maythebroads:

“I recall a period of time when I was my friend’s daughter’s age (five) and became fond of dressing like a princess (sadly princess merchandise was not available in the seventies, so I was reduced to wearing one of my mother’s nighties), then standing on a chair and doing the dishes (unasked) in a put-upon fashion, pretending I was Cinderella. My mother did not become alarmed. Instead, during a break from my busy dish-doing schedule, Mom gently informed me that those princesses I’d seen on “The Wonderful World of Disney” weren’t real. There were real life princesses, however, and they did not rely on other people to rescue them. In a speech that would prove weirdly prophetic, considering what the queen and Merida come to learn in “Brave,” my mother pointed out that princesses are expected not only to learn to sew and clean and protect themselves, but also to go to college, stand up for the things they believed in, and support the people they rule, never letting the bad guys win.”

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Disney Princesses Enter ‘Brave’ New World - Speakeasy

interesting, but I felt like she was a little too personally invested in propping up the princess empire to be impartial enough to write this (I mean, it is Meg Cabot, who, yeah, has gained popularity through her Princess Diaries series).   Also, not impressed by her spin on things… Tiana is “Tatiana” (reaaally?  You couldn’t like, run that by imdb or something before you submitted a professional blog to the NYTimes?), and Rapunzel apparently saves herself and Flynn’s rescued “by Rapunzel” even though actually he does totally save her in the end, in the most dramatic part of the movie, which upholds what her friend was arguing about in the article.  

The piece also ignored the totality of the princess franchise… it’s not just about allowing kids to “stretch their imagination” and that’s why princesses should be okay.  No one is arguing against that.   The problem is when their imagination is, over and over, only encouraged to stretch in one or two pre-determined directions.