Disney Princesses:

(Cinderella Ate My Daughter-Peggy Orenstein) 

(Extended Comments: from Mike's blog) 

**I read Mike's blog and decided to do an extended comment type for my entry for this reading. I first want to point out that the pictures and videos Mike used were awesome. Mike's main focus was on the Disney princesses which I think is a very good focus point. Personally I have noticed the sudden commercialization of these princesses over the passed few years. I am also guilty of purchasing them for my 4 year old niece. She is a perfect example of a young girl who loves the princesses and gets excited to play with the newest toy or sticker book with their faces on them. As Mike said in his blog, "She says Disney movies can be promoting traditional gender roles, which tell young girls repeatedly what their role in society should be". This worries me because I love my niece like she is my own little one. I don't want her growing up and seeing these princesses and getting subliminal thoughts about how she needs to be domesticated and clean and fall in love with Prince Charming. However, my niece has not been exposed to every princess story. I know she does not own every Disney princess tale, so there are some things she has not been exposed to (thank God). She like the princesses because they're "pretty". Which also seems to be a problem that Orenstein points out. It is not just the idea that women need to become house wives and stay home and clean, cook, raise the family, etc... It is the image that these princesses represent that cause young girls to have these ideas.

**Just looking at the princesses you can see how a young girl would get such ideas like  "I want to be pretty, my hair needs to be prefect, I need teeth must be straight and white, I man only falls in love with a beautiful girl, I will be rejected if I'm not beautiful". I Googled some Disney Princess pictures and I found this picture

It's a pretty interesting picture of the princesses...all in bikinis and heels.

"There is, however, ample evidence that the more mainstream media girls consume, the more importance they place on being pretty and sexy. And a ream of studies shows that teenage girls and college students who hold conventional beliefs about femininity- especially those that emphasize beauty and pleasing behavior- are less ambitious and more likely to be depressed than their peers."

**On Mike's blog, he posted that picture of the princesses, each with a small message about how they live and what their advice would be. It seems like we are all quick to point fingers about how this stuff affects women and young girls. But what about young boys and men? Maybe it highers the expectations men have for women, or what about the self esteem of men? All these princesses fall for "Prince Charming". Wouldn't young boys and men feel that they have to meet a standard of "Prince Charming" to get a women to fall in love with them? When I Googled "Disney Princess Sexism" I found this great picture of the Disney Princes (similar to the one Mike posted). It represents what these princes would have to have or look like in order to get a princess to love them.

**This whole concept of the media having affects on girls and women is not new to me. I've discussed it in other classes and talked about how the Cover Girl adds tell us we're "still worth it", as if by aging we are no longer valued and worthless. This breaking down of women's self esteem continues through out our lives. These Disney Princesses may just be where it all begins.

**Point for class: Let's talk about how sexism affects men's self image also. We are all aware of the magazines and beauty product commercials that feed into women and make them feel they have to live up to a certain standard. What about men? What types of standards do the men in this class feel they are expected to live up to?