Board Thread:Fanon Discussion/@comment-4598697-20160208031138/@comment-4598697-20160209205921

I think the way princesses tend to be portrayed in franchises aimed at girls is why a lot of people don't take characters who are princesses seriously, as well as why people assume that princess characters are Mary Sues. For example, Blaze the Cat and Sally Acorn from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise are often accused of being Mary Sues due to both of them being princesses. Princes fare just as bad, since they're reduced to bland love interests, but there's less outrage over it since we aren't marketing them boys.

We kinda sell the idea to kids that royalty is all about being pretty and that royalty don't have any responsibilities, which definitely isn't true (take Queen Elizabeth II, for instance. She has plenty of responsibilities despite not having any real power over her country). EAH is guilty of it at times, although at least they tried harder than Disney to give their characters personalities. Even fairy tales themselves can do this - take any story that's about a peasant boy (or prince in some cases) trying to win over a king's daughter. A lot of time the princess has no real role in the story besides being a reward for the protagonist.