As much as I now want to see the Disney Princesses do that while in their finest dresses...
In the movie, she objects to the sparkly dress because it's too confining and isn't anything like what she wants to wear. In the archery scene where she does wear the sparkly dress, she causes a mini uproar because you can see her corset and underthings as she rips the dress in the process of showing everyone up. Speaking of which, it's the same corset that her mother helps her put on in a painful scene before the archery one and she's told she has to conform to a specific set of beauty "ideals" to be a fitting princess and heir to the throne.
So, seeing Merida in the sparkly dress she hated so much and without her bow and arrows is pretty distressing to me.
In the movie, she objects to the sparkly dress because it's too confining and isn't anything like what she wants to wear. In the archery scene where she does wear the sparkly dress, she causes a mini uproar because you can see her corset and underthings as she rips the dress in the process of showing everyone up. Speaking of which, it's the same corset that her mother helps her put on in a painful scene before the archery one and she's told she has to conform to a specific set of beauty "ideals" to be a fitting princess and heir to the throne.
So, seeing Merida in the sparkly dress she hated so much and without her bow and arrows is pretty distressing to me.