Princess Culture

February 22, 2013
Heather Jacobs

      Yesterday in class we discussed princess culture and how it affects not only young girls, but older girls and even boys. I find this topic very interesting because at the time we receive these messages they seem completely normal and wonderful. And our parents see nothing wrong with them because they too, grew up watching similar if not the same stories.
      The problem is that these movies disguise the provocative messages they tell. They make many of the characters extremely brave, strong willed, or intelligent. Why then, must they dress them in provocative clothing and give them huge boobs and beautiful hair? It is ridiculous. I am not saying that it is because of these movies that I am somewhat of a girlie girl, but I did take interest in wearing make up and dresses and high heals when I was about ten. And I started liking boys when I was in kindergarten. I don't know what the normal age to start liking boys is, but that seems so young when I think about it now.
        I remember I saw a thing on some news show once that did a study on Beauty and the Beast and it was pretty disturbing. They were asking the  little girls what they would do if someone were treating them the way Beast was treating Bella. And they all said they would do what she did and just keep being nice to him until he liked her. How terrible! I know it is just a movie, but it is showing girls - probably not on purpose - that guys will eventually change and be who you want them to be if you suck up to them and let them walk all over you. Eh, no.     
          Personally, I feel much less affected by these types of things now. Yeah, I still care a lot about clothes and love getting dressed up, but if I have to go without wearing make up that is fine. I will go out to the bars in a T-shirt, I don't care that much. I like what we talked about in class yesterday a lot, and I feel like it is giving me advice for if I ever have kids.

Princess Culture

Class amazed me yesterday with how many people don't understand how much their parents (or you as future parents) should have as much influence on their children as possible. The princess culture is in fact real, but as most of us said in class, we were apart of that culture, but look at us now. We aren't walking around in princess gowns, wearing crowns, and riding around in a carriage to class. I think it is important for children to have an imagination and have fun! That is their job! They are innocent and learning to grow. Now, does that mean we just let our media do the talking for us as future parents? Absolutely not! It is our job to guide, inform, and help our children be all that they can be, isn't that what parents are suppose to do? Their job isn't to give us everything we want! If parents gave us everything we wanted all the time we would be spoiled, ungrateful, and definitely not humble. That is what is wrong with half of our generation now is that some of us were handed everything and now they are lazy and don't have jobs, "but that's ok because my mom and dad give me everything." Good luck in the real world. Yes, parents should provide for us and give us our NEEDS but not always our wants. I feel sorry for the mothers on Toddlers and Tierra's because they hate their lives and they are going to hate it more when their own child hits them, bosses them around, and does not respect them at all. There still needs to be discipline, which is why the media should limited in household with young children. Let your children be who they want to be. If you force Barbies and pink dresses on your daughter and she doesn't like them, she will tell you she doesn't like them! I grew up loving the disney princesses, but I always wore Jordan's all the time. There is no law that says Princess Jasmine can't where a pair of Jay's. That's what I liked to do as a kid, and I turned out pretty normal.....

Princess Culture: Negative or Positive

PRINCESS CULTURE 

   The idea expressed in the discussion today made me think if I was actually a member of the "Princess Culture" myself. After fully evaluating the definition the answer was clear, I Erika Antkowiak, was a member of the culture at a young age. I had a collection of Disney Princess movies , and watched them on a regular basis, trunks of dress-up clothes with explosions of glitter and color that took their place among my toys, and I idealized the princesses. Though I used the word idealize it is not in a negative context. I idealized the adventures and places that the princesses went not the the clothes and material objects they possessed. 
   Watching the Little Mermaid made me curious about the sea. The plants, animals, and colors all caught my eye. As a result, I received books from my parents to further my exploration. However, I do not remember ever wanting the material objects.  I do not see a negative effect of this particular princess on me.
   Beauty and the Beast is probably one of my favorite Princess movies. When I was little I looked up to Belle and saw a lot of myself in her. Belle was smart, brave, and loved to read. All of these attributes were things that I either wanted to be or areas I categorized myself in. Watching these movies I gained confidence, I was given an inside look of places and adventures, and they always seemed to spark my curiosity. 

The Concept of "Princess"

People in our class are clearly in a disagreement over the effects that our media have on us as a society. Some may argue that watching a Disney movie had no effect on how they viewed gender roles and submissiveness. But there should be no argument that those gender roles do in fact exist in our media and they therefore have somewhat of an effect on our culture. The fact that we can all laugh at videos that swap gender roles is a testament to the fact that those gender roles do exist, they are very clear and mutually understood, and they are constantly being reiterated in on our televisions, in our movies, in the products that we buy, and what is expected from us. The problem with these gender roles is that their stereotypical characteristics do not apply to every single person of that gender and they should not therefore be expected. A girl who doesn't like the things associated with the princess culture should not be considered "different" or a "tomboy" just because she doesn't comply with the mainstream concept of what a "girl" should be because that concept is completed crafted and molded by our media; it is not real. If my daughter's favorite color is pink and she wants to take dance classes and wear pretty dresses than that is fine and I would support her but I don't want to live in a world in which that is her only option or a world in which she thinks she is "supposed" to like those things simply because she was born female. 

