Why This Plus-Size Vlogger Is Calling on Disney to Create a Plus-Size Princess
In October of 2015, 23-year-old Loey Lane posted a clothing haul video of her recent purchases as she regularly does for her YouTube channel. The plus-size beauty and fashion vlogger who's a part of the StyleHaul network tried on a Little Mermaid-inspired bikini, showing it off for her nearly 850,000 YouTube subscribers. "I'm going to live in this for the rest of my life, who am I even kidding? I'm going to be a mermaid princess for the rest of my life," she said.
Loey's subscribers immediately took to the comment section to discuss the possibility of a plus-size Disney princess.
In March, Loey responded with a video called "The Not So Little Mermaid," where she discussed how beautiful and empowered she felt in the Ariel-inspired bikini, but how she didn't feel that way when she was a "chubby kid" at Disney World on a youth group trip.
"We could all write Disney princess names on our name tags," she said. Since Arielis Loey's favorite Disney princess (her second favorite is Snow White), she wrote Ariel as her name. Before she had the chance to wear her tag, another kid stole it, crossed out Ariel, and wrote Ursula, the name of the villain sea witch in the film.
"The fact that the closest thing to my body that I could get was Ursula just hurt me so badly as a kid," she said.
Loey met up with Cosmopolitan.com at Beautycon LA and called on Disney to create a plus-size Disney princess, standing confidently in her Ariel-inspired bikini and a Snow White costume.
"We can't all look exactly the same, and that's a huge reason why I think it's important for there to be more diversity in everything young boys and girls consume," she said.
If a plus-size princess is what we want, Loey says we need to be vocal and prove it. "By wearing Disney princess gear, and looking beautiful and amazing, and being our own version of a Disney princess, we're really doing that," she said.
Loey says her Disney experience has come full circle, "from a body-shaming story, to something I am confident in and I love myself in." Disney, the next move is yours.
Watch Loey's inspiring story in the video below:
