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Lots of us grew up with Disney stories and they’re an inseparable part of our childhood. However, some people believe that these tales have a negative impact on young women because they contain harmful gender stereotypes. A dad is going viral on TikTok and the news for updating and modernizing his daughter’s Disney books to better reflect the times we live in and to make life better for both of his girls.
The Minnesota dad, who has two daughters and goes by the tag @dcaspers on TikTok, filmed the entire process and uploaded the videos for everyone to see. He changed classic fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and others, giving them twists nobody could have expected.
His actions, however, have divided the internet and sparked a fiery discussion online. While some lauded the dad for reworking gender tropes into something more egalitarian and realistic, others thought that what he’s doing might amount to censoring classics for the sake of appearing progressive.
Check out the dad’s videos below and let us know what you think of his project, dear Pandas. Are you fans of his reworked stories or do you prefer the classics? Do you think we should aim to constantly update older works of literature or should we simply aim to publish new and modern stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.
This dad is updating Disney princess books to make them more modern for his two girls
Image credits: dcaspers
Check out how he removes gender stereotypes from the tales in his TikTok videos
@dcaspersChanging tomorrow starts today. #madatdisney #girldad #dadhacks♬ Mad at Disney - salem ilese
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Otter 4 years ago
Merida doesn't cook, she's a princess and her family has servants to do the cooking! Tiana is the cook.
Devil's Advocate 4 years ago
Come on, Merida is a fantastic role model, the fact she lets her brother's eat the cookies anyway is a good example of sharing and caring. They have staff to clean the kitchen and the boys are what, two or three??
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago (edited)
Here's my politically correct version: And then Merida turned to her brothers and said, "Sorry ye' wee rascals. If yah don't clean the bloody kitchen I'll bake all ya in a steak pie or tern yah into haggis.The pesky boys never bothered Merida after that, and Merida proceeded to gorge on the yummy biscuits she baked.
Gossameringue 4 years ago
I always clean when my wife cooks. The idea of someone having to clean up after they mde a meal for everyone is just wrong.
Vlad Kollerov 3 years ago
Dad is idiot, and he is growing idiot daughter. I think she will need psychologist, when she will met reality.
Internet wanderer 1 year ago
Aren't these kids toddlers? They wouldn't even know how to clean, and would prob just steal the cookies anyways.
Louise Bostock 3 years ago
Sorry, but why do you support Disney books anyway? There are so many fabulously imaginative new stories out there illustrated by anazingly talented 21st-century artists - if you really want to make a change, just don't buy anything Disney. I never did.
Some of the changes that the Minnesota dad made include Cinderella marrying Belle from the classic tale Beauty and the Beast. What’s more, The Little Mermaid chooses pizza over Prince Eric, and Rapunzel graduates top of her class at Harvard. Meanwhile, Princess Tiana makes some nachos that she keeps for herself instead of baking sweet treats and sharing them with Prince Naveen.
The dad’s hacks made him very popular on TikTok. To date, he’s received 2.4 million likes on all of his videos on his channel and he’s got a following of 48.4k people.
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#2
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago
I think I am about to give myself an aneurysm over how politically correct and performative this is. Why the hell can't Rapunzel bake a mean pie and also get her law degree at Harvard?
Joseph Cheung 4 years ago
I get the idea stereotype, but Harvard isn't part of the cinematic universe. Shes locked in a tower, she sings about baking a pie. As a child I prefer not to think about college. I like pie and understand pie.
Devil's Advocate 4 years ago
Because girls can't win a contest other than getting into Harvard to leave with $100,000 of debt for a useless degree?
Steve Ramaekers 4 years ago
Heaven forbid rapunzels choice be to enter a pie baking contest. That must be about a man and her being subservient. Good grief
The Quokka 4 years ago
Soooooo.....What I take from this is......I can't bake, even if I want to......I have to go to Harvard.....And I get pie if I'm top of the class?
Bryan Woods 4 years ago
Exactly. Unless you're the baker from Beauty and the Beast. Then you can have your tray like always, the same old bread and rolls to sell.
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Zuzanna2002 Czarnota 2 years ago
Even if you really try to see it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the original. She wanted to enter a baking competition, she did that and she won. Whats wrong with that?
#3
Aamna Shah 4 years ago
I think Cinderella is unfortunately oversimplified to make it regressive. If you look at the movie objectively, it's clear that Cinderella is a young girl who lives in an era where she probably has extremely limited choices. She has lost her father as a kid and is living with her abusive step mom and step sisters. Like most victims of abuse, her mind is in survival mode and she knows that she has to stay obedient in order to protect herself in that environment. Cinderella herself is not subservient. Her abusive environment demands that from her to survive. We see that she does speak her mind from time to time. Another thing people forget is that Cinderella was not asking for a man or begging to become a princess. Her dream was to escape her abusive household. In my opinion, and everyone is allowed to disagree with it, she's a victim of child abuse and blaming her for not leaving is not much different from modern society blaming women for not leaving their abusive husbands.