Why not, instead, include gender representations into our media that don't necessarily reiterate the same stereotypical roles over and over again? The most memorable Superbowl commercial for me this year was the Toyota commercial where Kaley Cuoco played a genie. When the little girl makes the wish to be a princess (0:27), she is on horse back with armor and a sword, not in a pink dress being rescued by a knight. But this representation of a princess stuck out as different to me from what I have come to expect from our media. I expected the latter and that is a problem. There should be more well rounded representations of gender. 

Princess Culture

Today we discussed in class if there is such thing as a “princess” culture. This conclusion can be drawn by some of the videos we watched today. The video about the little girl who is has to be a beauty queen was eye opening. It goes to show that that “princess” culture does exist is our society. The media can thank for most of this behavior and views of girls and women in our society today. Disney draws the image of princesses very vividly and that is what little girls want to grow up to be like. Then you have Hollywood making the love movies and as the girls get older they expect to have life exactly like the movies. I have a friend and she thinks this exact way. I have told her multiple times that life isn’t like Hollywood, yet she still believes it should be and continues to think that way. She was also very spoiled growing up so therefore she is very materialistic. This is that princess mentality that we talked about today in class. As we get older the standards change. They have the same outcomes, but they are viewed in different ways. I really wonder how much longer this “princess” mentality is going to hold up, because I feel bad for the next generation of kids who have to grow up hearing about Honey Boo Boo. That girl is going to be like that for the rest of her life because that is what she thinks life is supposed to be like. She is being taught that it is okay and that is the struggle with changing those kinds of ideas in little girls so they aren’t affected later on in life.  

Princess & Super Hero Culture

Personally, today's lecture was hard to sit through because I feel that I grew up, whether it be because I'm a well rounded wired person or my parents raised me, to be a well rounded person and didn't let the media or my friends make me completely girly or a "tomboy."

I very much grew up believing I was the princess of the household. My sister carried me everywhere and talked for me so I didn't learn to talk or walk until I was almost two, my family calls me princess, and I woke up every morning in elementary school to a Disney movie. Even now Cinderella is one of my favorite movies, I dream of marrying a real life prince and I can say the word "Sissy" in such a way to get my sister to do pretty much anything for me. On the other side though I played soccer since I was four, I had over 5,000 legos, I referred to my bruises as war wounds and loved playing with nerf guns and in mud. I also was raised to be independent and refuse to rely solely on a man to "save" me and know that the things I want in life will not be handed to me.

For example, on Valentine's Day two movies opened,

 and 

Most would safely assume it being Valentine's Day that a girl would want to go see the typical Rom Com about a man saving a woman, which I will admit I did in fact want to go see. However, I was probably more excited to go see the next installment of Die Hard. This wasn't because I had a boyfriend I wanted to make happy or try to defy a stereotype I genuinely LOVE me some Die Hard. 

I think trying to decide if there is a Princess Culture or Super Hero Culture is one of the hardest things to get opinions on. I personally believe that a child can see their friends and media telling them something, but as long as their is a strong adult in their life explaining to them why those things are that way then they can make their own choices and decide who they want to be. 

I also believe that it should never be seen as a bad thing for a girl to genuinely love the color pink, dressing up,  and watching Disney movies if that is what she freely picks. Just like if a boy knows his options and freely picks war, fighting, and the color blue nothing is wrong with that as long as both understand that there nothing wrong with picking that OR not picking that. 

Again, I will say that I think a lot factors into a discussion like this so it is hard to give a black or white answer. Someone in the lecture today said that some children are only fed the princess culture and have no adult figure telling them the other side so that it will have an affect on them. Granted it might, but I think it has more to do with how the child is wired. My 5 year old cousin has a an older sister who adores the color pink, wears little heels everywhere and strongly believes in being a princess. She also has an older brother who plays every sport he can, and plays Halo and COD. So, my cousin was able to see both "cultures" her family didn't pressure her into one way or another and let her be her own person. She decided that she is not the princess she told her family at five that she does not like dresses, make-up or heels and wants to play sports. By just observing life she was able to make a choice for herself and didn't feel like she was wrong or bad for it. 

The Lessons of Disney Movies

Okay, so most of you have probably seen this but I just love it. This is a video Jenna Marbles posted on YouTube about "what Disney movies taught her." Enjoy :)

****Note: there is some strong language if you don't like that!!!****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rT28Z0xM88