Is being a princess really just about being pretty and finding your happily ever after"
Few parents would want to squash such a magical part of childhood – but is fairytale merchandise encouraging young girls to objectify themselves" Becky Dickinson looks at the arguments for and against
If you?re the parent of a little girl, there?s a reasonable chance she has a penchant for tiaras and taffeta. Because unless you live in a home-schooling, yurt-dwelling exclusion zone, it?s hard to avoid the profusion of frothy, flammable fashion that is relentlessly marketed to young girls.
There has been a vociferous backlash against gender stereotyping in children?s toys and clothing of late ? especially when it comes to princesses. Ariel, Belle, Elsa and friends have come under feminist fire for upholding sexist notions of beauty, while insidiously undermining the future potential of a generation of little girls. And no wonder. Disney princesses are unfailingly depicted as button-nosed, lustrous-haired beauties with eyes bigger than their waists. We have yet to see a size 12 princess with glasses and a problem T-zone who is admired for her achievements rather that her looks, grace our screens.
But now, it seems, there?s a backlash against the backlash. A new book entitled, In Defense Of The Princess: How Plastic Tiaras and Fairytale Dreams Can Inspire Strong, Smart Women asserts that princesses can be feminists, too. Its author, Jerramy Fine, is a self-proclaimed would-...