Anyone out shopping for presents for girls lately would probably have noticed the addition to all the branded (Wiggles, Hi-5, Dora etc) toys and clothes. It’s the Disney Princesses, six of the major fairy tale heroines grouped together to sell anything from Manchester to undies. This is clever; they’re like the Spice Girls of animation.
As a girl, it’s your right to pick your favourite and yet still be familiar with all the virtues and beauty of the others. I have an uneasy feeling about all this. I was princess obsessed as a girl (Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel were my favourites) and really don’t see much harm in enjoying being all ‘girly’ and ‘royal’. But now, as a mother, with Pink’s Stupid Girls song in my head, I wonder, surely Keira could be interested in something else? Yes, she’s started to buy into all the hype. Last week we borrowed from the library a licensed “Princess” CD. We put it on. I turned it off after listening to this:
“Every girl can be a princess
All that’s left to do Is,
find a prince for you
A prince who’s bold
Who’ll hold you, your whole life through”
Am I being unreasonable? Over reactive? Silly? Am I raging against the music box a bit too much? I feel like Lisa Simpson in the episode of The Simpsons where she created her own Malibu Stacey doll in retaliation to the boring, insipid others. Or one of those stereotypical feminists who pound the idea in your head that YOU DON’T NEED A MAN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. Should I let Keira listen to the CD? Just let it go and be grateful she’s listening to music and not parked in front of the TV?
