Today I went to go hear Julie Andrews speak about her newly released book at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. I found out that today is the start of Target's National Princess Week. I could not help but think about Peggy Orenstein's book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter. The MC asked the crowd of little girls sitting in front of the stage "How many of you guys are princesses?" Attendants were busy passing around paper crowns to the crowd. Wanting to be a pretty PINK princess was not only expected of the young girls, but highly encouraged. Even women of all ages were wanting crowns of their own!
Now I first want to say, I am by no means hating on Julie Andrews. I think she is a wonderful lady. However, I do have some issues about what the book represents and encourages. I first noticed that, like many young princess books, the "pretty princess" was white. What about girls of color? Why are there not more princess of color? In addition, the premise of the book, and the focus of being a princess/fairy/etc... what does that really mean? If the definition of princess means what my generation has grown up with, then we as a society are enforcing antiquated messages. The symbol of a pretty pink princess emphasizes that young girls must be focused on their physical appearances, and wait upon their Prince Charming who will ride up on his white horse. And, she will get her happily ever after. There needs to be more young adventure stories, with regular average young girls.
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