Disney Princess Rant

MNNEBride · April 2012

in the latest post from the Views from the Couch blog.

http://viewsfromthecouch.com/2012/04/18/my-rant-on-disney-princesses/

I agree.

AuntFlo · April 2012

Meh. I feel like there are bigger fish to fry then to get all up in arms over this.

DG1 · April 2012

I'm not sure one blog post = "up in arms." I certainly agree that the princesses are not the best role models, and they are part of the reason I'm glad I don't have a girl.

AuntFlo · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:8ca7c75c-3a24-4976-8543-694f425e4968">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm not sure one blog post = "up in arms." I certainly agree that the princesses are not the best role models, and they are part of the reason I'm glad I don't have a girl.
Posted by DG1[/QUOTE]

No, one blog post =/= "up in arms" but the princess hate seems to be all over the place these days.

6fsn · April 2012

Cinderella and Snow White are a great way to say that the actions of the witch and the stepsisters are what make them ugly. Really I may just be a bad girl/mom because I don't remember the princess crap.

ReturnOfKuus · April 2012

Fairy tales in general are insidious. Guys have adventures and win a woman as a prize, while women have stories happen to them (or not) based on their looks.

Mulan rocks my world, though.

baconsmom · April 2012

I'm with Kuus. Bacon didn't see a princess movie until she was in school, when they showed her Cinderella. I was a little peeved by that, but she was already 6. I knew I couldn't keep them away forever.

We haven't read her any fairy tales. Period. Princesses or not, the good versions are too scary for little kids, and the other versions are exactly as Kuus says. I've tried to find her stories that I loved as a child - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, for example - or well-recommended kids' books, like Chrysanthemum.

DG1 · April 2012

You don't remember it because "The Princesses" wasn't a thing until maybe 10 years ago. The individual characters existed, but the major marketing of them as a group wasn't happening when we were little.

Whatevs. I have my own issues. Dex is brandishing pretend "shooters" everywhere, and we have no idea where that came from.

hmonkey · April 2012

[QUOTE]Mulan rocks my world, though.
Posted by ReturnOfKuus[/QUOTE]

i remember having a conversation not too long after this movie came out, because mulan's inability to please the matchmaker is actually a death sentence for the family. it's very "pride and prejudice," because there is genuine bravery and peril in not marrying.

Heffalump · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:8ca7c75c-3a24-4976-8543-694f425e4968">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm not sure one blog post = "up in arms." I certainly agree that the princesses are not the best role models, and they are part of the reason I'm glad I don't have a girl.
Posted by DG1[/QUOTE]

I used to feel this way until I had the Woozle. I think it depends on the princess. Some of the older ones are sort of on the passive, damsel in distress end of the spectrum, but the new ones are much better, IMO. The Woozle is CRAZY about Beauty and the Beast, and I feel like we could do a lot worse. She likes that Belle is brave, and identifies with her love of books. We talk about a lot of Belle-related things: how she didn't really fit in in her town and that was okay, how she was kind to the Beast even though he wasn't handsome, how Belle disliked the Beast when he was rude to her, and how they became friends once he treated her with kindness and respect. She definitely likes the dresses and dancing, but I also think it provides opportunities to discuss and reinforce values that are important to us as a family.

I'm still not super-impressed with Cinderella.

AuntFlo · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:974489e9-35f1-4e88-b4d6-0bdc73e0870c">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Disney Princess Rant : I used to feel this way until I had the Woozle. I think it depends on the princess. Some of the older ones are sort of on the passive, damsel in distress end of the spectrum, but the new ones are much better, IMO. The Woozle is CRAZY about Beauty and the Beast, and I feel like we could do a lot worse. She likes that Belle is brave, and identifies with her love of books. We talk about a lot of Belle-related things: how she didn't really fit in in her town and that was okay, how she was kind to the Beast even though he wasn't handsome, how Belle disliked the Beast when he was rude to her, and how they became friends once he treated her with kindness and respect. She definitely likes the dresses and dancing, <strong>but I also think it provides opportunities to discuss and reinforce values that are important to us as a family.</strong> I'm still not super-impressed with Cinderella.
Posted by Heffalump[/QUOTE]

YES!

MinM · April 2012

I hate the Princesses. HATE. Her take on them is about the same as mine.

My neice wants to be a princess when she grows up. Too bad there aren't any rolling around in BFE where she lives.

