Hey guys! I know I have kind of established myself as the one with the feminist-y standpoint on things, but for today's article, I'm taking that vantage point completely out. Today, I want to talk about relatability. The truly establishing factor of how far a princess will go as far as popularity is her personality, and the more people can relate to you, the better. This article will attempt to examine each princess for her ability to reach an audience. (Note: These are not ranked in the order of the Princesses I personally relate to; it's more the general public.) This is strictly an opinion; unlike my feminist articles, there haven't been any studies done. This is just my take on things, feel free to comment and agree or disagree as you like. :)



10) Cinderella
I love Cinderella. I really do. A ridiculous amount, even. However, I believe that she is too good, almost ethereally good, to be relatable. I know what you're thinking; Cinderella is the down and out, right? Who can't relate to that? Well, here's my point: Cinderella's CIRCUMSTANCES are relatable; everyone has felt misused or taken for granted or hopeless before, and many people have (unfortunately) been raised in abusive homes, and so would relate to Cindy on those notes. However, I can't imagine that there are that many people in the world who could endure what she's endured for years and still smile into the mirror and sing about dreams as they clean other peoples' filth. Cinderella is ethereal, graceful, elegant, but almost inhuman as far as her ability to bounce back from things with a smile on her face. Her most relatable moment is definitely when she finally gives up, after the stepsisters destroy her pink dress. Of course, Fate truly is kind to those who love, as the old song goes, and Cinderella bounces back into her dreamy angelic-ness within a matter of minutes, but she has it. As much as I love this character, I definitely feel she's too good to be true.



9) Aurora
While many of the most hopeless of romantics in the world may find Aurora's plight of being sheltered, shy, and boy-crazy understandable, I can't imagine that she's that appealing to the general population. For one thing, she doesn't have enough time or development to really give us anything to relate to her on, so she's very pigeonholed into a certain, small subset of the world.. If you've been homeschooled your whole life and want a boyfriend, you might relate to Aurora. However, to be truly relatable, a character needs more depth than Aurora was given. Sorry, Aurora lovers, I'm just not buying this one.



8) Pocahontas
This one is a little tougher for me. Pocahontas is a bit of a blend of Cinderella and Aurora, IMO: too good to be true, and not developed enough to be understandable. Pocahontas is noble, brave, spiritual, and family-oriented, but her personality runs just as shallow as that river she stepped into. Her name means "Little Mischief," but all we see of that is her brief episode of spitting water in her bff's face. The rest of the time, she's kind of serious and aloof. Now, I understand that she was enduring a potential war at the time, (no time for frolicking during battle, I suppose,) but for me, Pocahontas' character is a bit of a letdown. If I were writing one of my feminist articles, I'd praise her. As far as a relatable personality, I have no praises to sing.



7) Snow White
There was a time when I thought Snow White and I were like twins. I understood her, and I felt like she understood me. I thought like her and I loved her clothes and I related to her dreaminess and her naivete. I was four then. Now, as an adult, I find Snow White just as adorably sweet and cutesy as I did then, except now I don't understand it. That level of childlike innocence is impossible to maintain, which is why Snow White is so low. She's not as unearthly good as Cinderella, but she's good enough that her goodness is marked up to innocence, not adult grace. I think she has a very relatable personality, if you're a little girl who likes to pretend to play house with your friends and you're always the one who plays the Mommy.



6) Jasmine
I don't know about you guys, but I didn't grow up rich. I grew up middle class, as I'm sure most of you reading this did. Jasmine has been planted toward the middle for the exact opposite reason Cinderella is stuck at the bottom. Jasmine's personality is relatable; she's too smart and too fiesty for the situation she was born into, and yet, her situation is pretty nice. For most of us, being born in a place with no problems, lots of money, and tons of privileges sounds pretty good. I think Jasmine's predicament is one we all relate to, but she still had it pretty sweet and just lacked the insight to know it. Jasmine is one of my all time faves, and I'm disappointed to put her so low, but here she'll stay for now. I think most people can relate to feeling trapped; I DON'T think most people can relate to feeling trapped in the lap of luxury.



