Western Bulldogs’ AFLW players Katie Brennan and Ellie Blackburn feature in a new national campaign by Disney Australia, Proud to be a Princess.

Disney Australia this week launched the 18-month campaign to encourage a more progressive use of the term ‘princess’ by focussing on the positive attributes displayed by Disney princesses.

It commissioned a survey to uncover the thoughts, feelings and behaviours towards the term princess, which found that along the journey from young girl to adulthood, the term evolves from having a positive and inspirational meaning to a less flattering one. 

Proud to be a Princess aligns closely with the Bulldogs’ #RealStrength campaign, which highlights and encourages an individual’s strength of character and a strong sense of belonging.

“Across generations, Disney Princesses have been portrayed as resilient, strong, optimistic and kind,” said Disney Australia Managing Director, Kylie Watson-Wheeler.

“But more recently in Australia, the term princess has become synonymous with ‘high maintenance’, ‘spoilt’ and ‘entitled’ and the positive traits have been lost.”

“We want to empower young girls – and boys – to again embrace the inspiring qualities of princesses and admire the strong character traits of modern characters such as Anna, Belle and Moana to help reframe the discussion.”

In 2018 and beyond, Disney Australia will work to reframe the discussion surrounding the term Princess, and in doing so, it aims to inspire the next generation of young girls to display the positive characteristics Disney Princesses have shown.

“In so many cases gendered insults are linked to a female term, and this campaign sets out to tackle one of those terms, princess. I love the idea of highlighting the positive attributes of princesses, and in turn allowing girls to feel proud to be a princess, whatever age they may be,” said Bulldogs’ AFLW captain Katie Brennan.

Bulldogs’ vice-captain Ellie Blackburn said:  “I’m really proud to say my childhood was littered with great memories watching the Disney Princess films.  Belle from Beauty and the Beast was my favourite then, and still is now, which is why I’m really excited to be a part of this campaign and help start the conversation around the true meaning of princess.”