No. Just because she doesn't want to get married does not make her a feminist. A feminist stands up for women's rights, Merida is just doing what she thinks is best for herself.

I think she's feminist-friendly, which is an important distinction to make. Feminist is more of a political term and an ideology. Merida embraces part of that ideology by wanting to make her own decisions and choosing her own path in life. We don't know what her actual political beliefs are since the focus of the film was on mending family bonds instead of actual leadership. Maybe in a sequel Merida will be trained in the ways of ruling a kingdom (which was suggested at in the first film) and she will learn the intricacies of being a female with power.

Why was she made? For feminist that craved girl-power. While the character herself isn't a feminist, she represents the trope if feminism. Too bad some feminist actually didn't like her.

She commits some feminist-friendly acts (speaking for her right to not get married, etc), but I think people tend to over glorify her at times and praise her decision of turning her mom into a bear as feminist action.

unless she stands up and says she's a feminist, she's not a feminist. a feminist is simply someone who wants equality between men and woman, but NONE of the princesses display that.

^ YES, I completely agree.

She's empowering, but she doesn't display the quality of wanting the equality of the sexes.

Mulan is. Merida is not.