solved – Step one: Do some research about the question posted

– Step one: Do some research about the question posted to be able to do step two.
The question posed for step one is:
Consider the Disney Princess Merida and other Disney Princesses. What does the existence of Disney Princesses have to do with sex and gender? Why might this be important for us to consider as interpersonal communicators?
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– Step two: Make Two Substantive Responses to Two Posts by classmates.
The other 2 classmates answered the question posted in step one, you will response to their 2 posts by what you got from your research in step one.
REMEMBER: it’s a discussion board, so you need to do research for step one and do step two in a discossion way.
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Classmates posts for step two:
1- First of all, how do you genuinely identify the sex of a cartoon character if “sex” is described as biological and anatomical traits, not an appearance?  Merida is portrayed as a strong young woman who doesn’t want to have her life picked for her by having her “husband” win a contest.  She appears as a typical female by “gender” standards (i.e., long hair, dress, feminine figure, higher-pitched voice, motherly nature for her brothers).  At no time in the movie does she change her appearance to be masculine.  Just because she enjoys archery doesn’t mean she is “masculine.”
She “protests” her mother teaching her to be more ladylike, but that could be considered mannerisms also. Typically there is a “Father-daughter bond,” where young girls look up to their father and admire his qualities and or skills. Usually, anyone that has a robust role model will try to replicate the actions of the other.  So to say that Merida may have masculine gender identities due to liking of archery would be wrong.  Just because she “breaks” her dress doesn’t mean she’s breaking the mold of a woman, archery is about form.
The only thing that I can relate to Disney Princesses having to do with sex and gender is to show that women have been given more freedoms and can prove they can be more independent..”
How would Rapunzel, Moana, or the Little Mermaid be described then?  She appears as a typical princess and isn’t dependent on the portrayed male character through each story.
Communication isn’t based on “sex” or “gender” but more on individualism and geographical settings. 
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2- Growing up watching Disney Princesses had a large effect on the way I acted and tried to look. Disney Princesses act and look like the social norms of the time, place, and culture they are trying to portray. Most cultures have characteristics that they view are specifically for women and characteristics that are specifically for men. In a lot of the early Disney princess movies, the princesses are portrayed as fragile, weak, and in danger. It is always a prince/male that has to come and save them. But this was not the case with the Disney movie Brave and Mulan. These two were the only ones to conform to this narrative. But during the whole beginning of both movies, each princess shows a quality they have but since it is seen as more masculine the parents try and hide it. Merida with her archery skills and Mulan with their fighting skills. But in the end, these are the skills that help them save everyone, and then it becomes okay to have these more masculine skills. I do not like this because it shows that women can have these qualities unless they are useful otherwise it is seen as bad and shameful.
The Disney Princesses movies do not only show the cultural norms for women but also men. In most of the movies, the man is seen as tough, a fighter, and always saving the girl. This also shapes the way that a girl thinks about how a boy should act reinforcing the gender roles. Not only do the portrayal of the Disney princesses shape gender but also who is allowed to like them or play with them. It is always seen as normal for little girls to be playing princesses or watching princess movies. But as soon as a little boy participates in these activities he is seen as strange and abnormal. Disney has started trying to change the strong gender norms in their movies (for example Frozen) but there is still to be work done.  In conclusion, from personal experience growing Disney Princesses greatly affected the way that I view myself and others based on what characteristics they should have due to their sex as a young girl.