How does growing up as a young girl watching Disney princess movies, shape your perception of reality as an adult?

 

For many of us, childhood weekends meant curling up in front of the TV, wide-eyed, as Disney princesses sang their way through enchanted forests and ballroom dances. Those sparkling gowns, glittering castles, and perfect endings were a kind of magic that felt real at the time. But what happens when those fairy tales sneak into our adult expectations — especially when it comes to love, beauty, and success?

The truth is, there can be a downside. Disney princess stories often paint happiness as something that arrives the moment a prince appears. Love is instant, effortless, and always ends in a happily-ever-after. It’s no wonder so many women grow up expecting romance to feel easy and flawless. But real relationships? They’re messy, they take work, and they don’t wrap up neatly by the end of a song. That gap between fantasy and reality can sometimes lead to disappointment.

Then there’s the issue of appearance. Almost every classic princess looks a certain way — slim, graceful, impossibly beautiful. When little girls grow up seeing those images over and over, it’s easy to start comparing themselves. As adults, this can feed into insecurities about body image or the pressure to always “look the part.” While Disney has made progress with stronger, more diverse female characters, the older stories are still the ones many of us grew up with.

But here’s the good news: fantasy in itself isn’t the enemy. Those stories gave us imagination, wonder, and a belief in magic. The trick is learning how to separate the sparkle of the screen from the reality of everyday life. Instead of focusing on the perfect prince or the flawless dress, we can take away the deeper lessons: courage, kindness, resilience, and the bravery to dream big. Those qualities are just as relevant in adulthood as they were in the fairy tale.

Navigating that balance often comes down to awareness. As grown women, we can recognize when our expectations are shaped by fantasy, and gently remind ourselves that real joy doesn’t come with a magic wand. It comes from building strong relationships, taking risks, learning, and carving out a life that feels true to us. Sometimes, the reality — with all its imperfections — is even better than the fantasy.

So maybe the key is to let the princesses stay in our childhood memories, as beautiful stories that inspired us, while we step into our own role as the authors of our adult lives. After all, real power doesn’t come from waiting for someone else’s rescue — it comes from writing your own happy ending, one day at a time.