Anne Woods: A Weekend for Superheroes
Disney Princesses Pose as Cover Girls
Filed under: Opinions
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When it comes to Disney Princesses, I've got an "if you can't beat 'em, join em" attitude. And it's really hard to beat 'em when you've got two small girls in the house. But as much as I've come to accept sharing my home with Princess Aurora and her buddies, I also have my guard up. I know that Disney is a company that's more than happy to take things a little too far.Case in point: "Princess Style" magazines. Okay, so they aren't real magazines. They're actually wall decorations, presumably for a young girl's room. If Ariel's impossibly tiny waist and come hither look aren't painful enough, check out the headlines:
- Great Legs Are a Dream That Can Come True
- What Your Guy Friends Say About You
- Two's Company, Eight's a Crowd
- Find Your Prince: 5 Tips to Show You How
These are, obviously, supposed to be parody, but Disney's target audience is too young to understand sarcasm and satire. My six-year-old is old enough to read them, though. Isn't it a little early to start suggesting to her that her legs aren't perfect? That she needs to worry about finding her "prince" or what boys are thinking about her? (Yes, it's way too early.) And don't get me started on the "eight's a crowd" thing. Sex, body issues, mean girls ... it's all there.
And as Lisa at Sociological Images points out, these "magazines" also bring girls -- ready or not -- right into the celebrity culture: "The product suggests that while it is all well and good to be a princess, you should aim to be a famous princess," writes Lisa, "In addition to occupying castles and fantasy forests, you should grace the covers of magazines. You should aspire to inspire the lust and admiration of the masses, not just your prince."
Fortunately, shoppers seemed to feel the same way that I do about princess cover girls. Not only do these particular pieces have clearance stickers on them, I couldn't find them anywhere on the Internet. Still, it's a good reminder that just because something has a kid-friendly character on it doesn't make it safe or appropriate for kids.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
4-29-2009 @ 2:39PM
Nichole said...Bethany Sanders: Do you make sure you tell your children they are beautiful no matter what? You should have no fears of what these products are doing to your children, IF you're doing your job. That job is not shielding them from everything that makes you feel insecure, but assuring them that Ariel is not real, and that they are amazing and beautiful no matter what they see or hear. Period.
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4-29-2009 @ 7:02PM
Lin said...We parents make the choice about what we let our little ones see...for heavens sake, this is NOT for 5 year olds, it is a cute satire for teens or adults who love Disney...and believe me, there are LOTS of them! There is plenty of stuff for little kids...but let the older people enjoy Disney, too!
And if you think this is awful, you will have a rude awakening when your kids go to school and you find out what they actually watch on tv and know about. When I taught Kindergarten I had kis=ds who had watched "Sybil", about the lady with split personalities!
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5-04-2009 @ 1:56PM
Drew said...For the most part, I agree with maubejr's comment.
These sub-heads are meant to match magazine writing. THEY ARE NOT ALL ABOUT SEX.
The legs thing is because Ariel wants legs.
The "eight is a crowd" thing is not about group sex -- get your paranoid minds out of the gutter. It's an allusion to Snow White. She didn't marry Prince Charming and stay living with the dwarfs; they moved into their own house the same way people don't continue living with their families after they get married.
The only thing I'm really kind of offended by is Ariel's pose and facial expression. Kids will mimic that way more than they'll understand or emulate the text on the page -- even if they don't comprehend what those poses mean. They could easily have drawn her in a more innocent-fun or fashion-dramatic pose that we wouldn't mind our kids mimicking.
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5-17-2009 @ 12:23PM
KRISS said...COME ON LADYS !!! IT JUST A CUTE LU KIDS POSTERS.. MOST KIDS THAT LIKE PRENCESS CANT EVEN READ.. IF THAY CAN THAY CANT UNDERSTAND..
I GROW UP WTH PRINCESS AND I,M FINE.
WE NEED TO TEACH OWER GIRLS TO BE STONGER THAN THAT..
IT ALL IN GOOD FUN..
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5-17-2009 @ 4:46PM
Brittany said...Hey you guys do know that Ariel is a mermaid right. I would love to buy this and all the ones that go with it for my daughter. Yes she is only one and a half but still I would have loved it as a child. I did not think I was fat because Ariel was thin. I knew she was make believe duh. Princess' like that do not exist you do not have fairy godmothers who turn you into a beauty until midnight and then your wagon turns into a pumpkin. Like someone else said the leg thing duh Ariel wanted legs. The 8 is a crowd hello Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Remember how they did not like her there in the beginning? Eight was a crowd. Come on. What your guy friends are saying well aren't all the princess' friends male in these movies? Don;t they always want to know what they think of her? And how to find prince charming well in all the movies it is the plot right? Come one now Really maybe you people are the ones with the mind like that not our children.
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