DISNEY PRINCESSES 

OR 

DO I REALLY WANT MY DAUGHTER TO ASPIRE TO BE A PRINCESS?

They look picture perfect, hair done, beautiful dresses and perfect bodies and they always get their man. Of course through their movie there are tragic moments- heartbreak, betrayal, and murder. I can't think of more than a handful of  Disney movies where a movie doesn't have a parent die a violent death, and yet the girls all come out roses and perfection on the other side.  Their hair might get messy and their dresses a little mussed on the way but none of them ever seem to really have a hard time to get through or a real defining moment where they are saving themselves rather than waiting for someone else to save them- or they are willing to go to really long lengths to get to a man... Not exactly a lesson I want MY daughters having ingrained into their little psyches.

I mean really if you look at it, the image really does say it all doesn't it? I want my daughters to be strong, independent women and each of the princesses are enslaved by the rules of a male-driven society and even their "princes" are liars, weirdos (let's kiss the dead chick; let's lie our ass off and hope she doesn't recognize me; let's hold her hostage until she gives in to Stockholm Syndrome)

Also not really teaching our son's too good of habits on how to treat our daughters either, huh?

BUT, I am not only looking at the cartoon princesses when I make my argument against Disney's Princess Program. Just look at the child stars that have gone from squeaky clean girls- ones you think are good role models for your girls to watch- the 90's had Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. All seemingly sweet and innocent Mickey Mouse Club girls who grew up and into some really bad messes.

We all know that songs like "Slave 4 U" by Britney was a blatant sex sells hit- she was dancing with a snake for heaven's sake... But did you ever really listen to the lyrics of the sugary sweet  lyrics of "Genie in a Bottle"? or another blatantly sexual "Dirrty" turned the nice girl next door role models into sex objects- and our girls were still their devoted fans hanging on every trend. Disney's little angels were running amok with our females firmly in tow. Britney turned to drugs, drinking, was in and out of facilities due to mental health issues and hard partying and Christina's life wasn't any more innocent. 

Today's generation is even worse- there are so many names out there- so many actresses that go from wonderful pretty girls on the Disney shows and movies we think are safe for our girls to be fans of- think Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, High School Musical, and Parent Trap to name a few. Child stars like Selena Gomez, Lindsay Lohan, Vanessa Hudgens, and of course Miley Cyrus have gone from good girls with cute spunky personalities and are well covered clothing-wise. Yet, as they get older we have skimpier outfits, more partying, drugs, DUIs and worse- and again these are the young women that our daughters emulate- the real life Disney Princesses.

                      

             

I'm sorry but I really don't want my daughters thinking-read  worshiping- (and lets face it pop media boarders on worship these days) - or that partying, drinking  drugs and multiple police encounters is acceptable or even normal behavior. Look at the spectacle that Lindsay Lohan has been making of herself for years now and yet we still watch her like a hawk, love everything she does and she JUST went on Oprah after a 6th stay in rehabilitation. 

Then there is good ol' Miley. At 15, Miley was dating 20 year old male model, Justin Gaston and of course in the same year was the notorious Vanity Fair shoot. Again Disney Princess gone bad...not something I want my daughter watching, singing, wearing, wanting to be like in any way shape or form.

           

So I look at the movie shelves in my house- I see Cinderella, Snow White and all the others and I question why I have all of them here. I don't have any of the new movies- not the live action ones- my youngest loved Brave and The Princess and the Frog, but I REFUSE to allow my kids to watch shows like Hannah Montana and they have never seen High School Musical (my girls are 10 and 5). They look blankly at you if you ask them who Lindsay Lohan or Miley Cyrus is and Wizards of Waverly Place was allowed until Selena started going south as well. Strangely enough, my daughters question the motives and actions of the princesses as well, anyway. My oldest was watching Beauty and the Beast with me and when the Beast lets Belle go and does his insanity imitation, she looked at me and asked very seriously why he was throwing a temper tantrum. With Snow White, she questions the weirdness of kissing a dead chick (her words)- needless to say she isn't much of a princess fan anyway.

In my opinion, whether it is the pressure of the environment more-so on the young women than the young men of the Disney world- and Hollywood in general- there is much more of a push to leave the "child princess" image behind and Disney turns a blind eye to it or perhaps endorses it- at some point when pretty much every female actress goes from good girl Disney princess starlet to young woman boarder line or worse let's say party girl... 

No, I think we will read Harry Potter or the Monster High series instead and watch cartoons from the 1980's and 1990's- when there were morals to the shows and the characters were fully dressed.