Joseph Cheung 4 years ago (edited)
I agree, her situation was trash, but she persevered with the best of her abilities, she was still kind and stood up for people like the mice. The prince was her escape that she needed to fight to get to, not the best, but its a limited choice. Making her fight back seems victim blaming.
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Péter Rózsahegyi 4 years ago
They tore her gown. She responded with physical violence. Much better than the original, really.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
The workers in Final Destination 5 did a better job at constructing something than whatever the f*ck's going on with her arms.
Jessica Wood 3 years ago
It's a sad fact that not all victims can fight back against their abusers.
Naturally, quite a lot of people were pleasantly surprised by the ‘fairy godfather’s’ project and literary makeovers, calling him the ‘best dad ever’ and praising his fight against gender stereotypes for the sake of his two daughters.
However, others were more skeptical and some believed the dad may have gone too far in his quest for gender equality. Some internet users were concerned that the dad was setting a potentially dangerous precedent about editing out everything we don’t like in books. Meanwhile, others pointed out that the dad’s updates may not be consistent with how the characters in these stories would behave.
#4
Brendan Roberts 4 years ago
I wouldn't say that the heterosexual relationship is problematic. No sexuality is wrong.
lucy dale 4 years ago
i mean, no but its nice to change things up and make It not straight :/
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Chloe *Leah* Pheonix 4 years ago
It's not bad, he change the prince to belle because in these stories, the girl always, ALWAYS falls in love with a guy, and it'd be nice to see a same-sex relationship every once in a while.
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Shaylynne Gosnell 4 years ago
I love this I'm a bi sexual and I wish they'd show homosexual people in children books too just like if you don't show your child to dogs they could be scared of dogs their whole lives because its the unknown.
Lily Bowmen 1 year ago
This is terrible. What's so wrong about falling in love with a man? If you marry a man you just met, it's bad. But if you marry a woman it's good?
Cindy VanLerberg 3 years ago
Frankly, it's nice to see Cinderella rescuing the Stockholm Syndrome princess
#5
Hans 4 years ago
Come one...that is forced. Pay gaps are real, but addressing this regarding buying cheap cookies is very much pulling it out of context. And who says they do not share expenses if you want to further play this game? To be honest, this does not seem to be changed for the daughters but rather for the audience at TikTok.
Felype Rennan 3 years ago
He's using the store purchase to cover up the "girl cooks something to the guy" cliche
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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago (edited)
Bullshit, this father isn't teaching his daughter about breaking gender stereotypes. He's doing nothing more than performing performative parenting to appeal to hyper-sensitive parents on Tik-Tok and social media for likes. Also, this father has a really strange aversion to baked goods--what did brownies ever do to him to cause such hatred of baking?
Kat Anne 4 years ago
Okay I'm sorry I'm making a special dessert for someone you loved when they're having a bad day is not sexist or wrong
Bryan Woods 4 years ago
And then you flip the genders. Why should a man cater to a woman when she's having a bad day? She should just suck it up since it's not a man's responsibility to validate your emotions. No more chocolate because you're starting your period.
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Steve Ramaekers 4 years ago
She made a treat to cheer up a friend - how improper. I can’t believe how ridiculous these are getting.
Donkey boi 4 years ago
'For the last time Belle, I'm a fecking PRINCE! We have money! Why are you working and not using all that knowledge from all those books you love to help me improve the lives of our denizens.'
The Quokka 4 years ago
What is wrong with trying to cheer up a good friend. I'm sure that he would do the same.
Bryan Woods 4 years ago
Probably the belief that it's not a woman's job to stroke a man's ego. Even if that man is her partner, so I'm not even sure why they're in a relationship to begin with if no one is supposed to be compassionate to anyone.
Load More Replies... Tarryn Louise 4 years ago
friends can make brownies for sad friends.....how is this gender specific?
Internet wanderer 1 year ago
He's raising radical feminists, and if they aren't yet, once they find out how the world works, they will be.
Load More Replies... Gossameringue 4 years ago
Hey - if my partner brought home Little Debbie Creme Pies, that would just deepen my love!
Jason Johnson 3 years ago (edited)
The pay gap exists but extensive research has disproven gender discrimination. When, continuous service, average hours worked, hazard pay are taken into account that pay gap becomes within the margin of statistical error.
I previously spoke at length about gender stereotypes and the need for equality at home with Elizabeth Arif-Fear, the founder and director of ‘Voice of Salam.’
