For those of you living under bigger rocks than mine (which would be a pretty impressive feat), Disney has released their makeover of Merida for induction into the Disney hall of Princesses, and, get this, they changed her appearance.

They somehow found a way to give her MORE hair, while at the same time de-frizzing it. They made her waist smaller, and did something to her face that… ugh. I mean, I just don’t like what they did. It doesn’t fit. It looks like she’s wearing one of those plastic Guy Fawkes masks in lady form.

This has happened to all the princesses. Every single one of them has gone through this makeover process to give them all a unified style, with lots of glitter and makeup.

Now if you feel it’s “sexifying” the Disney princesses… she’s 16. That is pretty much the thick of puberty, where bodies are naturally doing what bodies do. But okay. Her character isn’t one about getting a man, so the idea that Merida would “sexify” for someone is dumb. I get that.

But what if Princess Merida wanted to dress up for her debut in the Disney Princess Hall? What if she was dressing up, not for the boys, but for herself? There’s a prevailing idea in our society that women being pretty is for other people. Sometimes, you just want to dress up for yourself.

There’s also this weird idea that being pretty and/or thin somehow makes you weak or dumb. That being thin makes you less of a feminist. Being thicker than someone else doesn’t make you ugly, and it doesn’t make you a better person. It just makes you thicker than someone else. That’s it. I agree that making her thinner lost some of the Merida in the makeover, but not that making her thinner makes her less of a person. It just makes her less Merida.

What the outrage over her looks is doing is telling little girls that looks matter. And quite frankly, they don’t.

There’s also a huge outcry because they took away her bow and arrows. Having a weapon does not make you a stronger person. Physical fighting does not make you a stronger person.

A strong person is one who stands up for themselves when it’s hard, or standing up for others when it would be easier and safer to hide. In Hunger Games, Katniss strongest moment was when she was without her bow and arrows (what the hell is it with bow and arrow as a lady weapon? THERE’S an underlying social thing I’d like to explore further). Her strongest moment was when she volunteered to go to the slaughter in place of her little sister. No weapons, no back up. Just a strong person making a strong choice.

And in Brave, the bravest thing that happened was Merida telling her mother “no.” Standing up for herself. Being a person of character. And it had nothing to do with having a weapon.

Now, I am pretty pissed off that the makeover didn’t seem to capture Merida. She missing that underlying strength that makes her a role model. And seriously- WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH HER FACE? I don’t think the makeover itself captures who SHE is. Remaking her into someone who’s not Merida is pretty gross. But being mad that they gave her sparkles is dumb, and has nothing to do with the quality of a person.

However, for those of you looking for makeovers that maintain the character of the princesses in a specific setting, here are a few of my favorites:

8 Very Cool Disney Princess Pinup Tattoos
HelleeTitch has an amazing Steampunk princess gallery
I love the Gothic one: Different phases of Disney Princess gallery
Disney Princesses go to prom
And my favorite: Disney Characters in realism

There are thousands more in Fanart out there that depict the character of the characters. Go out and take a look- I bet you can find a Merida Makeover that you like.