Orenstein's Cinderella Ate My Daugther and Raising a Child Gender- Neutral

       Peggy Orenstein’s “Cinderella Ate My Daughter” discusses how the ubiquity of pink and princesses influences girls.  Orenstein believes that playing with princess toys is not the issue at stake. Rather, she says it is of more grave concern how the princess- themed merchandises and fairy tales shape girls’ identity, individuality and self- perception. The consequences of girl- driven marketing is a formation of culture in which girls are groomed since birth. Hence Orenstein reminds us that “Cinderella” is an indictment of consumerism that drives marketers to relentlessly reach into our pockets by all means necessary. Ironically, however, Orenstein acknowledges that she is not a perfect parent herself. She, like many other parents, struggles with raising an “empowered” daughter who is immune to cultural obsession with pink and princesses. 

      Nevertheless, Orenstein expresses her hopes of giving her daughter the freedom to shape and color her own identity, whether it is pink, blue or purple. However I questioned the practicality of her endeavor. It reminded me of Storm, a child who was raised gender neutral. Idealistic and compelling the idea of raising a child genderless may seem, however, I though it was a risky experiment. Regardless of the child’s internal gender identity or “toy preferences”, he or she will eventually go out in the world where people who do not have clear gender identities become targets of stigmatization.  Though mournful, it is undeniable that expecting young girls to “see themselves from the inside out rather than outside in” is beyond the bounds of practicality, at least for now. Nevertheless, I agree with Orenstein that addressing the issue is the first step to making progress and helping the young girls “find their true happily- ever- after”.