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RSS FeedDisney Agrees: Princesses are Unhealthy for Girls!
Did Disney blink in releasing its new “age-appropriate” Sofia the First princess character and TV show? If Sofia is deemed “just right” for preschoolers, after all, wouldn’t that mean the now re-labeled “adult” princesses…aren’t? Yet for the past ten years, the Princess concept has been sold (and sold and sold) to the exact same demographic with the Disney assurance that they are “developmentally appropriate,” ”safe,” and imparting good values. No more. Sofia, they assure us, won’t be about romantic fantasy. She won’t need a prince to make her happy, a message that, according to one report Disney recognizes as a “legitimate worry” for parents and a “bad message for little girls.” Yet when I spoke with Disney execs while reporting Cinderella Ate My Daughter, they poo-pooed my concern, insisting that the romantic story lines and passive heroines of “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “Little Mermaid” etc.–which, again, they were shilling to the very same preschool girls they now say need rescuing from that message–were harmless fun. Can they have it both ways?
At the time, execs also told me that Princess was not I repeat not only about the dresses, makeup, bling and Kardashian-sized materialism. Or the $4 billion annually Princess pulls in for the company. No. Disney Princesses were about kindness and compassion and values.
Hey, guess what they’re saying about Sofia? She will, according to a Disney Jr. exec, have “plenty of pretty dresses and sparkly shoes,” but her REALY purpose is to teach viewers that “what makes a real princess is what’s inside, not what’s outside.” Unlike, say, what the other princesses have been teaching viewers for all these years?
So I wonder, does that mean Disney won’t be selling any of Sofia dresses, crowns, ways or other merch, so they can reinforce the idea that she’s all about the inside?
Not hardly.Disney is nothing if not cynical. And greedy.
Obviously Sofia is all about the dresses and the shoes. If not, they could have made her an astronaut or, I know….an explorer!!! Oh, wait, we have that already.I wonder whether Dora would have been possible in today’s princess-obsessed culture. Especially given that Dora herself has both gone princess and undergone a makeover.
Maybe if Disney (or Nick, or Sesame Street Workshop or, gosh, anyone) had 10 other “age appropriate” female characters who were not princesses; maybe if they had a female character whose appeal did not depend on her prettiness (because make no mistake—Sofia is very pretty and weirdly coy and, not for nothing, totally white and that is part of the package); maybe if they didn’t continually reinforce to girls at ever-younger ages that how you look is who you are while claiming to do just the opposite (witness the Tangled Escape From the Tower Lip & Nail Set! and the Princess with a Loving Heart Make-Up Kit.); maybe if they didn’t prime them for premature sexualization while claiming to protect them from it; maybe if they didn’t exploit little girls’ fantasies and turn imagination into something to be scripted and sold; maybe if they didn’t provide the first entrée for so many of the issues I write about on this blog (and in Cinderella Ate My Daughter); maybe then I would feel less disgusted by this latest move. Instead, it just feels like the latest predatory example of Disney reaching for the crib.
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the company to come out with a Snow White coffin. They’re missing a major womb-to-tomb branding opportunity.
o
Wait! Wait! One more thing–you want a great princess story? I’ll give you one. Just in time for the holidays. The Princess and the Pig. It looks hysterical–and right on. And you can bet it won’t be used to sell your 3-year-old lip gloss!
Of course they will have merchandise for that little gal. The article you linked to even says:
“Sofia will have “plenty of pretty dresses and sparkly shoes,” said Nancy Kanter, general manager for Disney Junior Worldwide, but episodes will teach viewers that “what makes a real princess is what’s inside, not what’s outside.””
I assume that means they will also sell plenty of pretty dresses and sparkly shoes. And I’m sure my 4 year old will want it all. I’m just hoping they can finally come up with a movie where the mom doesn’t die or isn’t dead/not even mentioned.
my girls both really liked pinky dinky doo from sesame workshop – she struck me as a really positive role model. we didn’t go out and look for “product” for her more than we would for any other tv/movie character, so i really don’t know if they market her, or overmarket her, or gave her a makeover…
I’ve never even HEARD of her!!!!
I don’t think she’s been marketed at all but I agree that the show is fantastic!
