Princess culture has long captured the imaginations of young children, especially girls, worldwide with its glittering tiaras, flowing dresses, and magical castles. Innumerable fairy tales, animated movies, and toy aisles are all woven together by this cultural phenomenon, which has a significant impact on children's dreams and hopes. However, beneath its glitzy exterior is a convoluted web of morals, ideologies, and social mores that demand examination and reflection. When reading two articles about how two moms felt about princess culture, they gave us their thoughts on the idea. Both “Dangers of Princess Culture” by Calah Alexander and “Defense of Princess Culture” by Crystal Liechy present well-reasoned arguments although they are both …show more content…
She gives us a little bit of background on why she is against princess culture and many other things. She goes off about different rules with different toys for her kids, kinda giving us a good background but also just going on about other things that aren't relevant to the princess culture topic. When she gets into the topic of princess culture, she is very much against it. She talks about how princess culture will kill motivation for young girls. She says “If a parent raises a little girl to believe that she is somebody, i.e., a princess, simply because of who she is, some girls will never be motivated to be other than that. They will have no motivation to obtain an education; no motivation to perfect a skill; no motivation to improve their characters.” She really only makes one big claim in her whole article, that princess culture promotes lazy behavior and entitled means. She brings up the little mermaid and how she turned her back on everyone she loves for a man and to be able to live on land, which promotes selfishness. Calah Alexander only uses one source “The Wise Woman, or the Lost Princess,” from The Gifts of the Child Christ, by George MacDonald, to make her one big claim. That princess culture supposed to be laziness and entitlement among young girls. Both “Dangers of Princess Culture” by Calah Alexander and “Defense of Princess Culture” by Crystal Liechy present well-reasoned arguments although they are both very opinion-based and lack credible evidence in their article, with that tho I believe that “Defense of Princess Culture” gave the better argument. . Both these articles are great but as you can see they both are opinion-based articles and don't have much fact into their articles. Feather. I feel like “Defense of Princess Culture” gave more reasoning on why Princess Culture is a good thing while “Dangers of Princess Culture” did have an actual
Quenzer is a mother and also a blogger for The Everyday Mom Life. On August 2016, she posted an article called “Be The Princess If That’s What You Want to Be.” She argues that parents should not steer their children away from what feels normal to them. She explains that most people associate princesses and pink with girl activities and applaud those who love blue and orange. The girls who love princesses and pink should not be ignored. She states, “If I don’t believe she can [be kind, generous, and polite] while being a princess and liking the color pink, then I am part of the problem. If I don’t believe that she can enjoy things that are still traditionally stereotyped as girl things and still be strong, brave, and fearless, then what am I teaching her” (Quenzer). Quenzer claims that she should not depict what her daughter can be, but she wants her daughter to find her own passion. Quenzer adds to Liechty’s argument because she adds that even though the princess culture can teach a child values, it can also allow children to discover who they are. Quenzer also furthers Bartyzel’s claim because she argues that parents should not narrow what it means to be feminine. The author’s purpose is to inform parents that they should not limit their children in order to persuade the audience to let their child find their passions. The author writes in a suggestive tone for parents. I agree with this claim because I believe
Finucane’s daughter had seemingly been robbed of her creative imagination after trying to live up to the expectations of a Disney princess. Her daughter “seemed less imaginative, less spunky, and less interested in the world” (Hanes 1) after being introduced to the Disney princess line, willing herself to be just like the princesses. Young children know no better and are very susceptible to the world around them, and are very likely to imitate what they are shown or what intrigues them. Hanes was outraged at how Disney had stripped the child of believing in other imaginative creatures and activities, and was stuck on behaving as a princess. Hanes provides research in the article that supports that Finucane’s daughter is not the only one to catch the Disney princess symptoms. There is a whole book about this “diseases” as well as much research conducted on educators that seemingly all agrees that “[teachers] are unable to control the growing onslaught of social messages shaping their…students” (Hanes 1). Through her research Hanes discovered that the Disney Princess empire is a $4 billion dollar industry that leads to “self-objectification, cyber bullying, and unhealthy body image…” (1) causing problems for young girls. These “ideals” will stay with them throughout the remainder of their life, based on decisions that were made for them, to introduce such “ideals” into their minds. Hanes’ readers are most likely to be parents or adults who will likely become parents in the near future, and this article is a great introduction to the long road of making decisions that will impact the way their children think
Are the little girl 's in America being cheated of their privilege of having a childhood? Stephanie Hanes, a freelance journalist, believes so and she decided to express her opinion in the article “ Little girls or Little women ? The Disney Princess Effect”. Hanes argues that today’s society is morally ambiguous because of the sexual messages being sent to young girls. In consequence of this , toddlers now aspire to attain the pre-teen goal to be sexy at such an early age. It all begins with the influence and example that The Disney princesses give to their young fans. For the reason that the article appeared in magazines and in the USA today , the targeted audience must be
Your sparkling eyes gazed at the television, reading the word “Cinderella” by Disney. You had all your Cinderella toys lined up, ready to grab whenever necessary. Your Cinderella pajamas on, and your tea set is all prepared.Your mom adored your love for princesses. Didn’t we all love to sing along to the Disney movies about princesses and true love? Peggy Orenstein sure didn’t. Peggy Orenstein, the author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter has a sharp opinion about how a “pretty and pink” culture is influencing girls in a negative way. The author proves this argument by discussing gender colorization, dolls, and princesses.
