I am the mom of two young daughters. As a cis-woman, I am painfully aware of what it means to grow up female in our culture today. I am well acquainted with hating my body. I have had many illusions about “happily ever after” shattered. And so I worry.
My three year old is deep in throes of a love affair with the Disney Princesses, particularly Ariel. For a far better summation of my issues with this movie than I can articulate here, see Nostalgia Chick’s takedown of it here. Part of me wants to just say “no, bad…no princesses!”….but that would make me far too much of a hypocrite.
Although the Disney Princess brand didn’t exist when I was a kid, I grew up on Disney (although I was 10 or so by the time The Little Mermaid came along–I still caught many of the “Disney Renaissance” movies in the theater). I read fairy tales. I played at fairy tale and princess play. I owned barbies by the box full.
My love of fairy tales and princesses eventually parlayed itself into a love of the fantasy genre. I did not gravitate to stories with passive women–I’ve gravitated to stories and movies with strong feminist and powerful women.
I think that part of what contradicted the negative aspects of fairy tales and princess culture for me as a child was my early exposure to Wonder Woman, Xena, Buffy, and Madonna.
I sang unedited Madonna songs by heart right from the get-go. While I had no idea what any of the lyrics about sexuality meant, I think it planted the seed of feminism early.
So when it comes to my girls…I don’t hesitate to play unedited Lady Gaga. I feel like she’s a far better model of feminism and sexual empowerment than most female musicians (I also like Taylor Swift, although she’s not so much the “sexual empowerment” role model) AND she has a killer voice (and can play music).
We also talk, constantly. That they don’t need a prince. That they can grow up and marry another princess (or not get married).
I *could* eliminate princesses, I suppose. But, in truth, I like The Little Mermaid. I like sharing my favorite stories from childhood. I think that it’s a big part of childhood, and that she would miss out on a lot if I did. Also, gateway drug to awesome fantasy literature (Tamora Pierce is the ultimate goal).
But she’s still 3. As she gets older, we can teach her to be a more active and critical media consumer. But I figure Lady Gaga’s a good start.
Filed under: Body Image, Parenting, Toddlers, Women's Issues | Tagged: delilah night |
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