I doubt they recognize the inappropriateness of the older princesses so much as they have noticed that they can segment the market further to generate more cash.
Well, I was being ironic…..
Of course you’re being ironic. But the cash is king bit is being mined from multiple directions on selling prequel princesses…
From Disney’s ‘animator collection’ of tots (princesses in doe-eyed preschool age compression mode) http://www.squidoo.com/disney-animators-collection-toddler-dolls to Sofia topping baby names charts (no coinkydink there) it’s readily apparent that the money machine is in full tilt “what else can we bleed off this franchise/success”
It’s up to all of us deconstructing these messages with critical thinking skills to toss a red flag (pink/whatevs)foul on the play to awaken the slumbering sparkly pixie dust complacency of parenting posses that don’t see the ‘big deal’ time and again on this narrowcasting of girls’ worth via vapid values packaged as princessly and poised.
Also check out Michelle’s PFZ post on this: http://www.princessfreezone.com/pfz-blog/2011/12/2/if-it-isnt-brokebut-it-is-disney-adds-another-princess-to-it.html
Yes, my crankypants are on as I’m fighting the flu and highly fatigued by constant billion dollar battles w/mega-corps going for minions en masse in ‘get ‘em while they’re young’ mode.
It’s not ‘just’ princess stuff, it’s the amplification and narrowcasting of appearance over brains…We need to level the offerings and ‘makeover’ the market to take back mindshare. Now, pardon me while I turn myself into a more likable frog. rbbbbt.
Sing it, sister–you know I’m with you, Amy!
It really is hard to talk about these things without sounding all cranky-pants. That is part of the trap–the sparkles are fun and we are scolds. That is why it was so very important to me in writing CAMD to use that slightly eye-rolling funny (I hope) style. Back to that notion of fighting fun with fun. How do you get people to hear the message that you, I and so many of our colleagues are putting out there? How do you break down resistance? My weapon is wit. At least I think it is…..
ha. Joanna, I wish more people were earnest about the constant proliferation of these media messages landing on kids. Brava to ya for calling out the coinage and consumption cues. And Peggy, yes, your wit is a weapon that pares down truth to the core.
Amy, those toddler princess dolls are creepy. And for the records I am not a person who is creeped out by dolls. They just look like a really bad smell covered up in a sickly-sweet flowery perfume.
Why does Toddler Tiana look pregnant? If they all had that tummy I wouldn’t blink, but they don’t, it’s just Tiana. And Pocahontas looks positively depressed. I wonder why.
They are positively begging for people to look at those cute little chubby toddler figures and then draw a line between that and Ariel’s filled-out shells, or Belle’s slender waist, or Jasmine’s exposed midriff. It makes my back feel all prickly. It’s horrible.
I like two things about the toddler Animators’ dolls:
1) they are actually peer dolls (toddlers, as opposed to teens/adults), and
2) they are NOT dressed as princesses.
Therefore, were I shopping for a little girl who loves the inescapably popular Disney Princesses, I’d choose these over the Barbie-style Disney Princesses with their exaggerated adult forms and ultra-sparkly-FUN!-princess gear.
(And being cynical, it wouldn’t surprise me if Disney has done market research documenting just that.)
It is really unusual to be able to find “peer dolls” these days for kids. Still, their whole point, I think, is to hook little girls on the princess idea/l who will then want to “graduate” to the “adult” princesses. Which will happen quicker and quicker as they reject the little ones as being too “baby” given the whole KGOY thing. I suspect also that Disney is trying to create a low-end cutoff for the “adult” princesses because they are concerned that they are aging down too far and that that will hurt their bottom line. If girls find the “adult” princesses too babyish at age 5 (which they increasingly do) that is a problem. For Disney, i mean. They’re aging out too young. Mooney said something to me about that to me several years ago when I met him–that now that they were putting Princesses on diapers and onesies and such it was making them too babyish for 5-year-olds. So Disney Toddler and Sofia can maybe prolong that aging downward, just as the new princess products for adults (the wedding dresses, the fashion line) can keep it aging upwards….
Ooh, good point about the marketing strategy of it! It seems like princesses are especially popular with 3- to 6-year-old girls, so the idea of Disney pushing back–not wanting them to age out too soon, as in what happened to Barbie’s brand–makes a ton of sense.
