Newsflash 3.0: Princess Culture and Damsels in Distress

Newslink:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/26/disney-princesses-and-the-battle-for-your-daughter-s-soul.html


Constructions of masculinity and femininity widely permeate mainstream film and television, and our consumption of such media can produce considerable impacts on the development and direction of one’s life at an early age. In fact, many Disney films operate under socially constructed stereotypes for gender norms, encouraging and promoting certain behaviors and lifestyles to children based on their gender and sex, which has prompted serious concern over the content which our children are exposed to and internalize. Jessica Bennett’s Newsweek article “Disney Princesses and the battle for your Daughter’s Soul” explores the dangers of mainstream media and the messages that are conveyed to girls at early ages; messages that subtly yet profoundly inform our cultural expectations for gender performance and female behavior.

Bennett’s article focuses on the experiences of Peggy Orenstein, a renowned author of several books regarding girls and a critic for the New York Times, examining the difficulties Orenstein confronts raising a daughter of her own in the “princess” culture that pervades today’s society. This culture, she explains, encourages girls to “engulf their rooms in pink chiffon and rhinestone tiaras” through their consumption of mass media and advertisement, and these messages are conveyed at an alarmingly early age. To illuminate this point, Bennett examines several classic Disney films such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, all of which are movies that depict Princesses or female characters in a similar and contrived fashion that is consistent with patriarchal stereotypes of gender performance and behavior. Each film, all of which I have watched previously as a child and unable to recognize the element of gender at play, pit the young, feminine, and beautiful Princess against an evil ugly old woman, waiting for true love in the form of a Prince that she has never met to rescue her from misery. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel even sacrifices her voice for the chance to secure the love of a man she has never met.

While these Disney films are often considered childhood classics, the narratives convey a far more profound message to its young viewers which echoes several sentiments Susan Douglass raises in “Enlightened Sexism. The princesses in these films are unable to help or empower themselves, and are essentially rendered powerless, dependent on the love and approval of men to acquire true happiness. Moreover, each movie places an emphasis on the beauty of the Princess in order to gain the approval of men, which encourages girls at the earliest of ages to conform and adhere to patriarchal ideals of beauty and perfection. As Douglass articulates in her chapter “Lean and Mean”, the rampant objectification of women in the media has imposed significant pressure on women to be thin, and has reinforced the notion that only when women become an object of desire can they obtain true power and happiness. While young girls watch these Princesses struggle to become the Prince’s objects of desire, notions of femininity, gender performance emerge, which are then internalized and replicated in the behavior of young girls.
Furthermore, I also found it interesting how the protagonist is often depicted as a young, beautiful and feminine Princess who is pitted against an old, ugly, evil woman. Analyzing this plot through Douglass’ lens, these Disney movies pit women against each other across generational lines, and equate age with ugliness, which can impose serious consequences on the physical and mental health of women at older ages. What’s worse is that with such overwhelming societal pressures to be beautiful, women have resorted to less safe and unhealthy measures to satisfy these demands, resorting to plastic surgery or eating disorders, which can potentially lead to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

The “princess mania” that permeates our culture puts women in a compromising situation. Girls learn, from a mix of mass marketing and media, that their worth is dependent on their beauty just as much as their smarts. And while girls have excelled in sciences and math among their male counterparts, they are subtle coerced into a cultural mold, socialized to obsess about meeting Prince charming and to compete with who has the prettiest dress. Each girl learns and internalizes the notion that she is a princess of her own, which lays down the foundation for gender behavior and performance at an early age. Therefore, the more mainstream media girls consume the more conscious they are about being pretty and sexy, and at increasingly young ages. As Douglas points out in the “Sex ‘R’ Us” chapter, the over-exposure and emphasis on female body parts and sexuality has become the norm, and the sexualization of women can be seen at extremely young ages as portrayed in shows such as “Toddlers & Tiaras.” This is an alarming reality that is directly influenced by the princess culture, and shows no signs of slowing down. Open sexual publicity can also be demonstrated, encouraged, and promoted though other forms of media such as magazines (Cosmo, Maxim, etc) and commercial advertisements, serving as constant reminders for women to adhere to ideal standards of beauty whilst deflating their self-esteem. One study mentioned in Bennett’s article even found that seeing advertisements from one to three minutes can have an adverse effect on girl’s self-esteem.

One alarming reality that Orenstein brings to light is the fact that there are virtually no alternatives for girls who choose not to play with pink princess toys. In fact, Bennett’s article mentions that Disney alone has 26,000 princess items on the market today, which is part of a $4 Billion-a-year franchise that is the fastest growing brand the company has ever created. However, it’s not that the princess role model is inherently bad; it’s that it turns into something else. Girls not only need to be the fairest princess of them all, they must, as the article quotes, “be the most Paris Hilton, or Kim Kardashian of them all”; in short, the princess mold is yet a precursor to future sexual objectification and display.

After reading this article, I found it interesting to see how some of my female friends have evolved from their interaction with this princess culture and how this mold has translated into several aspects of their lives. I know of several girls who love pink, and engulf their rooms and interior in ultra feminized décor. It’s not a bad thing, and an expression of individuality and personal preference. But I understand the point Orenstein illuminates, and believe it to be a delicate balance in discerning what represents women’s acquiescence to oppressive patriarchal standards, or an expression of individuality and personal preference. Regardless, I feel it is necessary to acknowledge these concerns in order to investigate the detriments of princess culture more thoroughly, and eliminate the gender inequalities and patriarchal stereotypes that often result.

Worked Cited:
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done. New York: Times Books, 2010. Print.