The Truth About Princesses in Fairy Tales

In her article What's Wrong With Cinderella, Peggy Orenstein looks at the present "princess" fever that has spread among young women, and how this example could impact their personality later on. Orenstein states that there has been a goliath spike in the commercialization of princesses by Disney and diverse associations, which has incited most toys that are sold to young women being princess themed. The issue with this is being a princess influences young women to endeavor and be "perfect" when they grow up, and Orenstein says that various young women feel monster strain to win concerning all that they do and furthermore be stunning like the princesses they grew up with. In any case, Orenstein is exploding by trying to shield her young lady

As little girls, women may imagine themselves as the princesses that they hear and see in movies and books. These princess often defeat the villain, meet the love of their life, the prince, and live “happily ever after”. Sadly, life is far from the things we see in these movies and books. The Princess bride, by William Goldman is a fantasy novel about a beauiful girl, named Buttercup, who is forced to marry the Prince Humperdinck after the love of her life, Westley dies. She is later kidnapped by three men, and two of those men, named Inigo and Fezzik, come together with the undead Westley to avenge an important death

The author writes “Maybe princesses are in fact a sign of progress, an indication that girls can embrace their predilection for pink without compromising strength or ambition; that, at long last, they can ''have it all.'' Or maybe it is even less complex than that: to mangle Freud, maybe a princess is sometimes just a princess” (Orenstein). Peggy Orenstein is a feminist author with a young daughter obsessed with everything pink and princess, she struggles to find positives from this “princess culture” but realizes that sometimes a princess can just be a princess. Possibly there is no deeper meaning other than being something magical and fun for young girls to enjoy. One common theme in all of the princess movies is good overcomes evil. They show children the pure hearts of the princesses and how to be kind and loving. Andy Mooney, head of the company answered this when asked about “princess culture” and role models “The girl passes through. I see girls expanding their imagination through visualizing themselves as princesses, and then they pass through that phase and end up becoming lawyers, doctors, mothers or princesses, whatever the case may be. ''Mooney has a point: There are no studies proving that playing princess directly damages girls' self-esteem or dampens other aspirations” (Orenstein). Girls are able to preserve their innocence by believing in the magic that comes along

In “Cinderella and Princess Culture,” Peggy Orenstein compares girls lives to princesses. Society is stereotyping girls as princesses negatively impacting girls well being. As a result, Orenstein claims society should stop stereotyping girls as princesses and have parents limit the girl's exposure to them. Orenstein proves her claim by stating playing with princesses lowers girls self-esteem and can harm their mental and physical health. Orenstein also states the word princess is such a broad meaning, that it is very misunderstood. For example, when one hears the word princess they can think of a girl wearing a fancy dress, or all the princess products. A lot of girls are being stereotyped as being a princess,

She mentions how all girls are exposed to princesses, no matter where they go. Orenstein expresses her concern as a parent and how princesses could be damaging to the mental and emotional

Little girls are seen as the opposite of boys. They want to be involved in things their mothers do. Some enjoy playing with dolls, or makeup. Since they are “feminine”, girls are believed to wear dresses. They are drawn to princesses instead of superheroes, because the qualities of princesses include beauty, grace, and kindness.

The effects of the portrayal of the princesses can be positive or negative. Young girls have become more imaginative by watching Disney films. According to Stephanie Hanes (n.p.), “’For 75 years, millions of little girls and their parents around the world have adored and embraced the diverse characters and rich stories featuring our Disney princesses.... [L]ittle girls experience the fantasy and imagination provided by these stories as a normal part of their childhood development’.” Also, children are encouraged to believe and hope. In most Disney movies, the characters convey the message that we can believe in true love (10 DISNEY MOMENTS THAT PROVE LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

Because of Disney’s stereotyping of gender, that little girl grew up wanting to become a perfect princess. Princesses in Disney’s movies and films gives young girls unrealistic ideas of the real word. However, some may believe that Disney princesses are a good influence on young girls and are able to show a them how to act eloquently. Gender roles, eloquence, and the beauty of the princesses are all topics that influence young girls. Even though some might believe that princesses are good role models for their child, princesses show young girls how they should interact around boys and other girls never mind the girls own opinions. An article about Children’s Responses to Gender Roles in Fairy-Tales written by Ella Westland writes, “The girls

Disney makes over $3 billion on their Disney Princess products every year and now have over 25,000 items in their princess collection (Orenstein 2). Disney has played a big role in shaping not only societal viewpoints on what young girls should like, but also what little girls believe they should enjoy as well. Gender stereotypes have been around for a long time, but now with technology advancements, such as media in western society is able to play a bigger than ever role in influencing people’s perspectives. Not only do we see gender roles and stereotypes in television shows, but also in advertisements and in children’s toys. Although many readers of Peggy Orenstein’s “What’s wrong with Cinderella” have argued that the princess culture is corrupting today’s young girls and making them more dependent on men, a closer examination shows that many girls grow out of the princess phase with no negative repercussions and choose whatever passions they want.