Sorry, didn’t mean to step on your irony. Was feeling a bit earnest when I wrote that.
You know, I think you’re saying with irony that disney is only missing an opportunity to cash in, that is: making themed coffins, but you don’t really think they’d do that.
I actually wouldn’t be surprised in seeing they finally come up with it though. If disney ever stood for any value, now they’ll do anything if they think they can get away with it and make money.
Hell, what a monstrosity that they’re now going to target 2 year olds, in a series I’m expecting will teach girls inner values such as realizing you shouldn’t disagree with others, any problem can be solved by being a good little girl, and that your entire life should be centered in princess themed things.
The worst? I bet a lot of parents will continue defending that disney only gives people what they want, and that girls are born like that. Yeah, it’s not like seeing the same messages over and over since the day you’re born has anything to do with it.
DId you see this ever?
I’m definitely not buying disney stuff anymore. I’m just going to see the movies, and only those I don’t think are sexist (or racist). As to my children, they’re not seeing princesses movies before they have seen the Ghibli movies and the like.
Oh, just remembered, if you want yet an alternative to the frenzy of reinforcing gender norms and just want to present you daughter with an endearing cartoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sld2Cjcf_Pw&feature=related
Also check out these princess books (and dastardly dames). http://goosebottombooks.com/site/
Seriously fabulous, and almost distracting my daughter. Almost.
Neat! What age would you say they are for?
But why dastardly?
So, the name “Dastardly” refers to the fact that the women in the series were given brutal nicknames by their people (“Bloody Mary” for example) and speaks to the way that naming people can have real-world consequences. I wrote a review of that series here http://emilyrosenbaum.com/2011/12/09/dastardly-dames/ . I loved it so much that I got the Princess ones for my kids for Hanukkah and also for my nieces. They autographed all our books but made a mistake and autographed the Dames books, so they sent all of both series to both families. My BIL — who isn’t easy to impress — called me and started the conversation with “That is the best Hanukkah gift ever!” He said he got into a conversation with my 6 y.o. niece about prenups after reading the Ferdinand and Isabella book. Granted, my 3 y.o. wasn’t so into the prenups, but it was such a relief to be reading to her about princesses who were actual princesses and did real things. As to the Dames, my 5 y.o. boy loved those books, and it was nice to be able to show him powerful, complicated women, rather than either Snow White or her evil stepmother. (I’m thinking this company should put me on their payroll, because I totally drink the Cool-Aid at this point.)
Oh, as to age. They really are for 9-12 year olds, but my kids are 3, 5, and 7, and they each got something out of them. As they grow older, these are the kinds of books that will grow with them.
No offense to you, but I think it’s completely ridiculous that you’re upset about Disney having a new princess. I also think it’s silly about the way you talk about how princesses and dolls are sexual and enforce the idea that young girls need a man in their life. I played with nearly every doll available and owned every Disney princess movie when I was younger and I never once thought that girls needed a boy to make them happy. I always thought that the princesses were nice and they could sing well, that’s all I thought about them. I’m 14 years old now and I turned out just fine. I’ve never had an eating disorder because I wanted to look like the princesses and I’ve never felt the need to have a boyfriend because the MADE UP CARTOON CHARACTER had one. Princesses and dolls were part of my childhood and I will keep defending them because they’re not bad for children. The little girls that the princesses are geared towards won’t be thinking about the princesses’ figure or boyfriend, they’ll be focused on the story. The girls’ mothers are overreacting and are coming up with silly ideas that the little girls never even thought of. The only point that I agree with you on, is that it’s silly for lip gloss being sold to 5 year olds;they don’t need it. But even then, just simply don’t buy it for your child. Stop overreacting. Also, the part where you brought up Dora is silly as well. Dora grew up; we all do. I look different from the way I did when I was 7. I’m taller and I lost my baby fat, it happen to everyone, the cartoonists are correct because they showed her growing up. It’s simply life. Sorry if you found this disrepectful, but I had to get this off my chest and tell you what I think. Thanks for reading my rant.
Well, usually, as I tell my daughter, someone says “no offense” when they are about to knowingly offend someone, but whatever.
