The Little Mermaid's Ariel is Speaking Up About Equal Pay

Jenny Joslin and Annette Mia Flores, of production company Tex Pats, have taken two serious subjects — the struggle for equal pay, and the non-feminist messages in Disney's films — and turned them into a super catchy video starring a grown-up version Ariel from The Little Mermaid. It's nice to see that Ariel has not only regained her voice, but is using it to fight the good fight.

In "Disney Princesses for Equal Pay," Ariel prances around in brightly colored business attire, reminding us that anything other than a grim pantsuit is a recipe for not being taken seriously, and sings, "what would I give to not be labelled a man-hater just for believing all humanity should be treated the same," to the tune of "Part of Your World."

It's no wonder that Ariel is disillusioned. Women continue to make just 77% of what men earn, but the situation is worse for women of color. According to the National Women's Law Center, African American women working full time and year round were paid only 64 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, and Hispanic women working full time and year round were paid only 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. Those cents really add up; the difference translates into an annual loss of $18,817 and $23,298, respectively. As such, Ariel's musical pleas are really worth a listen.