They've all been saved and/or had help from a man.

yeah, truly none have been fully independent from men except maybe merida or Mulan.

Simply... because the "needing help from another person, male or otherwise" should NOT have been made into a distinction in the first place.

I don't think it's the only sign of feminist character. And not even the most important to me. I find Mulan pretty antifeminist character to me.

In general, I do like that they have moved away from the women always being reliant on men to save the day. Although, I thought Anna was a big step backwards which was a bit frustrating.

I'm not completely against men saving women, but I do prefer it to be a bit more even (e.g. like Tangled, where they both save each other).

So I'm seeing a few comments about how there's nothing wrong with needing help from a guy so I just want to say this.

There's really nothing wrong with being saved by a man and it's not bad if these princesses had a man help them at least some point in their movies (that's why I wrote ALWAYS needing a man).

But here's the thing; even today's time there's so many people out there who find it so hard to believe that a woman can be strong, that she can face against a villain on her own, or even hate on women (real or fictional) in general. That's why I feel like it's important that there's movies where a woman beats a villain whatever situation; whether it being Tiana destroying Facilier's talisman or Cinderella just being able to marry the prince. A lot of girls of all ages want to watch movies where girls can fight or even speak up because then it gives them someone to look up to. I love that Mulan saved all of China with her smarts, I love that Rapunzel was able to stand up to her abuser, I love that Pocahontas was able to stop her father from executing John, etc

We can have movies where men save women, but that doesn't mean we can't have movies where women can save themselves

^agree, plus Disney is so afraid to make movies that have a higher count of women than men. I don't think one exists. like moana doesn't have a prince, sure, but she travels with all men

^Also I'm sorry I have to say this. Just because someone's asking for a movie about a woman who saves herself doesn't mean it's bad that a man saves her or who saves her "doesn't have to be important" but it IS important to teach girls to save themselves. If a movie comes out next year where a guy saves a girl, that's fine! Just don't make her useless! Don't make her the damsel in distress! Give her SOMETHING

^agree with everything but still contest that there shouldn't be any men. they ruined my beloved snow queen with this

Sleeping Beauty is the only movie where the man saves her fully. And there's nothing wrong with that. She was asleep anyway but even if she wasn't it's still fine. With Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs he just breaks the spell so I don't count it much. Cinderella is neither saving either really. The Fairy Godmother was the one who helped her. In all the rest of the movies they save each other, protect each other, fight to help each other.

^Ariel needed saving, there are other female character that needed saving that aren't JUST disney princesses

Yes but Ariel saved Eric's life multiple times.

There are still other heroines besides the official princesses who needed to be saved

agree with wavesurf

I'd actually argue Merida and Mulan did get men's help (and Mulan's whole motivation is driven by her love for a man. But I guess familial love is somehow more feminist than the romantic variety? Because reasons?). Merida got saved by her kid brothers at least once, and she also got rescued several times by Elinor (another thing I've noticed is it's ok for women to be damsels as long as it's a woman rescuing her) and Mulan had help from Mushu,Shang, Ling, Chien Po, and Yao.

Pocahontas and Cinderella are the only ones who didn't need rescuing or help because they weren't really in danger to begin with (unless you count Cinderella's male animal friends).

But there's nothing wrong with being helped. If you scorn a someone getting help they need because it comes from a certain gender, well, your idea of equality and empowerment are sorely lacking. I think in their zeal to have Strong Female Characters, some people really hold women to impossible and unfair standards that male characters are never held to.

I made this poll a year ago and my opinion has changed since then. I do like that there’s some recent heroines who save themselves, and there’s nothing wrong with needing help from someone, no matter who it is. The biggest reason I like that there’s new heroines saving themselves is because it shows people that women don’t always need someone else to save them, which is something I still hear today.