Merida and her bow by Jennie Park mydisneyadventures licensed under CC BY 2.0
Merida from Disney’s Brave is an example of a strong female character. Do Something is inviting students to create a #RealPrincess for a chance to win a $4,000 scholarship.

According to a New York Film Academy study, only 30.8 percent of the speaking characters in the top 500 movies from 2007 to 2012 were women. Do Something, an organization committed to making “the world suck less,” is inviting young people to create a princess that will urge Disney “to show strong women on screen.” In addition to bringing attention to gender inequity in film, one lucky student who participates in the #RealPrincess campaign will win a $4,000 scholarship.

Instead of depending on a prince, like many of the princesses in Disney films do, Do Something would like students to create a princess is “self-sufficient and complex.” They believe if more Disney princesses are portrayed this way, it can “lead to other similar representations of women in the media.” Do Something provides a template students can use to create their “Real Princess.” In addition to providing a square to draw the princess, they ask participates to finish the following phrases about their newly created character:

• Three traits that describe me.
• My skill/superpower.
• My life goal.
• What’s stopping me.
• How I overcome it.

Do Something provides a few examples of what they are looking for in their entries. Merida from Disney’s Brave serves as one of the example as she is one of the recent examples of a strong female character in a Disney film. The campaign website also includes pictures of real entries that have already been submitted.

Once a drawing (or digital image) is compete and the phrases are complete, students are asked to do a few things to complete their entry into the scholarship competition.

1. Take a picture of their #RealPrincess and upload it to the Do Something website.
2. Post the princess photo on Instagram with the following caption: “Hey @Disney, I want to see a #RealPrincess like this in a movie. How about it?”
3. Encourage friends and followers to like and comment on the post and encourage them to create their own princess.

If students are interested in participating in the campaign and want to learn more, they should visit the #RealPrincess campaign.

Students can submit an unlimited number of princess drawings or images to the campaign. For each princess created and submitted to Do Something, the student will receive one entry into the scholarship drawing. The winner will receive a $4,000 scholarships that can be used toward their education at a two-year or four-year college or university. If the student is currently not in college, the scholarship will be held by Do Something until the student enrolls in college.

There are some eligibility requirements for students to participate in the campaign:

• Entrants must be U.S. citizens or must reside in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia.
• Entrant must be 26 years of age or younger as of the final day of the campaign.

For the full list of rules, students should check out the official rules.

The #RealPrincess campaign will accept entries until Mar. 31, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

In addition to the #RealPrincess campaign, Do Something runs numerous campaigns throughout the year. The campaigns are fun and bring awareness to social issues in the United States and throughout the world. Check out their list of current campaigns, many of which offer college scholarships.

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