Disney Princes Get a Feminine Makeover in Gender-Bending Art Project

Few cultural phenomena have set our standards for the ideal man or woman looks like than Disney. Repeat viewings of The Little Mermaid or Aladdin at a young age show us that women should dainty, small-waisted figures, while men should be broad-shouldered and sharp-jawed.

With “Genderbent Disney,” artist TT Brett has edited renderings of various Disney Princes to make them look feminine, and thus advocate for diversity in cartoon design, as well as what we accept as masculine, feminine, and beautiful in society. He explains his process to the Huffington Post:

The edited images bring out an aspect of Disney design work that tends to lean towards stereotypes. The result of my edits, although still utilizing many of the Disney stereotypes of gender to create the most drastic changes, maintain the character’s focal features. The finished product is a mix of interesting characters that don’t quite fit the male and female gender stereotypes of Disney, which broadens the spectrum of what an animated character should look like.

The project has gotten a lot of attention from Tumblr and the Internet-at-large. Brett hopes that Genderbent Disney can broaden beauty standards, in popular culture, and society in general:

It’s important to challenge stereotypes. The images of normalcy and beauty that the media portrays are very limited, as well and the ideals of gender and sexuality. In order to create acceptance, we need to start with our media. Why not start with more diverse character designs? “Ideal human traits” should apply to everyone, not just a limited few.