My guess is that you haven’t really read any of my work on this subject, let alone my book, if you think my complaint is that the princesses are sexual. That would be a ridiculous analysis, wouldn’t it? I’d suggest, if you’re interested you start with the piece I wrote that sparked the book. But if you’re particularly interested in the sexualization of girlhood you might be interested in this one. Or just look through the articles section of this blog.
Also, I nowhere say that there is an a+b=c correlation on any of this–that if you play with a particular doll you will have this thing happen to you. That, too, would be absurd, wouldn’t it? I talk about vulnerabilities and cultural messages that have a demonstrably enduring affect. I would also auggest, as I always do, that you check out the American Psychological Association report on this subject. . I don’t have a problem with people who disagree with my work, but I do have a problem with those who totally distort it, especially without making any effort to either look into what I say or look into the research. No offense.
Cinderella Ate My Daughter covers this pretty completely. Perhaps you can pick up a copy.
I heard you this morning on NPR and all I could think was OMG….you are making too big a deal about this especially when it comes to completely boycotting a product…can make the child want it even more.
I think as a parent of 2 grown children as an educator we have to keep things in balance. I grew up in the Barbie generation and had every Barbie thing that came out that I got as birthday or Christmas gifts because my parents knew I liked Barbie. But, I never for a minute identified with Barbie or wanted to be like Barbie. I like the pretend play as pect of it and I think we need to give our girls more credit they know it is for fun and it is up to us to not let them get obsessed with anything princess or otherwise. We never went to the Disney store. We never bought Disney products as part of a regular shopping trip and when we got any of this type of merchandise, it was as a birthday or Christmas present along with other things. Keep everything in balance and perspective. My kids didn’t have ceel phones until 16…which I think is a bigger problem for our preteens than princesses.
What happened to the idea of “phases”? I loved Barbie in elementary and then never touched them again once I got middle school age and neither did my own daughter. I teach 6th graders and the vast majority of them have moved on beyond the “princess” phase and have started getting into sports, dance, cheer,piano or other activities.
So, as someone who was very into what was the princess of my day (Barbie) and my daughter growing up through the Disney princess phase neither one of identified with these characters and have grown into strong women.
I guess if you want your child’s phases defined and limited by commercial interests that ‘s cool.
“…when it comes to completely boycotting a product…can make the child want it even more.”
That assumption is simply not true for toddlers. Maybe somewhat for teenagers, but even then…they hear you even when they pretend they aren’t listening.
I think it’s a shame that people don’t think it’s interesting and fun to delve into the “why”s and “when”s of social phenomena–especially phenomena that affects our kids…and ultimately our future society.
Request: Can a future book be about how we shortchange boys (and therefore men, and therefore women) by not letting them touch anything that happens to be pink, or play with dolls? Some supposedly-progressive dads are the worst offenders!
Peggy,
Princessing is a powerful opportunity to do good as well as fatten up the stock values of the 1% at the top.
We’ve been doing the Princess Festival for 4 years now. It’s got glitter and princess fantasy but it’s aimed differently.
Concept is to become “more than a princess” by caring and serving others. Our mission and vision statements call for teaching these young girls that “you can make a difference” in your home, community and world. (It is value driven and does not have a particular religious tie)
We’ve been donating the profits to growth of the festival and charity work affecting children and their families. We are self contained with our own princesses and their own compellinig stories. They all have families and friends, are taught good principles by their grandparent figures (i.e. Hobbydukes) and then face a challenge where they are called upon to ‘be more than a princess”.
If you want to know more, let me know.
Ron Hatfield
p.s. I’m the father of 6 daughters and 2 sons. 32 grand daughters and 10 grand sons. LOTS of girls/women who have helped shape this over the years.
p.p.s. With the success of the PF we have fed 10,000 people in Africa, built an orphan feeding center, formed a women’s coop, supplied schools, supported many local charities and much more…..
I like the use of Princess as a verb (Princessing). Thank you for this, Rob, Got a link?
Peggy,
I heard you on NPR yesterday, but unfortunately only heard a clip of it. It piqued my interest and my initial reaction was something similar to Lisa and Elizabeth (though we never did the “Disney” thing at home when I was younger). Up late with pregnancy insomnia (I love being a mother, but there are some things I could do without!) and preparing for the birth of my second daughter, I thought I would peruse your blog.
