Princess Culture
The downfall of Fairytales
What would our childhoods have been like without Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters, or the seven dwarfs that accompanied snow white? These, amongst many other fairytales have been around and passed along for decades. The traditional Disney princess culture keeps being praised and applauded for the entertainment they bring to little girls. It is so widely accepted nowadays that most parents can’t even imagine not incorporating the Disney stories into their daughters’ lives. While the stories themselves tend to be appropriate for young girls, the subliminal messages behind them aren’t. Parents and guardians are so wrapped up in the fantasy themselves that they forget to ask themselves how their daughters may internalize the stories. At a first glance, these stories seem to be quite innocent but in reality these stories and basically the Princess culture, specifically in Cinderella and Snow White, encourages girls to be damsels in distress whose role it is to look good and wait for a handsome prince to swoop in, ‘save her’ and that after she’s saved they would live a life happily ever after. All of which are notions that shouldn’t be taught to young girls. Growing up with stories such as that of Cinderella’s and Snow White’s; it’s only natural for young girls to grow up with the idea that they will be “swept off their feet” by the man of their dreams. This leaves these young women with a sense of hopelessness and despair when their “Prince Charming” doesn’t go running around to save them. In the story of Cinderella, she waits around for her prince to find her and let her try on her shoe when she could have easily gone out and looked for him. The story of Cinderella makes it seem like it’s not true love unless the man goes out of his way to conquer their women- like they’re some kind of trophies; or like they’re really that helpless. The story of Snow White just might be worse than Cinderella. Cinderella got to go on a date with
What would our childhoods have been like without Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters, or the seven dwarfs that accompanied snow white? These, amongst many other fairytales have been around and passed along for decades. The traditional Disney princess culture keeps being praised and applauded for the entertainment they bring to little girls. It is so widely accepted nowadays that most parents can’t even imagine not incorporating the Disney stories into their daughters’ lives. While the stories themselves tend to be appropriate for young girls, the subliminal messages behind them aren’t. Parents and guardians are so wrapped up in the fantasy themselves that they forget to ask themselves how their daughters may internalize the stories. At a first glance, these stories seem to be quite innocent but in reality these stories and basically the Princess culture, specifically in Cinderella and Snow White, encourages girls to be damsels in distress whose role it is to look good and wait for a handsome prince to swoop in, ‘save her’ and that after she’s saved they would live a life happily ever after. All of which are notions that shouldn’t be taught to young girls. Growing up with stories such as that of Cinderella’s and Snow White’s; it’s only natural for young girls to grow up with the idea that they will be “swept off their feet” by the man of their dreams. This leaves these young women with a sense of hopelessness and despair when their “Prince Charming” doesn’t go running around to save them. In the story of Cinderella, she waits around for her prince to find her and let her try on her shoe when she could have easily gone out and looked for him. The story of Cinderella makes it seem like it’s not true love unless the man goes out of his way to conquer their women- like they’re some kind of trophies; or like they’re really that helpless. The story of Snow White just might be worse than Cinderella. Cinderella got to go on a date with