5) Tiana
Tiana definitely has her niche of relatability, and it's me. Tiana should be relatable to people in their 20s who are working harder than they ever thought, making a living on whatever they can, and yet feel like they aren't really getting anywhere. (Back me up on this, PPV and DreamyGal.) Once you reach the age where you're working full time, you have a lot of other stuff going on too. You're supposed to find a spouse, get a career, get a house, and do all kinds of societally (or personally) expected stuff.... but what happens when you're too busy for it, or it's not what you want at all? Tiana is overworked, underpaid, and determined to have her cake and eat it all, but at what cost? This is the plight of young adults today, and if that's not relatable I don't know what is.



4) Mulan
Mulan would be so much higher if I could convince myself she was a better candidate than the others. Mulan is so appealing, so understandable. Who amongst us has never felt that who we are is inherently wrong, that our families will be disappointed in us if we show our true colors? It's an experience everyone endures, whether they admit it or not, and Mulan is the first princess to have a legitimate identity crisis. Mulan is only, ONLY this low because she kind of loses her personality somewhere along the way. As she becomes stronger as Ping, she becomes weaker as Mulan; Mulan, of course, being the quirky, creative, and yet a little left-of-center character we love in the beginning of the film. She comes back briefly during the scene when she dresses the guys up like women, but as a general rule, being Ping suffocates Mulan's relatability, and she never really has the chance to come back. Once again, if this were one of my feminist articles, Mulan would be at the top of the pack. In this particular article, Mulan is a little lower than I would have liked.



3) Belle
Fanpop's perennial favorite didn't get to where she is by being aloof. Belle is a bookworm, an oddball, the weird one, and the one who dreams of a life far beyond the expectations others have for her. She's also really good at calling 'bullshit' on people, which makes her a smarter heroine than many of the ones before her. Belle even makes the insanely stupid decision to ignore the giant monster with sharp teeth that is holding her captive and sneak into his private room (once again, a cataclysmically stupid idea.) She's flawed, she's weird, she's relatable, and just take a deep breath, because I know you're all going to kill me over the number 2 princess...



2) Rapunzel
Now before everyone starts launching rabid cats at me, just hold on a second. Those of you who are not on Team Tangled, stop sipping your Rapunzel-flavored Haterade for just a second. This princess is what Belle was too mature to be. Whereas Belle is worldly and innately sensible, Rapunzel is a true geek. She's socially awkward at times, she's creative, she's curious, and she's even downright dorky at moments. However, she's not a complete dumbass. She's clever enough to take the initiative when necessary. Rapunzel is like that dorky friend that you can't help but smile around, even as you wonder how on earth they've made it this far in life with such minimal life experience. Besides that, she's friendly, artistic, and has some legitimate psychological baggage (being trapped for years and begin called vague, chubby, and generally incapable by your own mother and your only social contact is bound to leave some scars.) If there isn't a SINGLE thing you can find that you relate to with Rapunzel, you might be a robot. I'm just sayin'. :)



1) Ariel
I know that Ariel is a source of contention on this site (as is Rapunzel,) but even those of you who would never, EVER do something like what she did can't admit that you haven't had a reckless impulse once or twice. Ariel is the most flawed princess in the bunch. She's impulsive, she's reckless, and she's entirely too romantic for her own good. However, she's also kind of overlooked and a bit of a "fish out of water," if you'll forgive the pun. If you've ever felt unappreciated, like you don't belong, or like your family doesn't understand you, you can relate to Ariel. And if you've ever made a really stupid decision, ever fallen in love with someone too quickly and had it end (or know it could have potentially ended) disastrously, you can relate to Ariel. If you might be a hoarder, you can relate to Ariel. :) I'm playing now, but seriously, she is relatable on account of the things that make her divisive, and I think that is something we can all agree on. :)

Hope you've enjoyed it. :)