In short: thank you!
You have expressed something that I have long battled with in raising my eldest. I want to encourage “femininity” without encouraging a sense of inferiority, a need to turn on the sexuality, a lack of self worth, or a general dependence on the latest greatest whatever-it-is. On the one hand, the princesses are feminine, but on the other, not really. (I think http://boingboing.net/2010/05/24/what-disney-princess.html explains it well enough) When I think of femininity, I think of Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s book The Privilege of Being a Woman – but how to convey that to your daughter?
So far we have steered away from the whole Disney thing (okay, we do like Toy Story) and to be honest she doesn’t really have dolls. She has never asked for them, so we never bothered. Most of her toys include wooden sets. When younger she had puzzles, stacking rings, sorting blocks, etc. Now (age 5) she has a wooden kitchen set, an easel (lots of paints and chalk to go with it!), more puzzles (I think she is addicted), a doctors kit, etc.
Some of my friends have criticized her lack of “girly toys” asking how she will learn to “be a girl.” But after watching her, she cooks for all of her stuffed animals, tucks them in for nap time, fixes them when they are sick (we go through boxes of band-aids) and will even make mom and dad a pretty picture if she has time in her busy schedule. She includes her younger brother in a lot of this as well. (It is amazing to see how they interact with each other, being only 16 months apart). My thought is, she seems “girly” enough to me AND her likes are not limited. She would just as soon go to the museum of natural science with me or go on a hike with her dad (finding bugs and all) as she would having me braid her hair and dress up.
So, while I feel confident that I won’t screw her up too badly, any thoughts on how you balance pushing away the “princess” and all the negativity that goes with it, and teaching your daughter how to be a lady?
Anyway, keep up the good work! I am enjoying the blog.
I don’t know about being “a lady” but I do agree that you want your daughter to feel proud and happy about being a girl. One does not want to over-value the ideas and ideals ascribed to masculinity or squelch individual expression of gender. One just wants kids/people to be able to choose among a variety of ways of being, preferably that are not dictated by which will make someone else the most money at the expense of your children’s well-being. So how do you define that femininity? I have some suggestions–beginnings of suggestions, really, on the “resources” page of this site.
Seriously.I read the Monster High comments and you kept on repeating about your books and that link and it drove me nuts,but now your calling Disney sexualized just for nail and hair sets made for 3 year olds I mean seriously.Your book is called CAMD or Cinderella Ate My Daughter.It sounds like your robbing kids of their childhood.If you don’t like it fine with me,but let your kid play with what she wants.Your a mom so you can tell her we don’t dress like this,or you don’t do that,but don’t keep your kids from not having fun.I mean its impressive your kid can read Shakespeare,but doesn’t she have anything else she can do that lets her outlet of imagination out like dolls and hair sets.Also did you see the commercial on Disney Channel about the girl whose 4in tall and is an explorer with her dad.thx for reading this.hope i didn’t sound to pushey or mean or anything like that.
Well, I’d say that, at the very least, its limiting to think a girl’s essential way to exercise imagination is through hair, lip and nail sets. Or even that it’s the best way to enforce/reinforce her femininity. So many alternatives: lots of other kinds of doll play, block play, zillions of art possibilities, music, reading, messing around in the yard, making up plays and playing pretend, dressing up (yes, even as a princess!) using old scarves and capes and stuff. My point is that what it means to be a girl is becoming very, very narrow and potentially unhealthy in its exclusive focus on defining themselves from the outside in.
I am interested, though, in the ad you mentioned. I don’t know it. Do you have a link? It’s not the new movie based on The Borrowers, is it? Disney distributes it, but it’s actually Studio Ghibli in Japan, a company I ADORE!
Oh I forgot to mention that all the princesses are still kind,gentle,and sweet.:):)
Please turn the comments back on the MH blog page pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeee please.:):):):)
I’m sorry, Antonyo, I just can’t–I don’t have the time to respond one by one. Here’s a blog I just read by Shapingyouth.org, though, so maybe you can further the discussion there?
[...] (Now, I wonder if they’ll ever release those Disney Princess coffins that Peggy Orenstein enjoys joking about?) [...]