The Moral of the Story?
I just got finished reading my daughter her bedtime stories. Tonight she wanted to read a couple of short board books from a Disney Princess set she has. (I’ll let Pattie grumble about the marketing bonanza that is the Disney Princess brand, but anyway.) All of the stories in thsi set are supposed to have little lessons about being a good person, and hey, I can understand the idea there. But there is something that bugs me about the tone of these books. In one of them, Jasmine goes to the market to buy herself a necklace, but decides to spend her money on a new hat for Aladdin because making someone else happy is supposed to be more important. Now given that Jasmine and Aladdin are the princess and prince of the realm, I’m thinkin’ Jasmine could have struck a bit of a two for one deal with the merchant, or at least bought on credit, but I really shouldn’t be nitpicking the plots of children’s books. That much, anyway. The thing that bugs me is the whole woman-sacrifices-her-own-interests-to-please-her-man implication, and maybe I shouldn’t be imposing gender politics on a Disney book . . . but given the aforementioned prevalence of the brand, if I’m not going to impose gender politics on a Disney book, what good are gender politics?
The whole set is full of this stuff. Cinderella teaches the mice proper etiquette. Ariel learns not to go too far away from home because it’s dangerous out there. Belle spends so much time reading that she doesn’t help her father with an experiment and the experiment goes badly. (Why didn’t Belle’s father go and get Belle?) At least Snow White teaches the dwarfs to pick up after themselves.
I dunno. Gimme Dora the Exporer any day. And not just because Dora has access to a chocolate tree.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Tuesday, August 15th 2006 at 8:31 am |
Haven’t I been saying this stuff for years? Do you really want to get me started on the whole Ariel (The Little Mermaid) giving up her voice (Hello? Her voice!!!) for a pair of nice looking legs!!! Too late, I’m already annoyed. And the saddest thing – Belle, Jasmine, and Ariel are of the crop of more “modern” princesses, created in the last twenty years or so. ot a good sign.
Yes, they are children’s books but Disney Princesses, as a result of their utter ubiquitousness, have a lot of power over young minds. Want proof? Spend 30 minutes with two or three young girls under the age of five. You’ll see.
How to mitigate the impact? Let’s see some more marketing of Disney’s Mulan character. It’s at least a step in a more empowered direction but still high on the self-sacrificing scale. Alas, she doesn’t have a tiara or a fluffy gown so Disney’s marketing machine doesn’t know quite how to sell her.
Though she’s quite repititive at times(The Map, The Map, The Map), I’m down with Dora. She’s taught Alex many Spanish words, she’s out exploring the world, solving problems and learning new things. And from what I can tell, Dora’s dad does all the cooking. I think Alex can relate.
Tuesday, August 15th 2006 at 9:40 am |
I am smart enough to know not to get into the Little Mermaid argument with you. But however bad you think the movies are – these books are worse. I mean, in the movie, Ariel’s curiosity gets rewarded, and you can at least take an actions-speak-louder-than-words message out of the conclusion. Jasmine has an independent streak, plays at least some part in her rescue, and has infinitely more sense than her father. These books are just a guilt trip in a box. But you can imagine how much success I would have saying, “No, Alex, we’re taking your princess books away, because Mommy and Daddy don’t think they’re sufficiently empowering.”
Thursday, August 17th 2006 at 5:31 am |
Oh good grief. I think my niece got this set of books for Christmas. (We didn’t get them for her.)
By all accounts, though, at least initially, she was much more fixated on the Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack that Uncle Earl sent her. (Hey, I don’t have kids of my own, so I have to put some time into molding someone into my own image somewhere. I got her hooked on Q*Bert too, so that’s at least two formative influences. I don’t think I’ll try to lure her down the action figure path though. That path leads to the Dark Side. And her mom would kill me where I stand.)