Moms Also Going After ‘Frozen’ Costumes in Halloween Controversy

With Halloween this week, it’s time to prepare to see hordes of superheroes, Ninja Turtles, firefighters, dinosaurs and Disney Princesses running around your neighborhood. Well, maybe not quite as many princesses as you’d expect.

Some are now saying that dressing like Elsa, central character in Disney’s Frozen, may not be the most appropriate thing for young girls.

Sachi Feris, who runs Raising Race Conscious Children, started the conversation with a blog post about her daughter wanting to dress as Moana. While pointing out that there could be problems there, she also took issue with her daughter’s desire to dress up like Elsa.

According to Feris, the problem was all about cultural appropriation and the “standards of beauty.” She went on to say that the character sent a negative message to young girls, making them believe they needed white skin and long blonde hair in order to look beautiful.

“There is one thing I don’t like about the character of Elsa,” Feris told her daughter. “I feel like because Elsa is a White princess, and we see so many White princesses, her character sends the message that you have to be a certain way to be ‘beautiful’ or to be a ‘princess.’ That you have to have White skin, long, blonde hair and blue eyes. And I don’t like that message.”

Feris continued by saying exactly why she had the problem with Elsa.

“You are White, like Elsa,” she told her child. “If you dressed up as a character like Moana, who had brown skin, you would never change your skin color. But I’m not sure I like the idea of you changing your hair color to dress up as Elsa – because I think Elsa’s character could also be a short, brown-haired character like you.”

As Halloween has drawn closer, Feris’ daughter decided to dress up like Mickey Mouse instead of Elsa or Moana.