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Apologies for the slow posting everyone: it’s been a very busy end to the semester, and then I caught a bad cold over the long weekend. Hopefully I should be writing again by tomorrow, but in the meantime I thought readers might be interested in a book I’ve just ordered: Cinderella Ate My Daughter, by Peggy Orenstein.
Like Reading the Lolita Effect by M. Gigi Durham, intellectually-speaking it’s going to very interesting applying it to the Korean context. But with my 5 year-old daughter expressing a desire to be a princess literally every day though, and having constant fights because she always wants to wear her most “princessy” clothes, then this time round I have much more practical and immediate concerns that I hope the book can help me with!
Anybody else read it, and/or have similar problems with their aspiring little princesses? So far, my wife and I have had the most success with persuading her to become a strong confident queen instead!
The Grand Narrative 
I’m afraid I don’t have a little daughter, but I’d suggest that the one princess dress she has has to be washed to keep it looking pretty. Alternatively, I’d suggest using Disney (yes, I did just say that) – princesses are still princesses no matter how they’re dressed.
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Have you ever read Robert Munsch’s The Paperbag Princess? (A story about a kick-ass princess who rescues her prince after he is abducted by a dragon…and then leaves the prince when she realizes he’s an ass hole). It was a favourite amoung Canadian girls of my generation, and it will be a must read for any of our future kids regardless of gender. http://www.amazon.ca/Paper-Bag-Princess-Robert-Munsch/dp/0920236162
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Thanks very much for the suggestion: that’s exactly what I was looking for. My wife is ordering it as I type this!
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I’d like to know too, as I teach kindergarten and half the girls are obsessed with princesses!
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Personally, I think it’s time for an accident to befall the dress – large black ink stains, perhaps? Any smokers nearby who could do you a favor and add some nice big burn holes? Forget this princess stuff – Dowager Empress for the win! Then you get nice clothes AND power
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Oh, but she’s sooo happy in her little yellow dress…I wouldn’t have the heart!
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As a young girl, watching Mulan completely turned my princess loving life around :)
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Sorry to overanalyze, but why? Is it really bad or something?
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No! I thought it was brilliant. Highly recommended.
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My 10 year old daughter was interested in princessy things when she was younger, especially with Disney version of The Little Mermaid. She loved to wear some of the princess Hallowe’en costumes she had, and was in to flouncy dresses and that sort of thing. As she got more involved in school, girl scouts. some sports and other activities, she’s mostly lost interest and although I still get some Little Mermaid trinkets as gifts, they’re not as big a deal as they used to be. We (well, at least I) enjoy talking about princess themes in other stories, and how different the Disney versions are from the originals, and she was talking with me about the Little Mermaid in Secret Garden (the K-drama), so at least all of that princess obsession didn’t go to waste. It seems that as most girls I know get older, they feel like princess stuff is for little (under 7) girls, so you probably won’t have to worry about it too much longer.
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Thanks that’s good to know.
On a related note, it’s interesting how Alice professes such a liking for princesses without knowing anything whatsover about what they actually are. Not that it’s that big of a deal of course, and it’s sort of understandable, and a positive sign that she’s more into the idea of princesses than imitating them. But anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing if that’s covered in the book.
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Most of the princess emphasis seems to have come mostly from Disney marketing in the 90’s, and is very divorced from the politics of actually being a princess, so it’s not surprising that most girls now just associate it with having pretty clothes and being the main character in a story. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t teach them some pretty whacky stuff about being passive and pretty and all the rest, but . . . yeah, Disney. Evil. I’m glad it wasn’t anywhere near as important in the 80’s when I was a kid (I really wanted to grow up to be a dinosaur. Reality hurts)
But your Alice has such a wonderful literary namesake! I hope she moves from princesses to Wonderland as time goes on.
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I agree with Chris– The Paperbag Princess is an awesome book for little girls. If you haven’t already you also might want to check out Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole, it’s pretty great, and if your daughter likes it, I seem to recall that it’s been expanded into a small series.
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I can’t read Cinderella ate my Daughter yet because I haven’t found it yet nonetheless I don’t think Disney deserves all the blame for the girly girl culture and I know that some people think that Disney doesn’t leave people a choice in the matter but that’s not true people do have a choice in the matter. People can choose not to let there kids watch what ever it is they want to watch and choose not to let them play with what ever it is they want to play with . Anyway girls don’t always turn in to love sick crazy people with bad self esteam if they play with barbies and watch shows about princesses on tv . I mean I’m a girl and I did those things and I’m thirty years old now and I’m not interested in having sex with a guy . I’ve turned out just fine .
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