Is too much exposure to Disney princesses bad for a lttle girl?

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Trivial compared to some of the other threads in this topic, I know, but need to know if I should just indulge 4 yo DD1's princess phase or if I'm setting her up for a lifetime of waiting for her 'true love' to arrive on a white charger and whisk her off to 'happily ever after' (yeah, right).
Going to bed now but am genuinely interested in your replies!

Dont be so cynical - it may happen

But seriously, shes only 4 - let her believe in magic, faries, princes for as long as she can.

By the time shes 14 she'll have realised its 'make belive' and will have her head screwed on her shoulders and be getting ready for the reality of life and real relationships.

But for now let her be a princess

God, this depresses me. I WISH there were better stories to read and so on, Princess 'spoilt brat' Poppy and her annoying friend Honey do my head in.

Thank goodness for Charlie and Lola, wish there were more examples. Anyway, no wise words but it worries me too. All the stories that end with a knight/prince etc, terrible!

Magic is great, heroics and all that. But what annoys me is the passivism of the heroines. They wait in towers and such.. dull and weak. boo!

Indulge her though if you like I suspect you have no choice, but be a bit subversive if you can

WWW they are more out there, what age are your dcs?

WWW - what about the ones with wicked witches in, eh?
DD1 used to like Alfie and the like but lately chooses disney when it's story time. Mind you, she's just watched 'The lion, the witch and the wardrobe' on DVD and spent the rest of the day making a bow and arrow 'like Susan's' so maybe there's hope...

Slur, i agree, and don't you think it's strange that the fathers are either dead or have married a horrible step-mother and dont stnd up for their daughters at all? I actually find the heros rather dull and periferal, even tho the princesses are passive they are still the central character.
Now i really must go to bed as no doubt i'll be woke at dawn by DD2, as usual...wish SHE would 'fall into a deep sleep'!

My dd1 is 4 and dd2 is 20mths, they are already obsessed. I love it, daddy becomes the brave prince in their eyes, how wonderful is that. I also hate the passive woman thing but that is unlikely to be a problem around here . Not sure about when dd1 and her friend start killing each other with poisen apples but I suppose it's better than swords or guns

It's the disney bit I have a problem with not the princess bit....

i try and keep a lid on the princess thing but it is hard. i also hate the disney cynical marketing. effing princess everything.

i refuse to read cinderella cos i find the ugly sister thing objectionable dd knows this and finds other people to read it.

Jasmine and Mulan kick ass though, don't they? And Belle is well-read and refuses to marry Gaston (go for it, sister!)

Cinderella, Snow White and the mermaid are fairly annoying and drippy though!

Can you tell I have a deep knowledge of them and have shamelessly allowed DD to indulge her love for them?

I agree Belle is a very well educated independent woman, anyway fing barbie is just as annoying and don't get me started on the bloody bratz. To be fair they are not quite as bad as the role models we were all exposed to and we turned out alright didn't we

No. It is make believe. Hz many little girls grow up in a fairy tale world of magic, fairies and princesses. Bet many of us here did. How many of us still think it is real? Or were adversly affected? At this age they are allowed to pretend. So long as balanced and fun why not. Better than a lot of stuff our young girls are exposed to, such as brats etc.

I have just caught a bit of Lorraine Kelly- they were shopping for Xmas presents and had found Sainsbury's are selling a Disney Snow White dressing up costume for adults. That's just wrong.

omg, i could totatlly freak dd out by dressing up as snow white. this is just scarry.

i have noticed with dd and her little pals they tend to gravitate towards the princess that most resembles themselves.

The whole princess thing is a pile'o'shite IMO. Its the pasiveness that gets me too and the wicked witches and step mothers (what nasty stereotypes they are...they really grate on me being both myself).

No problems with dd dressing up as a fairy/princess etc. If she wants to swan round in 'pretty' dresses thats fine by me. They soon die a death when she gets hampered from climbing at the park.

Thankfully I havent come across Princess Poppy yet. What books are thoose (so I know to avoid them)?

Try the paperbag princess and that one by Babette Cole, or perhaps stories of women/princesses who really went out and did things (boudicca, Joan of Arc, Grace o'malley (Irish princess priate)spring to mind)

my DD3 is a huuuuuuuuuuge disney princess fan. has been since age 4/5, and is now nine.

loves it, especially Belle, and I indulge her.

DD1 and DD2 were never fans, in fact never really liked the disney stuff at all until they got some winnie the pooh bits from their aunt when she went to disney land.

DD3 will never get sucked into the make-believe thinking it is real life, but she has two older sisters who tell it like it is, so she has no choice.

let her play, she'll grow up fast enough and find the real world and you'll realise that she is now as cynical and hard as the rest of us.

unless of course she discovers the film "Pretty Woman" and thinks it is a real life story of course!

I think the princess phase is lovely and should be indulged fully when a little girl is 3/4/5/6 whatever. Otherwise it risks being repressed and resurging in a less appropriate form at a later date .

However, I dislike Disney intensely (and I once - briefly - worked for Disney). There are much better constructed and more complex stories about princesses and fairies that develop a little girl's imagination far more fully than Disney can do.

My dd doesn't understand why Belle won't marry Gaston though

(Worried, have I done something wrong here emoticon)...

I don't mind a bit of princess play - most of the time dd is forced to play pirates with ds1, so when she has a friend round the princesses come out in force.

I agree Belle is a much better role model than Cinderella(!). And also Snow White if I'm honest.

Www - we LOVE Charlie and Lola - dd has in fact turned into Lola in just about every way! The other stories dd loves are Mog stories, which I know aren't so much about the children, but are lovely stories, with a non-drippy girl in them! And of course when they're older, the Roald Dahl stories are great for positive female characters - the BFG and Matilda both have very strong girls in the main roles.

We do have a ban on Barbie and Bratz dolls though - I HATE them passionately!

actually mine has never been interested in the pink princess world at all tbh

I think it is the disney rather than the princess that is irritating, too much merchandise, you could have said the same for star wars when we were kids.

Www - dd really likes the Clarice Bean stories, also by Lauren Child, so you could try them if you've exhausted Charlie and Lola.

Clarice Bean rocks big time

only on MN could this be a dilemma

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