Aisle 11: Balancing Princesses and Role Models

I love princesses.

I really do.

I wasn't crazy about Disney princess as a child.

I liked them and played with them.

I loved the movies,

but yet it wasn't nearly on the scale that some little girls do today.

Was my favorite along with

I actually fell in love with the princess idea as a teenager.

To the point that my goal in life is to be act like a princess.

I was totally going to raise my future daughter this way too,

until the backlash against Disney princess started.

I started reading things like...

"Cinderella ate my daughter"

"Feminist Princess book list"

and it goes on and on and on.

I started second guessing myself and when I got pregnant, I was scared at the idea of raising a girl.

When Matt asked me why, I told him there was too many options and none of them seemed right.

Then that day came.

I found out our Tiny was a girl.

I didn't go out and buy a ton of things for her,

instead I hit the internet.

I really needed to find a solution to the whole princess thing.

You can ask Matt.

I love to research things.

I spent hours and hours researching looking for answer on how to raise my baby.

I was frustrated because what I was looking for was missing.

But then one day, it all clicked in place.

I suddenly had a plan.

I was going to raise my daughter with princesses.

I wasn't going to hold them back or push them on her.

I'm just going to give her a well-rounded princess education.

So along with the Disney princesses that are heavily marketed, my children will be taught

Grimm's Fairy Tales and any other collection of fairy tale

She'll know a Rapunzel that has a cute little chameleon named Pascal

and the other Rapunzel is banished to the wilderness while her blind prince searches for her.

She know the Little Mermaid named Ariel,

and the Little Mermaid who dies and becomes sea foam in the ocean.

She'll also know of Indian Cinderella, the Swan Princess, Scheherazade, the Goose girl, the Weaver girl, The Paper Bag princess, along with many other princesses that Disney hasn't made movies about.

Some of those stories have morals, others are just enchanting stories.

but I'm hoping that Tiny and her siblings will fall in love with them.

Princesses aren't just in books though.

Many of my own role models I see as modern day princesses,

and you can bet my children will learn about these women too.

Audrey Hepburn

Dedicated her later life helping children in the poorest nations.

Refused to change her eyebrows, despite the fact they were not in fashion.

The Queen Mum

Hitler called her “the most dangerous woman in Europe”.

Queen Noor

Broke tradition by being involved with politics

Natalie Portman

Has degree from Harvard and speaks several languages.

"I'd rather be smart than a movie star."

Mother Teresa

Helped thousands of people that no one else wanted to help.

Shirley Temple

Ran for Congress

a US ambassador to Ghana

first female Chief of Protocol at the White House.

I admire these women because they made a difference in the world.

They didn't do it with a lot of flair.

They all have a quiet elegance to them that gives them power one way or another.

And what do they do with this power?

They help others.

These women along with many others define what "feminine" means to me.

They have grace, beauty, loveliness, determination, and kindness.

I think you could use those all traits for both their personalities and their looks.

Which is something that our little fairy tale princesses try to capture.

Unfortunately, those traits are easier to capture in looks than personality in movies,

but you know what?

If you look, those traits are still there...in some from or another in every Disney movie.

(Maybe not in the dolls. I'm STILL upset with their makeovers.)

They just get lost in the happily ever after story.

As a mom, I hope to point them out.

I love that princesses come in every shape and form.

I love the traits they represent.
I love the love stories.

I love the message that if you are true to yourself, some one will love you for it.

As a mother, I'm hoping my sons and daughters can see past all the pink and know being a princess is more than just putting on a dress.

I'm hoping they learn about grace, beauty, loveliness, determination and kindness through these stories and people.
I hope my daughters embrace the fact they are female
and that they can achieve whatever dreams their hearts make.

There is so much good they can learn from fairy tales.

It's just up to me to show them.