Since the new millennium has started, a new trend has taken over people's’ lives, specifically little girls’ lives, and this new trend is princesses. Both the articles, “The Princess Paradox”, by James Poniewozik and , “Cinderella and Princess culture” by Peggy Orenstein elaborate on the issue of princesses in today’s society. In Princess culture, Orenstein talks about how much cinderella and princess them goods: movies, toys, and dresses, hinder the growth of young girls and almost sees no good in them. Poniewozik in Princess Paradox, takes a different approach than Orenstein and talks about how princesses aren’t exactly a bad thing for young girls.Although, both articles address the issue of princesses, Orenstein completely dismissing the
How does Disney Princess influence young girls? Disney princesses were Created by Andy Mooney, a worker of the Disney Consumer Products, in the late 1990s, it features a line-up of fictional female heroines. Since 1937, Walt Disney Studios has been creating fairytale movies that total fifty feature films. Many of these films, the most classic, are based in ancient stories featuring villains, princes and princesses. As society has changed in the seventy-three years Disney has been making movies, so have the animated films themselves.
Walt Disney has been making girls think that in order to be beautiful you have to be the perfect shape and size. (Shortridge). Some people believe that the Disney Princesses are great role models for children because Mulan teaches us to never give up on the strengths we have just because we are girls, Belle teaches us to never judge a book by its cover, and Pocahontas shows us real princesses are strong leaders. On the other hand, some individuals feel that Disney Princesses are bad role models because of their unrealistic body appearance, telling girls every marriage ends with a happily ever after when you get married at a young age, and saying every girl needs a man in order to be happy. Both sides have valid points but in reality everyone
In the short essay, “The Princess Paradox,” James Poniewozik, whos is the chief TV critic for The New York Times, introduces the idea that parents have recently tried to stay away from giving their daughters princess related toys and clothes, contrasting a girly stereotype, and instead, give them a more wide variety of toys, including the ones associated with boy’s stereotypes such as legos, from which she can choose from and determine her own interests. Additionally, Poniewozik states that parents get frustrated when their “empowered, self-confident budding Marie Curie tells you [the parent] she wants to be… a princess [for halloween]” (Poniewozik). According to Poniewozik, past princess culture implies that being both a princess and self-determined
Many people believe Disney princesses can alter a child’s perspective about his or her self. The way princesses act and what they wear both affect children’s state of mind. The essay “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by Monika Bartyzel claims that the image of Disney princesses changes the way both children and society feel about women.
Abstract Most of us have grown up watching Disney films but never really thought of what they exactly mean to us. Our understanding of what it means to be a Disney princess is probably one of the reasons to what made us subject to the regulation of cultural values. Cinderella and other similar Disney princesses may be recognised as a part of an individual’s childhood but the values and ideas it conveyed can still be reflected in our decisions and behaviour as adults. Many young girls perceive Cinderella as a role model and create expectations and beliefs based on what is portrayed through her unfortunately these expectations are not fulfilled and ends in dissatisfaction.
Princesses’ in Disney movies are tied down to a recurring theme: the princess that must be saved from the evil woman by the charming prince. A significant contrast to the usually weak and easily persuaded figure of the father. Even though the women are portrayed as weak, nobody stops to think how strong they have to be to carry the responsibility of an entire household on her shoulder, while the men always seem to be traveling or ill. Fairytales are based on a patriarchal way of thinking and as time passes by, it’s proven to be detrimental to society Women and men are constantly being bound to a series of stereotypes.
From its onset with its first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Disney has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon today. But over the years, various parent groups, scholars and film critics have accused Disney for creating shallow, stereotypical princesses whose ultimate aim was to find her 'prince charming ' and live happily ever after. In her article, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” in the New York Times, Peggy Orenstein expresses her concern over the effect of princess figures like Cinderella on young girls ' perceptions of themselves and how they should behave (“What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”).
There are a variety of facts used in Hollandsworth’s article; however there are a select few that he makes good use of for his argument. Hollandsworth states that $4 billion is annually spent on Disney Princess retail; he uses this fact to claim that girls who wanted to be like princesses did beauty
Cinderella Ate My Daughter follows the life of Peggy Orenstein, a journalist as she takes on the impossible task of raising a child. As one source puts it, “Orenstein spends the 256 pages of Cinderella Ate My Daughter asking paradoxical questions and playing devil’s advocate. Despite the many questions and few answers, one thing remains clear: consumer culture has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, beginning at birth. Nearly every stage of life has been externally defined, marketed, and consequently, commoditized” (ACSD). After Orenstein explains how through marketing and media, girlhood is conceptualized, she describes the internal implications that defining girlhood can have on girls. The book ends with a chapter called girl-power.
The Disney princess movies had a great deal of influence on many young girls watching princesses represent what royalty looked like. The princesses are always beautiful, polite and seeking the love of their Prince Charming. This plays a strong role in perpetuating the idea that being a princess means seeking only love from a man, and a man who contains all the stereotypical masculine qualities; handsome, powerful and rich. For example, in The Little Mermaid, Ariel had to give up who she was in order to win over the affection of her prince charming. She traded in her voice in order to have real legs and near Prince Eric.
Cinderella was just as I had imagined her, wearing her glittering blue gown and her feet sheathed in the shoes–the glass slippers. Smiling, she greeted me saying, “Hello Princess!” We took a quick picture together, and she asked me if I was attending the ball that night. Giggling, I told her, “I’m not going to a ball.”
In the article, “The Princess Paradox,” author James Poniewozik argues that even though girls may grow up in a household that nurtures extreme independence and feminism, some girls want to be a princess coupled with being a strong individual. Poniewozik is compelled to explain this new cultural aura concerning both feminism and the desire to be a princess. He explains that now, in opposition to the idea of a need for domesticity as well as the polar idea of feminism, girls believe that they can be a princess independent simultaneously. He also explains that the princess must fit the girl, not the other way around. The author overall adequately supports his claim, that a change in media and film has altered girls’ desire to simply be independent, with details; however, he distracts from the topic at times with unnecessary information that
Introduction: A New Age of Disney Females? Most women and girls you may know in developed countries have an idea of who their favourite Disney Princess is. A question may arise out of this cultural notion: What effect has Disney’s Princesses and other Disney’s animated female icons had on women and girls over the years, in terms of their identity? Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown discuss this question in their 2008 paper Disney’s Version of Girlhood. However, more Disney Princesses and Female Icon’s (FI’s) have emerged and touched little girl’s hearts since then.
The movie “The Princess and the Frog” is not your typical “boy saves girl” movie. Instead, this Disney movie presents us with a strong female lead who doesn’t need a man to achieve her goals. In many previous Disney movies, it is demonstrated that a girl needs a man in order to get her happily ever after. Without a prince, she is nothing. In “The Princess and the Frog” the gender roles are presented to us as equal, even reverse at times.