Disney princesses in poor health… What about the princes?

Lack of social interaction, hypersomnia, source of many ailments… Cinderella and her friends are in poor shape, according to the venerable (and facetious) “British Medical Journal”. Who ignores the condition of the boys. However, they also have things to worry about.

«EThey lived happily and…” Alas, no. The promise of a bright future is not guaranteed for princesses. Especially the Disney ones. The very serious British Medical Journal (BMJ) who each year takes up with humor a public health subject likely to interest all generations, has examined a few of them and… his diagnosis is not good. This is not the first time that medical opinions have sounded the alarm at Disney, but usually, it is rather to highlight the negative impact on the mental health and self-esteem of an audience young, confronted, for example, with the improbable measurements of the characters.

This time, the BMJ looks at the pathologies of the princesses themselves. Let’s see: Snow White, the prettiest of all according to her mirror, suffers from a “lack of social interaction” who can encourage “cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety”. Sleeping Beauty? So little exercise and too much sleep leads to “obesity, diabetes”, without forgetting “bedsores”. Beauty, if she gets too close to an animal, risks rabies or a host of potentially fatal infectious diseases. Pocahontas, a “symphony of fractures” to dive from so high (a cliff of 252 meters, calculated the BMJ). And Rapunzel, using her braid “like an elevator cable”, a “traction alopecia”. As for Cinderella, her household environment exposes her considerably to dust. And her godmother’s magic wand doesn’t do her any good by sprinkling her with glitter which is mostly “microplastics coated with aluminum”, very, very toxic to the lungs. “Rather than a prince”, underlines the study, Cinderella would have “need respiratory therapy”. It’s the doctor who says it: princes are not the solution.

And besides, how are they? The article from BMJ, while pinning a gender bias on the princesses, ignores the risks run by these young men, all muscles and wavy manes. Scrapping to deliver one’s beauty also puts a strain on male bodies, underlines Jennifer Tamas, teacher-researcher at Rutgers University (New Jersey) and author of the very invigorating essay Should we put an end to fairy tales? (ALT, 2024). Tetanus, fractures, multiple bruises and, perhaps worse, depression, this is what threatens these dashing aristocrats. “This invulnerable masculinity is undoubtedly difficult to bear, the researcher mischievously points out. The performance requirement is not so obvious. » She takes the example of Beauty and the Beast, fascinating tale, written in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve. The Beast, finally becoming a handsome young man again, remains indifferent to Beauty’s kisses, he is plunged into a deep lethargy – “Impotence? » asks the researcher – “from which he only leaves upon the sensational arrival of his mother at the castle…” Poor princes, poor princesses, so banally human.