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Posted on Dec 8, 2016

Disney Continues To Break Down Gender Stereotypes With Moana

Disney's newest film has us praising them this winter WARNING SPOILERS!

by MissCherry

Community Contributor

Moana is carrying on what Brave and Elsa started: she don't need no man! As the daughter of a chief and destined to rule, here is another Disney princess with a story that doesn't just revolve around finding her true love.

It's not just that Disney didn't focus on her true love, but the theme of a love interest was entirely absent from the film and development, marking a whole new boundary for Disney princesses. With the pressure for more inclusion this seems to be a great way to break the mould and appeal to young viewers that even without love there is still a great adventure to live!

Arguably, Moana could be emulating Jack Sparrow instead:

We first had a taste of this in Frozen when Anna woke up, but Moana's hair has a life all of it's own! It swings heavily when it's wet, it gets dry and stuck in sand and always seem to want to become part of her face.

Much credit has to go to animation techniques of course, and her body movements and hair are all becoming hyper-realistic; finally long hair is getting the detail and attention it deserves!

disneymoana.tumblr / Via tumblr.com

I mean, Moana explicitly denies such association. This is an important message to femininity- even if enjoy being pretty and colourful you can still be strong and stubborn! It shows that no matter what is expected of us, we can always determine who we are, not have it chosen for us.

Still, at least Maui helps Disney break their own fourth wall here:

"If you wear a dress, and you have an animal sidekick, you're a princess!"

Not so long ago Disney were under fire for not being the most representative of diversity. Now they're taking great leaps forward!

Although Te Fiti is depicted as a beautiful goddess, Te Kā is decidedly genderless, which makes the relationship between them especially satisfying.

Maui himself doesn't just brag about being a hero to men and women. He included ALL genders. This is without a doubt Disney recognising the non-binary spectrum nature of gender. This, with a decreasing focus on romance and Moana being a break from the typical Disney princess mould (white, blonde, tall, etc.) shows a definite leaning forward to keep up with the forward thinking generation that is their future and modern audience.