Ariel‘s decisions are far from wise. In the film, Ariel achieves her “happily-ever-after”, but this is completely unrealistic. At least the original The Little Mermaid, in which Ariel’s sacrifice does not pay off at all, highlights the important message that throwing away your life for another man whom you hardly know is dangerous and overly-idealistic.
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