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
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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.
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?
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.
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.
I wouldn't say that the heterosexual relationship is problematic. No sexuality is wrong.
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.
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.
Helping is a wonderful message. Your messages to your daughter are crap.
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.
“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:
Hate when parents use their children as props in the hopes of becoming internet-famous for 15 minutes.
Stop changing what is already done and written, and start making something new !
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.
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.
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!
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?
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
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?
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.
In the immortal words of Charlie Brown, "Good Grief." I'm what some people on this website would probably call a "liberal snowflake", but I cannot role my eyes far enough back in my head. Instead of censoring books, why don't you have a conversation with your child about the gender stereotypes and even talk to her about standing up for herself? Disney Princesses aren't going to turn your child into a spinless, pampered Stepford Wife. If there is a stereotype in an older book or movie, it presents an opportunity to talk to your child about it! BoredPanda, please stop promoting "performative parenting" listicles. I'm sorry, but I just feel like this was done for Internet clout just like the mother who posted the photo of her poor, crying son on social media after he had been bullied. I know that quite a few of us really miss article focused more on art and uplifting content.
We really don't give kids enough credit. I knew these stories weren't "real" when I was younger. They were entertaining and taught me how to imagine whole other worlds where animals talked and witches would try to kill you with enchanted apples. Stop messing with my childhood and trying to make kids "woke", fer Pete's sake.
So instead of ditching these poorly written Disney rip offs and getting his daughter any of thousands of excellent books (including Disney ones!) that challenge gender stereotype, this guys badly alters these crappy books for his 15 minutes of fame. SMH.
OK then... To enjoy baking is bad. When dealing with bullies, physical violence is the way to go. Instead of Prince Eric enjoying even a bad cake because he loves the one who made it, she gives up as soon as things get complicated and then searches for hookups online, while stringing him along. Sharing food with people you love is stupid, selfishness is the way to go. Instead of both working together to clean a house, a modern girl should force the man to do it on his own. Yeah.......... Are we SURE that those are improvements that "fix" things? Because if those messages are any better than the originals, I must have missed something somewhere.......
Dont edit the books for your liking. Just for tik tok followers or likes. Make something new than destroying someone's hard work!
Come on, children are not idiots, they can understand these stories came from a different time. Give them context instead, so they can actually think.
How about leaving the original ORIGINAL and letting children discover there own thoughts and beliefs, not yours. This is really disappointing to see.
I cringed at these. Nothing wrong with Disney movies. I hate how certain things are forced on us nowadays.
I'm so sick of people doing this. I love all the old Disney films and Books
I'm not a fan of this. I mean, you do you, but this seems a bit excessive.
Ridiculous- these are just stories - make believe. Teach your children the difference between a story and reality and it will stand them in good stead
I don't like what Germany did in the last century. Hmmmm I just re-write history, problem solved! Well, not. This is not how it work. Have some respect,and instead of changing what already exist, express your thoughts not by amending something but create something new. You can't deny the past, but you can make a better future
You mean to say Gender Equality is pulling down and mentally destroying the other person. I thought Gender Equality was always parity between sexes.
Terrible. There was only ONE of these I found remotely agreeable. Stop snowflaking everything.
I alter how I tell these fairy tales for my daughters. Mostly about the weird instant-love, completely depending on another person that you just met. Some of the other ones, are just weird. Equality isn't "This was normally what women did so men must do it now" it's both being EQUAL. The 78cents on the dollar bit was very forced
This is the most ridiculous thing. Good grief. What is this world coming to
How is this not indoctrination, or can woke people not indoctrinate?
love the comments on why these stories are like this. the fact that most have been around for generations is a clue... I am sure the new stories made now where the uni grad in gender studies lived happily on welfare waiting for the gov. to cancel her debt so she can get another tattoo and piercing for the next cosplay convention... these stories will last 1000s of years to come.
