Princess Leia may become the first non-animated Disney Princess

Move over, Cinderella

Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and the majority of Disney Princesses have one thing in common — they all needed a man to save them. No shade, that’s just how their characters were written.

But the Princess line may be about to get a shakeup. In the wake of Carrie Fischer’s untimely death, a petition was recently made to Disney CEO Bob Iger to make her iconic Star Wars character an official Disney Princess. Obviously, we’re here for it.

And it’s not just us — there’s currently 55,000 signatures and counting on the petition.

“After the tragic loss of Carrie Fisher, we feel that it is only fitting for Disney to do away with the rule that an official Disney princess must be animated and make Leia a full-fledged princess. This would be a wonderful way to remember Carrie and a welcoming to one of Disney’s new properties that is beloved by millions,” the document reads.

Since Walt Disney Corporation owns LucasFilm and the Star Wars franchise, the addition of Princess Leia wouldn’t be farfetched. And not only would her character allow young girls to look up to an empowering Princess who demonstrates that girls can be feminine, but also fearless, intelligent and brave, it might also inspire other companies creating characters for girls to think outside the typical “princess” box a bit more.

Princess Leia was a strong, independent woman who went up against the strongest men and even when she was made to be the character who “needs saving” — she wasn’t. She shattered stereotypes and empowered generations of women after Carrie Fisher portrayed her in Star Wars and this silly rule of Disney Princesses must only be animated is downright ridiculous.

It’s 2017, rules were meant to be broken and if I had Princess Leia as an option as my favorite Disney Princess to aspire to be — I would choose her in a heartbeat.

Young women should have the option of looking up to a woman who fights better than a man and isn’t afraid to be her own hero.

She represented all women who aren’t afraid of the obstacles ahead and how women could be a badass like her if we wanted to. Not every young girl aspires to be a princess or have that happy ever after. It’s time to change that outlook and give young women the option of being a badass fighter and powerful leader as their favorite Disney Princess.

Princess Leia showed young girls that we, too, could be superheroes if we wanted to be and that’s a valid reason to make her a Disney Princess.

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