The feminist, eco-mom’s lament: What to do about princesses!
For the first two years of my daughter’s life, I shielded her from fairy tales and Disney movies about happily ever after and surrounded her with books about animals and nature. Then, she met a little girl that would become her best friend, who also introduced her to the world of Disney Princesses. I was happy my daughter had formed a strong relationship with another child, but there was no returning to our blissful, royalty-free days.
Breaking princess stereotypes
I’ve read several stories that try to break the princess stereotype, such as Cinder Edna and The Paper Bag Princess. Princess Bubble, written by Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb, is the story of a princess who is beautiful, a graduate of Royal University, employed by Royal Heir Line, and is happy with her life. As her other princess friends begin to marry their princes, Princess Bubble is pressured by the queen to find a prince.
But, Bubble did not believe just any prince would bring her “happily ever after.” Yet the fairy tales said she must find HER prince! So she put on her thinking crown and re-read the fairy tales for clues on where to find her prince. She soon realized that unlike the other princesses, She was not trapped in a dungeon…She had no wicked stepsisters or stepmother…She did not know any dwarfs…Nor did she live under the sea. But the most confusing part was…She was already happy!
Finally, a story about a princess that does not need a prince. Although, I do wish Princess Bubble had a different career, as it appears in the illustrations that she is an airline stewardess. If the author really intended to break stereotypes, Bubble would have been a pilot. I also think the name Bubble is a little strange, as if her name implies she is living in a bubble by not following tradition and marrying a prince, or perhaps it is the princess stereotype bubble she is bursting.
How would your child define a princess?
I asked my six-year-old daughter to describe a princess to me. Here is her description:
- nice
- beautiful
- pretty
- kind
- lives in a castle
- wears pink and purple
- marries a prince (UGH!)
After she gave me her list, I asked her if a princess has to marry a prince. She answered, “No, because Princess Bubble couldn’t find one.” Thank you Princess Bubble! Of course, I would add to the list that a princess is an environmentalist that uses her royal clout to pass strong environmental regulations to curb climate change, but then again, my daughter is only six!
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Awesome post! i’m the mother of three girls ages 15, 22, 23. i was a single parent for a lot of their childhood and i exposed them to a lot of great feminist concepts. i railed against some of the disney princess images in particular. beauty and the beast upset me because it gave the impression that if you were beautiful you could tame the meanest beast. i’m afraid there are way too many battered women who bought this concept. thanks for the great post!
I like Princess Smartypants by Babbette Cole!
I’m OK with my daughter thinking she’s a princess, because I think I am QUEEN. 🙂
I love it! I have “The Paper Bag Princess” from when my older daughters were young, now I have another to find for my three year old. I would add, that the “Tatterhood Tales” are another great princess-stereotype breaking book for readers 8 and up. As always, thanks for the review.
I wanted to share some comments from one of the authors:
The main reasons Princess Bubble is a flight attendant is because we are flight attendants. I recently left Delta after 18 years and Kim is still there. I said we are flight attendants because after that long at one job you feel you will always have it in your blood.
Flight attendants all marry late if they marry because you are dropped off in NYC or Paris and forced to become quickly independent. You then realize,”Hey, I need to see the world!” And once you do all this by yourself you then think, “I would only want to marry to share my life or because I met a soul mate.”
Kim has her master’s in romantic languages and speaks Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.The flight attendant group has more degrees than any other department in the company. This shocks people. But you have corporate people who said, “Forget the stress! I just want to travel” and single women with enough time also nurse, practice law, teach at the college level, tutor… And mothers who fly only on the weekends so a parent is with the kids everyday.
The job was fun before 911. But now, I would not recommend this as a career-the world has changed.And she is named Bubble because that was my nickname in school. And as you may have guessed we have not found a prince but have wonderful lives!
Thanks for sharing Susan. I did not mean to criticize flight attendants in my post. I too work in a stereotypical career for women: teaching.
I second the Princess Smartypants vote! Best princess book ever, but I will totally check out Princess Bubble. Great post, thanks!
You know I felt the same way and then oddly enough I discovered the Barbie movies and they are really adorable and not the typical she needs her princess to rescue her type movies. Plus, classical music is played throughout the movie. Hope that helps some. And before then, I was determined to NOT let my daughter have barbie…
I just read Princess Bubble will be on CNN. I have never even heard of CNN covering children’s books.
I will have to check this out for my 26 year old daughter who is depressed about being single!
Here is an interesting article about Disney princes and heroes. The author rates them on a scale of A to F.
What is the measure of a Disney man? And how truly macho are these guys who regularly win the hearts of animated girls we all know and love?
http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/2397/
I tried to keep my daughter away from Barbie dolls and Disney princesses, but it was a losing battle. She loved all the Disney princesses, from Ariel to Snow White, and waltzed around in plastic pink heels and rhinestone tiaras. (And yes, she did marry the handsome prince and had a fairy tale wedding at which they waltzed to “Once Upon A Dream”). Despite the princess obsession, however, she has grown up to be a confident, dynamic woman who is now trying to avoid the princess stereotypes with her own 2 year old daughter!
your non stereo typical princes are terrible.