“A woman should not be expected to be responsible for the home just because she is a woman. A couple needs to discuss chores based on working hours outside of the home and any other caring responsibilities that affect schedules and workloads,” she told Bored Panda during an interview.
“If both partners are working full-time then they should be sharing the housework equally. Sadly, research shows that women still do more housework than men even when working. On a practical level, if a couple is committed to an equal level of partnership, drawing up a chore timetable can be useful, as can designating roles by working out who does what based on their likes and strengths,” she said.
#6
Ara Noguera 4 years ago (edited)
I laughed because Italy we eat it with fork, but I am not italian.
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Sarah Pierce 4 years ago
So let me get this straight, baking well as a girl is a gender stereotype that we need to ban but also baking poorly (and because someone you love will appreciate the effort) is also a bad gender stereotype we need to ban...
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago (edited)
Ah yes, because indoctrinating your child into the world of TikTok is really teaching them to break those gender stereotypes. I am trying so hard not to scream at these... Also, I'm starting to think this guy has some odd aversion to baking and baked goods.
deathrose 4 years ago
I'm confused. Ariel has never cooked a day in her life and tried her hand at the skill (cooking is a skill everyone should learn) and didn't do the best job. Instead of dumping on her, Eric ate the cake and encouraged her to keep learning and trying at new skills. What's so wrong with this?
sofacushionfort 4 years ago
Consumerism replacing self-suficiency. Commodification of intimate relationships.
#7
Tarryn Louise 4 years ago
Helping is a wonderful message. Your messages to your daughter are crap.
Steve Ramaekers 4 years ago
This actually already shows shared household chores. He just took it backwards. Wow.
Just JoLynn 4 years ago
Dust sets off my allergies so when I sweep my husband holds the dust pan or sweeps the pile into the dust pan and disposes of it. I appreciate this every single time.
According to Elizabeth, attitudes toward gender go beyond chores. “They are a symptom of sexism. In such a relationship, both partners are not equal. No woman should be expected to work two full-time jobs—one paid and one at home—while her able-bodied husband sits back and does nothing at home. In today’s world, looking after the home and/or children is a full-time job in itself and such work needs to be shared. Families often have to rely on two incomes and women have the right to pursue professional goals—something which their spouse should encourage as part of an equal partnership,” she told Bored Panda.
#8
Tim S 4 years ago
Agreed. Not sure why you'd want to argue against sharing.
Load More Replies... Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
It's like, her thing. She owns a restaurant in New Orleans and everything.
Load More Replies... Aamna Shah 4 years ago (edited)
I don't understand this one at all. How is sharing food a gender stereotype? Men share food as well. I think this father is self creating these problems to fix with rudeness and lack of consideration and teach his daughter that kindness and generosity is equivalent to subservience and rudeness and entitlement is to be aspired.
Kinslee the witches apprentice 4 years ago (edited)
exactly! The person who does this must hate sharing food! And thats just too many nachos! Like she works at a resturaunt that she made! She wants to share food.
Load More Replies... Silvia John 4 years ago
As if it is wrong to cook something tasty for your beloved person. Lot of people do it. They are not forced to do it.
Chloe *Leah* Pheonix 4 years ago (edited)
I know I'm gonna get downvoted to hell for this but okay but that's funny. "Make your own damn nachos" I cant stop laughing😂
Kinslee the witches apprentice 4 years ago
Anyone can eat or make nachos.
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“Being financially dependent on a man is not a healthy or safe option. Spouses must be equal in opportunities and shared duties. As working patterns have shifted with the economy in the past decades, outdated sexist attitudes also need to shift. A women’s role is where she wants to be—just like a man’s. It’s not her job to pick up or look after male relatives/spouses. If she chooses to stay at home as the family is financially able to manage on one wage, that must be the couple’s joint decision. Even then, there must be mutual respect, sharing of responsibility, and a fair equitable division of chores.”
Some people thought the dad reworking the classic Disney stories was inspiring:
However, not everyone agreed with his modern approach to popular children's books:
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What do you think ?
More Thinking Needed 4 years ago
Hate when parents use their children as props in the hopes of becoming internet-famous for 15 minutes.
Stefan 4 years ago
Stop changing what is already done and written, and start making something new !
Romenriel 4 years ago
Yes! If people want something to be present in art, they need to express it themselves.
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BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 4 years ago
Then orginals aren't bad at all. They're not being sexist, it's the princesses doing what they like to do and are good at. Believe it or not a woman can cook without it being sexist.
Lillukka79 4 years ago
I cook because I like it. And even more I like to feed people I love.
Load More Replies... Brendan Roberts 4 years ago
This isn't gender equality, it's role-reversal. A better "fix" would be a story of both the princess and the prince cooking & cleaning together.