The man who did this is teaching his daughter to be mean and selfish, that if she's female she can do whatever she wants with no regard for others. Great job!
ngl looking at the post it seems really pointless, especially when some of them create more problems than they solve. the one that really stuck out to me was the Ariel one in the "fixed version" it shows that Ariel is unhappy in her marriage and immerses herself in tiktok to escape compared to the normal version where they have a happy marriage (Ik I'm reading wayyy into it but like)
Just can't leave well enough alone. How sad that is for his daughters, and for any other little children who might be influenced by what he's doing. Rotten father.
If you don't like the stories, then don't buy them or read them to your child. If you think you're so brilliant, write your own stories and don't steal from other authors!
If you don't like the stories, don't get them or read them to your child. If you think you're so brilliant write your own stories and don't steal from another author!
As a woman, stop whitewashing everything like this. We have brains. We can see the holes in the rhetoric and judge the world in our own. We don't need you to create binders for us. My parents never said anything about me being a girl. I climbed trees, got dirty, was top of all my STEM classes. Don't force gender roles but don't bulldoze PLEASE. We aren't stupid and we can see everything that you can, and we can analyze children's literature on our own
She'll end up growing up expecting others to clean for her and refuse to learn to cook and bake for just being female, and expecting that not doing anything for others will get her into a prestigious university.
Honest title: "Fadded up dad attempts to force daughter to choose between lesbian relationships and loneliness."
Must be a divorced dad. I enjoy doing things for my wife. She enjoys doing things for me. We enjoy doing things for ourselves too. The thing I used to hate about Disney movies was the absent dads though.
Why all the downvotes and negativity? I think this dad is doing something great.
Wooooooow 😲 So much hate on what is normally such a progressive platform. Like seriously though what the hell is wrong with all of you??? This was incredible screw the comments saying this was for 15 mins of fame this is for a lifetime of self confidence being instilled to this child. And I especially appreciate the gay ending for Cinderella. As someone who grew up comphet and didn't realize that I was a lesbian until my 30's it is freaking awesome that he did that normalizing all relationships is so crucial to accepting one's self and those around them. 🌈🌈🌈
How could i buy these versions you have created? Absolutely brilliant!
Hate when parents use their children as props in the hopes of becoming internet-famous for 15 minutes.
Stop changing what is already done and written, and start making something new !
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.
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.
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!
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?
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
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?
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.
In the immortal words of Charlie Brown, "Good Grief." I'm what some people on this website would probably call a "liberal snowflake", but I cannot role my eyes far enough back in my head. Instead of censoring books, why don't you have a conversation with your child about the gender stereotypes and even talk to her about standing up for herself? Disney Princesses aren't going to turn your child into a spinless, pampered Stepford Wife. If there is a stereotype in an older book or movie, it presents an opportunity to talk to your child about it! BoredPanda, please stop promoting "performative parenting" listicles. I'm sorry, but I just feel like this was done for Internet clout just like the mother who posted the photo of her poor, crying son on social media after he had been bullied. I know that quite a few of us really miss article focused more on art and uplifting content.
We really don't give kids enough credit. I knew these stories weren't "real" when I was younger. They were entertaining and taught me how to imagine whole other worlds where animals talked and witches would try to kill you with enchanted apples. Stop messing with my childhood and trying to make kids "woke", fer Pete's sake.
So instead of ditching these poorly written Disney rip offs and getting his daughter any of thousands of excellent books (including Disney ones!) that challenge gender stereotype, this guys badly alters these crappy books for his 15 minutes of fame. SMH.
OK then... To enjoy baking is bad. When dealing with bullies, physical violence is the way to go. Instead of Prince Eric enjoying even a bad cake because he loves the one who made it, she gives up as soon as things get complicated and then searches for hookups online, while stringing him along. Sharing food with people you love is stupid, selfishness is the way to go. Instead of both working together to clean a house, a modern girl should force the man to do it on his own. Yeah.......... Are we SURE that those are improvements that "fix" things? Because if those messages are any better than the originals, I must have missed something somewhere.......
