Elizabeth M. Johnson

Peggy Orenstein’s article in the Sunday NYT magazine called ‘What’s Wrong with Cinderella?’ examines the popularity of the princess among young girls. Orenstein, the author of Schoolgirls and also Flux, has a young daughter who, like many young girls, is enchanted with the plethora of princess gear, toys, apparel and more that she sees everywhere. At her daughter’s prompting (’What’s wrong with princesses?’) takes an in-depth look at the princess phenomena and what the effect the obsession might have on.

One of the comments that strikes me as the single most important point of the article comes from Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown, author with Dr. Sharon Lamb, of Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes. Brown says, “Playing princess is not the issue, the issue is the 25,000 Princess products. When one thing is so dominant, then it’s no longer a choice: it’s a mandate, cannibalizing all other forms of play.” There is nothing inherently wrong with princess but when princess is everyone, girl’s choices become too limited. And, what kind of woman does the princess playing girl transform into? Orenstein says that while, “there are no direct studies proving that playing princess directly damages girls’ self-esteem….there is evidence that young women who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs-who avoid conflict and think they should be perpetually nice and pretty-are more likely to be depressed.” In my own work, I have found this to be true. The women who stifle their feelings, believe that they must please everyone else before themselves, and pirze their prefectionist tendencies as a good thing are more likely be to suffer from low self-esteem, have lost touch with their Authentic Self and be on a medication to treat their depression.

The key here is choice. Girls and women must have choices in order to fully be satisfied and happy in their lives. If there is no option for a Halloween costume other than a Cinderella gown and cape or no other bedding choices other than scenes of Ariel swimming in an ocean toward a more vocal future with her prince, then we have a problem. Our girls have a problem which means that chances are good that they will grow into women with problems. Choice empowers while a lack of choice limits. Help encourage choice by using the power of your own voice and actions to always make decisions which honor your Authentic Self. With that power, you can be Queen of your own world for life. Cape, crown and gown optional.