Disney Princess....just a bit of fun or demeaning to the female gender?

[kbayes]

Hello all...I am doing a bit of research for my own daughters benefit and as part of my uni dissertation and would like your help.

What is your opinion on the Disney Princess franchise so popular with young girls? Do you find the images and portrayal of gender rolls demeaning to young girls or is it all just a bit of fun and something that should be embraced? Is the promotion of falling for your prince and living happily ever after mis selling an unachievable dream to young girls, or is it encouraging them to wait for Mr Right. Does it promote femininity and what it is to be a girl or does it encourage the female to take up the role of the weaker sex?
I have often watched my now 7yr old daughter dress up in all that is pink and pretend to be swept away by her handsome prince and wondered about the effects, if any, this has on how she perceives the world of dating!!
Any views would be greatly appreciated...thank you for taking the time to read this x

My son (4) loves the Disney princess thing-Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Ariel, et al.
I had to 'lose' his Rapunzel wig as it was looking like a rats nest. He has plenty of crowns, wands and rings. He is asking for a princess dress and glass slippers (not to mention a magic talking clam ).

I neither encourage or discourage but I won't buy him a dress, mainly because I don't want him to wear it outside and be potentially bullied/laughed at.

Obviously the gender thing goes over the head of my son

I've always tried never to be gender specific with my DD (4) but she just loves everything pink and princess, she's been given dolls, cars, trains, lego, paints, all sorts, and she still loves all the disney princess stuff.

I generally think it's all a bit of fun and something she likes so I would never ban it in our household, and I don't think I'm encouraging her to live her life thinking the only thing she has to aspire to is finding her prince charming and getting married (she currently wants to be an astronut when she grows up).

We've recently watched Snow White, Tangled and then the Frog Princess during the week due to being in a caravan and it raining ALL the time. And I have to say that I can't actually believe just how stereotypical they've all become and it's no wonder girls think they've got to have HUGE eyes and a tiny figure. Snow White is positively plump compared to Tangled, and the Frog Princess is boarderline anorexic!! I'd never really given it any thought until I saw them in a short space of time - Tangled makes me want to barf with her big, doe, eyes all the time :)

Sorry about the spelling!

'Cinderella ate my daughter' Peggy orenstein.

This has been done to death on here, tbh (and a lot of students looking for the same research data). A quick advanced search will give you more than you need. Much much more than you need.

If you are using quotes for your dissertation and this forms part of your proposal, do you have an information sheet for participants? And a consent form?

hi madwomanintheattic...I'm not going to use quotes from this for my dissertation, the post is mainly coming from me as a mum, not me as a student. I am looking at many areas of gender stereotyping, it is just that this one particularly effects my personal life. Thanks for the advice and I will have a search. Thanks to everyone who has posted so far x

loads on the fem/ women's rights board, too. probably more there than on parenting.

v formal phraseology in the op for a mum chit chat, mind.