The image of the enchanting Disney princess marrying her perfect Prince Charming has infatuated girls for decades. These delightful films present role models for girls, influencing them to dress up as their favorite princesses in the image of their Disney princesses. Many parents consider this imaginative act of childhood play charming or innocent. However, there has been much speculation about the media's message directed at girls. The most prevalent source of this concern is abundant in animated films (Travail). While animated films are exciting for young children, recent studies have shown that these films are causing a spike in body dissatisfaction in girls. Over the last century, negative body image among girls has been driven by Disney animated films, Barbie dolls, and new Barbie animated films. Over the last century, the aesthetic appearance of women has changed dramatically in Western civilization. In the early 19th century the ideal woman stood 5'4 and weighed approximately 140 pounds. The Roaring Twenties brought with them a more childish-looking woman called a flapper. During the 1930s, the image to be achieved was that of women with larger breasts and a fuller waist. The 1940s and 1950s featured contraptions like corsets and push-up bras for women to accentuate bust lines. In the 1960s, a transformation occurred that swept the nations of the world with slimmer models and a brand new doll modeled after these women: Barbie. Twiggy, a British teen model, has taken the media by storm. She was the thinnest model ever, weighing 89 pounds, standing ("The Perfect Woman"). In the 21st century this craze of being excessively thin has dominated the media and... middle of paper... ic to think that the mentality of the last sixty years can change in the blink of an eye. Our patriarchal society will always push an unrealistic body image on women, and it is highly doubtful that will change anytime in the near future. Disney has made some developments in a new direction by taking the initiative to adapt the role of their heroines. While still unrealistically thin, protagonists like Pochoantas or Mulan move away from the redundant “Disney Princess” template. Most of the responsibility now falls on parents to teach children how to become independent women by relying on their own hard work instead of appearance. The hope is that children can learn and realize that their favorite movie characters, or even their beloved dolls, are not real women and that with the right mindset and encouragement these young girls will grow into confident girls..