In the article “In Defense of Princes Culture,” Crystal Liechty presents an argument detailing her opinion on why women should not be disappointed about children who like and idolize the princess culture. She expresses her dismay at a woman who changed the Princess story when reading it to the kindergarten to suit her values. Liechty believes that although she did not grow up believing in the Princess culture, she does not mind bringing up a daughter who believes in the culture. She also reckons that she would have enjoyed wearing the princesses’ dresses even though she had come to believe that it was a bad thing. Liechty believes that it is the best option that a parent can use to instill values to her daughter compared to other available options. Liechty points out that the princess culture presents a highly effective tool for instilling values to a girl child. Despite the essay being valid, there are some arguments presented in the essay that I do not agree with.

Authors James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein are both concerned with the increase of princess culture among young girls. Poniewozik’s article “The Princess Paradox” and Orenstein's article “Cinderella and Princess Culture” discuss similar aspects of princess culture that could be potentially harmful to it’s audience. Both Poniewozik and Orenstein take on a feminist perspective in their articles. Specifically, both authors discuss feminist themes in princess culture but Orenstein focuses on toddler to pre-teen aged girls while Poniewozik is more concerned with specifically teenagers.

Fairytales, arguably some of the most historical forms of literature, have remained popular throughout the decades. Tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Frog King” and “The Swan Maiden,” were originally written between the mid-eighteenth century and mid-nineteenth century. Whether it is the fanciful love-story or the magical transformation which attracts and has kept attention throughout the decades, fairytales, specifically those in which either the protagonist or antagonist undergoes a physical change, teach an important lesson to readers. In this day and age, the media has put so much pressure on particularly young women to look a certain way; what seems to be missing is the idea that physical beauty does not necessarily parallel inner beauty. The theme of transformation in many fairytales serves to portray certain truths about

Little girls? Or little women? The “Disney Princess Effect”, an article written by Stephanie Hanes was published September 4, 2011 the CS Monitor. Girls growing up in today’s society are being stripped of their childhoods. With fictional figures to dream of being, young girls aren’t falling in love with the beauty of the stories but more so they assume that they don’t look good enough to be like the world adored princesses. The author wrote this article in response to the epidemic of young girls growing up too fast and the concern it leaves. Between the Finucane Theory, the “Hottie Mystique” and the media onslaught will all reveal the beginning to a much bigger problem that these Disney princesses are creating. The author contends that young girls are losing sight of their childhoods and are becoming sexually advanced too soon.

In fairy tales, female characters are objects, and their value centers around their attractiveness to men. Since fairy tales rely on cultural values and societal norms to teach morals or lessons, it is evident that fairy tales define a woman’s value in a superficial way. Fairy tales teach that, typically, beauty equates to being valuable to men because of their fertility and purity; whereas, ugliness equates to being worthless and evil, including being ruined because of their lack of virginity. Descriptions readers see from fairy tales like “Rapunzel,” and “Little Snow-White” revolve around the women’s, or girl’s, physical appearance, and both stories play out to where the women remain in a state of objectification. In addition, they are damsels

What young girl does not dream of becoming a princess and living in a castle happily ever after? Virtually every young girl identifies with princesses and has watched at least one Disney Princess movie. From the first movies of Snow White and Cinderella, to the later movies of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, to the most current movie Moana, Disney Princess movies permeate not only the movie theaters, but also our culture. In fact, “becoming a princess is as easy as purchasing a tiara and hosting a princess-themed birthday party or buying a Halloween costume and playing pretend” (Garabedian, 2014, p. 23). Nonetheless, as declared by Princess Merida in the movie Brave, “there comes a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No rules, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day where I can change my fate” (Andrews & Chapman, 2012). In other words, does the life of a princess measure up to the expectations of little girls everywhere? The Disney Princess brand has grown incredibly popular, especially with young girls. In spite of this, the franchise has also become extremely controversial due to potential gender stereotypes in the films. “Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today’s society…[it] represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female…influencing the views and opinions of future generations” (Maity, 2014, p. 31). Yet, is the Disney Princess brand harmful to young children due to gender stereotypes? Two essays that contemplate the Disney Princess brand and gender stereotypes with opposite viewpoints on this controversial issue are “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by writer Monika Bartyzel and “In Defense of Princess Culture” by writer and mother Crystal Liechty. However, Liechty’s essay “In Defense of Princess Culture,” is the most effective article in convincing the audience of her point of view due to the claim, support, warrant, language, and vocabulary employed.