ReturnOfKuus · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:088ff815-0dc9-4c5e-bce5-5269152161b6">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]i remember having a conversation not too long after this movie came out, because mulan's inability to please the matchmaker is actually a death sentence for the family. it's very "pride and prejudice," because there is genuine bravery and peril in not marrying.
Posted by hmonkey[/QUOTE]

I would have liked it if the movie had made this clear, but of course, I was in college when i saw it, so I probably wasn't the target audience.

You know who I really, from the bottom of my boogity boogity shoop, can relate to? Rapunzel. It's like a little exaggeration of my formative years, with added magic.

6fsn · April 2012

I don't know Mulan either. I don't know any of the superheroes 6let asks about. I'm doomed.

DG- 6let said he wanted to play the "kill 'em" game. He said it was a game where you killed people so we had a BIG LONG talk. Then I had a BIG LONG talk about monitoring his time with the 13 yo boy cousin (the son of stupid SIL).

AuntFlo · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:58dfef9c-4b53-4cdc-b0ac-09be352515f0">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Disney Princess Rant : I would have liked it if the movie had made this clear, but of course, I was in college when i saw it, so I probably wasn't the target audience. You know who I really, from the bottom of my boogity boogity shoop, can relate to? Rapunzel. It's like a little exaggeration of my formative years, with added magic.
Posted by ReturnOfKuus[/QUOTE]

AWWW! I love TANGLED! Switch out Pascal for a bunny and it's you! :)

I think Disney is becoming more mindful about it all. Tangled isn't perfect, but she's not quite the "damsel in distress" like the older princesses. And Tiana (from Princess and the Frog) was very independent - doesn't need a man to save her - also. I am trey excited about Brave and have high hopes about the lead character being a good role model.

hmonkey · April 2012

well, the bravery of elizabeth bennett for refusing the marriage of mr. collins isn't that obvious either, unless you've read "sense and sensibility" too.

Heffalump · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:deb20d46-2959-4aef-aeff-c3971ab0d510">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]I hate the Princesses. HATE. Her take on them is about the same as mine. My neice wants to be a princess when she grows up. Too bad there aren't any rolling around in BFE where she lives.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]
What is it that appeals to her about being a princess? I sort of wanted to cry when the Woozle declared herself a princess, but when I asked her why, she said because she likes wearing dresses and dancing. She's not really clear on what it means to be a princess, and I'm not exactly promoting it. But she and I both like dressing up and dancing, so I can't really fault her there.

Heffalump · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:fe096979-24f9-49a4-bc97-dae1ba8af6f3">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Disney Princess Rant : AWWW! I love TANGLED! Switch out Pascal for a bunny and it's you! :) I think Disney is becoming more mindful about it all. Tangled isn't perfect, but she's not quite the "damsel in distress" like the older princesses. And Tiana (from Princess and the Frog) was very independent - doesn't need a man to save her - also. I am trey excited about Brave and have high hopes about the lead character being a good role model.
Posted by AuntFlo[/QUOTE]

The only part of Tangled that the Woozle liked was the frying pan part. We had to have a conversation about real vs. pretend after that one. So, you know, watch out for those role models. :)

I am definitely intrigued by Brave. From what I've seen, the Woozle may be too young, but we'll see. She <em>is</em> supa-dupa psyched about the Finding Nemo 3D release this fall.

MinM · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:adbecdf4-7982-40a1-9778-167cf5fdf9ec">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Disney Princess Rant : What is it that appeals to her about being a princess? I sort of wanted to cry when the Woozle declared herself a princess, but when I asked her why, she said because she likes wearing dresses and dancing. She's not really clear on what it means to be a princess, and I'm not exactly promoting it. But she and I both like dressing up and dancing, so I can't really fault her there.
Posted by Heffalump[/QUOTE]

I would think it is because, yes, the dressing up, but also being the prettiest, fairest, etc, etc. She thinks the sun shines right out of her ownass. So that has got to be appealing to her - worshiped by all and all of that.

AuntFlo · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disney-princess-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:caa0eaf2-c315-4ae5-a4ab-6eb0efa03f0cPost:3c083e0a-9c4b-4d77-b4bf-9720d32035a1">Re: Disney Princess Rant</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Disney Princess Rant : I would think it is because, yes, the dressing up, but also being the prettiest, fairest, etc, etc. She thinks the sun shines right out of her ownass. So that has got to be appealing to her - worshiped by all and all of that.
Posted by MinM[/QUOTE]

I don't know this child, or her parents, but my guess is that this girl would think sun shines out of her a$$ even if she's never seen a Disney movie in her life.

dharmabunny · April 2012

I'm totally going to have to watch Mulan again. I can't stand most Disney movies, especially princess movies. But Mulan is a huge exception in my own little paradigm.

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