Devil's Advocate 4 years ago
None of this is "fixing" anything, most of them are going ridiculously the opposite way, assuming that women should fall in love with other women, none of them want to cook anything, and men should just do everything. If his daughters follow his advice, they're going to grow up horrible and spoilt!
Glirpy 4 years ago
Here’s an idea… if you think Disney stuff is bad, then don’t buy it in the first place. Especially in book form. All Disney does is rehash old stories that have already been written to make them into screenplays. Instead, why not take the original story and make your own picture book from it?
Sabienn 4 years ago
You want to read kids stories in which the main character usually dies? I know there are at least a few different versions of the little mermaid in which Ariel dies. In gruesome ways. Not a good idea to read that to little kids, unless you want them to have nightmares
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Jason Doakes 4 years ago
What a useless act of exhibitionism. What an asshole. That's why regressives hate progressives, smug opportunistic piece of s**t just trying to get famous using feminism and his daughter. If a girl wants to bake a pie, i guess you scream at her. F**k you
Hans 4 years ago
Frankly, I also "adapt" older books when reading to my daughters to get rid of sexistic stereotypes or outdated parenting advise. Or I simply explain the context, where applicable, or add a bit to the story, which works in many cases, too. And if books are blatantly wrong, I will not even read them. However, forcing political correctness and setting an agenda is not how parenting works; that would rather be living by example. What we see here seems to be done to please an audience on the net, not really for the sake of parenting. There are enough books with charming stories out there that I am sure his daughters will love without a single touch being done...and if someone has the skills, why not rather create own works?
Hans 4 years ago
That said, not even the skills are needed. I occasionally invent stories for my daughters in which I weave in some adventues from our everyday life. It is effortless to have the right values in these without explicitely focussing on gender balance and undesirable tropes.
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Kookamunga 4 years ago
I love BP, but the Disney conversion posts are my least favorite, they are constant. Jeez, can we give it a rest already? There are much more interesting things out there then turning Ariel into a Lobster Thermidor.
More Thinking Needed 4 years ago
Hate when parents use their children as props in the hopes of becoming internet-famous for 15 minutes.
Stefan 4 years ago
Stop changing what is already done and written, and start making something new !
Romenriel 4 years ago
Yes! If people want something to be present in art, they need to express it themselves.
Load More Replies... BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 4 years ago
Then orginals aren't bad at all. They're not being sexist, it's the princesses doing what they like to do and are good at. Believe it or not a woman can cook without it being sexist.
Lillukka79 4 years ago
I cook because I like it. And even more I like to feed people I love.
Load More Replies... Brendan Roberts 4 years ago
This isn't gender equality, it's role-reversal. A better "fix" would be a story of both the princess and the prince cooking & cleaning together.
Devil's Advocate 4 years ago
None of this is "fixing" anything, most of them are going ridiculously the opposite way, assuming that women should fall in love with other women, none of them want to cook anything, and men should just do everything. If his daughters follow his advice, they're going to grow up horrible and spoilt!
Glirpy 4 years ago
Here’s an idea… if you think Disney stuff is bad, then don’t buy it in the first place. Especially in book form. All Disney does is rehash old stories that have already been written to make them into screenplays. Instead, why not take the original story and make your own picture book from it?
Sabienn 4 years ago
You want to read kids stories in which the main character usually dies? I know there are at least a few different versions of the little mermaid in which Ariel dies. In gruesome ways. Not a good idea to read that to little kids, unless you want them to have nightmares
Load More Replies... Jason Doakes 4 years ago
What a useless act of exhibitionism. What an asshole. That's why regressives hate progressives, smug opportunistic piece of s**t just trying to get famous using feminism and his daughter. If a girl wants to bake a pie, i guess you scream at her. F**k you
Hans 4 years ago
Frankly, I also "adapt" older books when reading to my daughters to get rid of sexistic stereotypes or outdated parenting advise. Or I simply explain the context, where applicable, or add a bit to the story, which works in many cases, too. And if books are blatantly wrong, I will not even read them. However, forcing political correctness and setting an agenda is not how parenting works; that would rather be living by example. What we see here seems to be done to please an audience on the net, not really for the sake of parenting. There are enough books with charming stories out there that I am sure his daughters will love without a single touch being done...and if someone has the skills, why not rather create own works?
Hans 4 years ago
That said, not even the skills are needed. I occasionally invent stories for my daughters in which I weave in some adventues from our everyday life. It is effortless to have the right values in these without explicitely focussing on gender balance and undesirable tropes.
Load More Replies... Kookamunga 4 years ago
I love BP, but the Disney conversion posts are my least favorite, they are constant. Jeez, can we give it a rest already? There are much more interesting things out there then turning Ariel into a Lobster Thermidor.
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