Princesses Just Wanna Have Fun
My daughter has seen all of the above “princess movies”.
… Actually, I lied. She hasn’t seen Snow White yet. Odd.
I love those movies. But, they are so formulaic…! And I’m not sure I’m a fan of how awesomely skinny and perfectly-shaped their forms are, I mean, who knew that princess worked out at LA Fitness 7 days a week and manage to keep a flawless complexion and skin tone?
Does every girl really want to be a princess? Are these really good models?
That’s why I like Shrek. The princess found happiness and love AFTER she became big and green and not so perfect.
ooh. that's a wonderful point!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i never thought about that.
I think the philosophies behind their stories are legit. For example, AFAIK, the man always pursues the woman in each of those fairytales. That's a relational standard much of today's culture is quickly abandoning; often times it's the woman pursuing the man now.
Don't read too much into what I'm saying because I'm not trying to make a socio-political commentary, but I kinda dig it when stories mix up the boy-chases-girl approach.
Again, I'm not saying this is how it should be or what my preferences are. It's just a refreshing change of pace.
My recent post Fighting a Case of the Mondays with an Apartment #1 Christmas Carol
dangerous territory my friend…
It is quite enjoyable reading the men's perspective on the Princesses
we are strange beings, that is true.
Love the picture – but I also like this one which tangentially explores the kind of relationships Disney encourages.
http://st-eutychus.com/2009/deconstructing-disney...
I think this is my first comment here – I've been lurking for a while.
wow. that's… scary.
I don't have my Princess yet, she's due in April… but we haven't yet allowed our son to watch any kind of TV or movies, and I'm assuming (hoping) that it will be the same with her. I know at some point they will watch these, but by keeping them away from it when at all possible, it might give them a truer sense of reality… we can dream right
yup. dream away.
While they may not be perfect role models they are certainly better than some of the other role models the media tries to force down our kids throats. As parents it's our responsibility to be the best role model we can to our kids and sadly I think there are a lot of parents out there who dump that responsibility off on others, the media, or the world.
My recent post Excuses
I'm aiming for Xena the warrior princess for my eldest who turns 2 today. Strong, independent and not waiting for a prince all her life but going out there to enjoy life to its fullest. Sure she watches these kinds of movies as well, but she seems to prefer the Jackie Chan cartoons at the moment, which is fine by me.:)
jackie chan is so cool.
My little Princess watches these movies ALL the time. She saw a live stage production of Snow White a while ago and asked, very loudly, where the heart was, cause the production had made it a bit more kid friendly than the original.
Sleeping beauty still freaks her out every once in a while (it is a bit dark).
We do cover some issues while watching these things, good vs evil etc, but not so much the gender roles.
She is convinced that she is a princess by birth (cause some of them only become princesses by marriage, and yes the knows the difference), but that is cool because in her books that makes me a king. I just hope the sentiment lasts way past her fourth birthday.
haha! princess by birth. love it.
I always said I would never allow my daughter to become obsessed or even exposed to all the Disney Princesses. Well… that didn't happen. One day she flipped out in a store in excitement over seeing Ariel. It was all downhill from there. Dear Walt Disney, how did you do it? How did you take over the world? How can families avoid you?
I'm a little bit late here, and a rare female voice here it looks like.
I think every little girl (and big girl) wants to be treated like a princess. These stories capture a girl's heart because someone wants to be with her enough to pursue her. Someone thinks she's pretty and smart and fun and yes, even so young they 'get' that.
Unfortunately, real life hits you in the face about junior high when that boy you like won't even speak to you, or the boy you're going out with sends his friend to break up with you. All of a sudden the world becomes real. People may not like you, people may not think you're pretty or smart or fun. And then you're at a turning point. Unfortunately many girls in junior high have never met the true Prince Charming and they continue to struggle with issues of beauty, size, shape, diet, smarts, and self-worth. They don't know that Jesus loves them enough to pursue them and that He sees their beauty, their potential and everything they can be.
I was lucky enough to know my Prince Charming before I started noticing/caring about boys. And growing up was still awful.
So personally, I let my little girl (5 yrs) watch princess movies and enjoy the stories and pretend to be a princess. But I'm also waiting for the day where I can introduce her to Prince Charming; who will pursue her breathlessly and sweep her off her feet into eternal life in the Kingdom.
As far as reality goes, I hope I can help her become confident in the princess she was designed to be and encourage her to find a husband who will love her the way Prince Charming does.
My recent post Wow.
LOVE THIS! Thanks for being a female voice here. we need it…!
Dangerous territory my friend…but I also like this one which tangentially explores the kind of relationships Disney encourages. My latest blog read here http://www.youthforjesus.com.
Freedy