Smartie is very into Disney Princesses right now. The only video she's actually seen is Cinderella, the least violent/scary one, at grandma's house. She has princess CDs, books, dresses, dolls, and just goes on and on about her imaginary princess friends. I even caught her putting one of the dresses on Sweetie and calling her Aurora. In fact, she insisted that everyone else call her Aurora, too, and Smartie only answers to Cinderella half the time.
I'm not sure how happy I am about this. Yes, all girls want to be princesses, it's a very normal stage. But Disney's version of LOVE is not one I want my girls growing up thinking is the ideal. Think about it--Cinderella never had an actual conversation with her Prince, they just danced. He didn't even know her name, and yet they get married and live Happily Ever Aftertm. Same with Aurora and Phillip. Snow White's Prince shows up one day, finds her dead/sleeping, and just starts macking on her, how creepy!!! Belle's the only one who gets to know her Prince's character before committing her heart (yay Belle!) Am I making too big a deal out of this? Is it harmless fun? And are there any Princess stories (not Disney) that have a more healthy picture of love? Maybe I should just write my own....
2 comments:
I know what you mean; it is so easy to look in depth at these stories from our adult prospective. One thing that I learned in a Neuro -biology class at Iowa is that before a certain age (typically 9-12) it is impossible for children to put an "adult" perspective on these sorts of things due to lack of experience. That being said it is also impossible to for a smaller child to watch a prince kiss a dead girl (yes, very creepy) and internalize that information as such. They simply see two people having fun and being together. I always look way to in depth at these sorts of things for Grace (i.e. I will not get her a Bratz doll because they dress like tramps - she would only see a doll that she wants to play with). This all being said I do feel we need to lay the foundation of our expectations early and censor what our children see and hear. The princess thing is totally normal (and pretty cute), if she is still displaying these characteristics at age 15 that would be a problem!! Grace thinks all princesses are mermaids and insists that she be adressed as Mermaid Grace - maybe G and E should play together!
There are some stories....of princesses that are Christian books. I think there's one for girls I am not sure but it may be called God's princess. There is also one called "The Princess and The Kiss: A Story of God's gift of Purity" by Jennie Bishop. There is also a workbook that goes with it with activities to do, I think. We only have the story. It's pretty lengthy, but you can read it to Ethne like you would a chapter book. For those of you with boys I think the boy version is called "The Prince and The Sword."
Aaaaah yes Disney princesses. No, I am not Katie, call me "Ariel." No, I am not Abby, call me "Belle." I get that all of the time. It's cute! I love the imaginations of children.
I too beleive that Bratz are not good. As a parent it is very IMPORTANT to filter out the "bad" stuff(especially for girls, I think).
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