The Princess Problem

This past weekend we went to a Halloween party at the Children's Museum. A little overwhelming but fun. What bothered me most is that it felt like 90% of the little girls there were dressed like princesses, or butterflies, fairies, and mermaids that resembled princesses. It was disturbing.

I don't believe that ALL little girls think the same. So what is happening that makes them all wear the same costume? I have to believe that we--parents, society, corporations, teachers--are doing something that is A) depriving them of creativity, and B) pushing them towards this taffeta abyss. I mean it never ceases to amaze me how many people ask C if she is going to be "Ariel" when she says she is going to be a mermaid. She looks at them blankly. She has no clue who Ariel is (well, other than the name of one of her preschool teachers). Why would you assume that a 2.5 year old has seen a feature film? Why would you want to push that commercialization on her? Let her create her own mermaid--a girl who swims in the sea with fins. (For that matter, aren't most of those princess/fairy tales kinda creepy? I mean a chick who hangs out with dwarves and spends most of the story laying there pathetically waiting for a man to save her? Please). (And why do people think it is a compliment to refer to a little girl as a 'princess?' Personally, I think of the term as derogatory.)

I realize there is a 'nature' argument here. I have a little girl who loves mermaids, yet she's never seen one on tv and we don't have any books about them. We're not even sure where she picked it up. She calls everything a 'mermaid' (including the Cinderella on one of her bedtime pullups, who she says is a mermaid named "Sameer"--seriously). She loves mermaids and her sister adores giraffes, and they have basically been exposed to all the same things. And I know that gender associations become strong at 3/4 and I realize 'girliness' is a component of that. So I realize some of this is human nature/a phase. But still, I have to believe that there is blame to be placed somewhere for its proliferation in our society--be it parents, Disney, etc.

I have to figure out how to hold the "princesses" at bay for as long as possible. Right now they don't really care. The one time they asked me what a princess does I said "Nothing. They do NOTHING. That is why they are so silly." (Ballerinas dance, and at least mermaids freakin' swim!) Yeah, we'll see how long that works. Hah.