This has been on my mind lately, as I keep hearing reasons why I shouldn't call my daughter a princess or why she shouldn't be allowed to play with princesses. I have to admit, though, my little lady LOVES her some princesses. We don't know how it started or where it came from, but it seems to be just ingrained in who she is. I mean, we didn't even have cable until December, so it's not like she was sitting in front of princess shows for the first 3+ years of her life. She just loves some princesses.
And she doesn't care who they are...Sleeping Booty, Snow White, Sofia the First, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, Cinderella...you get the picture. She's currently trying to decide which princess she might want to be for Halloween next year. And which co-star her little brother or sister can be.
We don't call her a princess. And I can sort of get that part of the argument. However, my name actually means princess, so I'm not sure why people aren't calling me that more often. But I digress. We try to stay away from calling her things such as "cute, pretty, princess", etc.
What I don't understand is what's the big deal if she looks up to these girls? These princesses are all young teenagers. Often very nice and kind young ladies. Helping animals, mean step-sisters, their not-so-nice parents. So there's a problem with looking up to kind young women?
Or maybe it's because they marry princes and that's just not real life, unless you're Kate Middleton. When dating and finding my spouse, I definitely looked for someone who treated me nicely and made me feel important. Does he treat me like a princess? That might be pushing it, but he's pretty damn good to me.
Maybe it's because they wear ridiculous dresses and often go from rags to riches, seemingly overnight. What child doesn't like to dress up? We dress up as animals all the time at our house...so what's wrong with putting on Mom's clothes or a fancy dress and pretending to be a princess?
And why is it just girls? How many boys have boxes full of toys and not one pink item? Not one doll to play with and pretend with? It's a bit of a double standard, if you ask me.
We're not surrounded by princesses all the time. This little lady loves to collect bugs in her bug box, play in the dirt, ride her bike, play on the playground, go skiing, roller skate...she does it all. But she also gets a bit "girly" in her play and often princesses are involved.
To me, it's very similar to boys who want to be super-heroes and who play them constantly. Seems as though super-heroes might not be the best role models as there is often violence involved, in some way. Yet I'm supposed to shield my daughter from the lure of the sparkles and the tiaras?
Seems to be a bit of a double standard, in my opinion. And if you don't have a little girl, but one day might be graced with one in your family? Good luck keeping the princesses out of your house. They just have a way of finding their way into your home.
Rock on, princesses.
And she doesn't care who they are...Sleeping Booty, Snow White, Sofia the First, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, Cinderella...you get the picture. She's currently trying to decide which princess she might want to be for Halloween next year. And which co-star her little brother or sister can be.
We don't call her a princess. And I can sort of get that part of the argument. However, my name actually means princess, so I'm not sure why people aren't calling me that more often. But I digress. We try to stay away from calling her things such as "cute, pretty, princess", etc.
What I don't understand is what's the big deal if she looks up to these girls? These princesses are all young teenagers. Often very nice and kind young ladies. Helping animals, mean step-sisters, their not-so-nice parents. So there's a problem with looking up to kind young women?
Or maybe it's because they marry princes and that's just not real life, unless you're Kate Middleton. When dating and finding my spouse, I definitely looked for someone who treated me nicely and made me feel important. Does he treat me like a princess? That might be pushing it, but he's pretty damn good to me.
Maybe it's because they wear ridiculous dresses and often go from rags to riches, seemingly overnight. What child doesn't like to dress up? We dress up as animals all the time at our house...so what's wrong with putting on Mom's clothes or a fancy dress and pretending to be a princess?
And why is it just girls? How many boys have boxes full of toys and not one pink item? Not one doll to play with and pretend with? It's a bit of a double standard, if you ask me.
We're not surrounded by princesses all the time. This little lady loves to collect bugs in her bug box, play in the dirt, ride her bike, play on the playground, go skiing, roller skate...she does it all. But she also gets a bit "girly" in her play and often princesses are involved.
To me, it's very similar to boys who want to be super-heroes and who play them constantly. Seems as though super-heroes might not be the best role models as there is often violence involved, in some way. Yet I'm supposed to shield my daughter from the lure of the sparkles and the tiaras?
Seems to be a bit of a double standard, in my opinion. And if you don't have a little girl, but one day might be graced with one in your family? Good luck keeping the princesses out of your house. They just have a way of finding their way into your home.
Rock on, princesses.
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