Dont edit the books for your liking. Just for tik tok followers or likes. Make something new than destroying someone's hard work!
Come on, children are not idiots, they can understand these stories came from a different time. Give them context instead, so they can actually think.
How about leaving the original ORIGINAL and letting children discover there own thoughts and beliefs, not yours. This is really disappointing to see.
I cringed at these. Nothing wrong with Disney movies. I hate how certain things are forced on us nowadays.
I'm so sick of people doing this. I love all the old Disney films and Books
I'm not a fan of this. I mean, you do you, but this seems a bit excessive.
Ridiculous- these are just stories - make believe. Teach your children the difference between a story and reality and it will stand them in good stead
I don't like what Germany did in the last century. Hmmmm I just re-write history, problem solved! Well, not. This is not how it work. Have some respect,and instead of changing what already exist, express your thoughts not by amending something but create something new. You can't deny the past, but you can make a better future
You mean to say Gender Equality is pulling down and mentally destroying the other person. I thought Gender Equality was always parity between sexes.
Terrible. There was only ONE of these I found remotely agreeable. Stop snowflaking everything.
I alter how I tell these fairy tales for my daughters. Mostly about the weird instant-love, completely depending on another person that you just met. Some of the other ones, are just weird. Equality isn't "This was normally what women did so men must do it now" it's both being EQUAL. The 78cents on the dollar bit was very forced
This is the most ridiculous thing. Good grief. What is this world coming to
How is this not indoctrination, or can woke people not indoctrinate?
love the comments on why these stories are like this. the fact that most have been around for generations is a clue... I am sure the new stories made now where the uni grad in gender studies lived happily on welfare waiting for the gov. to cancel her debt so she can get another tattoo and piercing for the next cosplay convention... these stories will last 1000s of years to come.
The man who did this is teaching his daughter to be mean and selfish, that if she's female she can do whatever she wants with no regard for others. Great job!
ngl looking at the post it seems really pointless, especially when some of them create more problems than they solve. the one that really stuck out to me was the Ariel one in the "fixed version" it shows that Ariel is unhappy in her marriage and immerses herself in tiktok to escape compared to the normal version where they have a happy marriage (Ik I'm reading wayyy into it but like)
Just can't leave well enough alone. How sad that is for his daughters, and for any other little children who might be influenced by what he's doing. Rotten father.
If you don't like the stories, then don't buy them or read them to your child. If you think you're so brilliant, write your own stories and don't steal from other authors!
If you don't like the stories, don't get them or read them to your child. If you think you're so brilliant write your own stories and don't steal from another author!
As a woman, stop whitewashing everything like this. We have brains. We can see the holes in the rhetoric and judge the world in our own. We don't need you to create binders for us. My parents never said anything about me being a girl. I climbed trees, got dirty, was top of all my STEM classes. Don't force gender roles but don't bulldoze PLEASE. We aren't stupid and we can see everything that you can, and we can analyze children's literature on our own
She'll end up growing up expecting others to clean for her and refuse to learn to cook and bake for just being female, and expecting that not doing anything for others will get her into a prestigious university.
Honest title: "Fadded up dad attempts to force daughter to choose between lesbian relationships and loneliness."
Must be a divorced dad. I enjoy doing things for my wife. She enjoys doing things for me. We enjoy doing things for ourselves too. The thing I used to hate about Disney movies was the absent dads though.
Why all the downvotes and negativity? I think this dad is doing something great.
Wooooooow 😲 So much hate on what is normally such a progressive platform. Like seriously though what the hell is wrong with all of you??? This was incredible screw the comments saying this was for 15 mins of fame this is for a lifetime of self confidence being instilled to this child. And I especially appreciate the gay ending for Cinderella. As someone who grew up comphet and didn't realize that I was a lesbian until my 30's it is freaking awesome that he did that normalizing all relationships is so crucial to accepting one's self and those around them. 🌈🌈🌈
How could i buy these versions you have created? Absolutely brilliant!