Notes on Isolation

I was drinking out of my Princess mug (looks something like this) the other day after class... it was the day that Hannah had introduced us to the Bechdel Test, I believe. I realized: the Princess mug doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, either.

Peggy Orenstein, in her NYT article "What's wrong with Cinderella" (Dr G. passed it out at some point), touches on the non-interactivity of the way that the Princesses are marketed:

• "Mooney [Disney marketing executive] picked a mix of old and new heroines to wear the Pantone pink No. 241 corona: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan and Pocahontas. It was the first time Disney marketed characters separately from a film’s release, let alone lumped together those from different stories. To ensure the sanctity of what Mooney called their individual “mythologies,” the princesses never make eye contact when they’re grouped: each stares off in a slightly different direction as if unaware of the others’ presence" (Orenstein, fourth paragraph on page 2).

Here's a quick Google image search example.

However, Orenstein doesn't explore the implications of this isolation. What do you guys think? Should the princesses be kept separate to maintain the "individual 'mythologies'" or should they pass the Bechdel test?