The pretty, pink-clad, sparkly princess is what finally broke the metaphorical camel’s back for Peggy Orenstein. Peggy Orenstein authored an essay “What’s Wrong with Cinderella” in 2006 detailing her un-enchanted views of today’s princess culture. We must ask ourselves if we damage girls by allowing them to play with princess accoutrements and actively engage in gender stereotyping.
...aves Princess Jasmine multiple times and falling in love at first sight. They also live happily ever-after together, just as every other Disney prince and princess in every other Disney movie. Parents should be aware of the subliminal messages that their children view in the Disney movies they are watching, and grow up to believe that is how life goes. The children that are growing up watching Disney movies with such strong gender stereotypes are learning things they may factor into their own futures, and think that acting the way of the Disney roles is the only way for them to live their life in a happy manner. The way Disney animated films assign gender roles to their characters effect young children’s views of right and wrong in society. It is wrong, and they should not be exposed to such material growing up because it is harmful to their future expectations.
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.
Poniewozik describes the types of rules for what entails a modern Cinderella fantasy movie. Poniewozik also described the type of attitude these women would have towards royalty. “In [The Princess] Diaries, [The Prince & Me] and Ella [Enchanted], it's not the girl who must prove herself worthy of princesshood; princesshood must prove itself worthy of the girl.” (Poniewozik 1) In the early 2000s there was a major resurgence of fantasy that pulled from the cool, witty, and independent women of the nineties.
Princess films are centered around a female character who meets the love of her life and, like in other fairy tales, ends with their wedding (Ross 4). Initially, the Disney princesses’ have portrayed a typical female role in the film, showing the expected gender roles in American society (England Descartes Collier-Meek 563). These gender-based stereotypes are influenced by the time period they were made in, but also originating from old fairytales made centuries ago. “Society’s increasing reliance on the use of television and videos to occupy children warrants continued investigation of how exposure to media may affect children. Given that media portrayals like those in the animated movies of Walt Disney often reinforce societal stereotypes related to gender, ethnicity, and culture, parents may consider a more thoughtful approach to the use of television and videos” (Disney Movies 1).
"Disney Princesses: Classic Fairy Tales Or Gender Stereotypes?" Hartford Courant, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
Identities of princesses and princes, magical lands and wondrous creatures for far too long have been subject to stereotypes in our world. However, please do not assume these conventions were only brought about in this era. Society’s historic representations of a princess date back to ancient China where many horror stories originated about a girl fleeing from her family duty and marrying a prince. Faraway lands have long been dreamed of where animals can talk and sing. A world that has in time shaped societies’ image of a
“The dangerous world of the princess,” shows the definition of what a princess should be “pretty, gentle, sweet, passive, tiny feet and a handsome prince” (Cochrane paragraph 1), that is why little girls fantasize of being all these things. They want to wear makeup, jewelry, dresses and have good manners while waiting for their charming prince to come and take them away and live that happily ever after fantasy.
In society today, there is pressure from all sides to conform to a certain ideal of beauty. People are overwhelmed with the different types of images and media forms that are telling people how to act and what to look like. Media is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. It has the power to educate, affect social change, and much more, but if taken incorrectly people will take drastic lengths to change something about themselves. There have been many attempts to empower women through different types of media, but many have failed miserably. Over the last couple of years, Disney has struggled greatly with the representation of women throughout Princess movies because young girls are hounded with images of princesses,
Disney and old fairytales threaten gender politics and ideal women roles by giving certain stereotypes for domestic and personality traits. Fairytales that have turned into Disney productions have sculpted domestic roles for women that consist of cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. Disney has also created these princesses with personalities that are shy, passive, and vulnerable. The cause of these stereotypes are making individuals obliterate their own identities and becoming clones from the mold that was prepared for