In Defense Of Princesses

Are you a fan of Disney princesses?

I must say, while I was never princess-obsessed as a child, I've alway enjoyed all the princess movies I did watch as a kid (mainly Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid).  I never really thought deeply about Disney princesses, until I became an adult, and realized for the first time that there are a lot of people out there with complaints about princesses.

Mostly I've dismissed the arguments I've heard against Disney princesses (except for a couple specific concerns about certain storylines from people I trust, like my mom).  Many of the arguments are coming from a feminist misunderstanding of princesses, such as "The princesses are just waiting around for a man to save them!", or "Snow White likes housework too much!"  

Aside from the fact that I consider modern feminism to be a destructive cultural force anyway, those arguments never landed for me.  I always thought they were superficial, and frankly, dumb complaints - and I still think that, but I was never able to explain why. I just knew I was fine with my daughters playing Snow White or Cinderella - these characters have always been symbols of grace and virtue, and I liked seeing my daughters emulating them.  I don't have any problem with little girls embracing the feminine aspects of princesses, so whatever gripes feminists had against the princesses, they didn't apply for me.

When I recently heard about a book called Saving Cinderella: What Feminists Get Wrong About Disney Princesses And How To Set It Right by Faith Moore, I was immediately intrigued!  This book ended up being so much more than I expected.  Moore dives deep into each of the Disney Princess movies, but this isn't just about defending femininity, love, and marriage on a surface level (though she does that too).  Moore explains in-depth how princess fairytales have traditionally been a metaphor for growing up, for the transition each girl needs to go through to become a woman and to be accepted and loved for who she is.  Her explanation of Snow White as a metaphor for the stages of puberty kind of blew my mind, and the rest of the book just got better from there.

Moore takes us through the phases of Disney's princess movies, starting with the traditional princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), and moving to the Disney Renaissance (Ariel and Belle), then explaining how Disney slowly started losing it's way by catering to the demands and complaints of feminists (with a few notable exceptions in the modern Disney princesses).  This book made me more interested in taking a class on fairytales someday - the symbolism she explains from each of these stories was so interesting and rich.  In the process, she also ends up answering some of the more conservative criticisms I've heard about Disney "corrupting" the original fairytales.  There is plenty of symbolism and good lessons here to be had in the Disney versions, if you take a closer look.

While I loved the book, I didn't fully agree with everything the author wrote. I thought the Christian metaphor she pulled out of Cinderella was a stretch and didn't quite work, and there were some criticisms of certain princesses that I thought she should have addressed more fully.  Her view of feminism is a little convoluted at times.  Sometimes she argues against the feminist's view of princesses by pointing out the problems with some modern aspects of feminism (such as the view that men and women should be exactly the same in every way, or the way some feminists reject love and marriage as valuable part of a woman's life).  At other times she states why feminists should embrace certain aspects of the princesses that fit in with their feminist values, almost (but not quite) validating some of their arguments in the process.  

Overall this book isn't a coherent argument for or against feminism, but simply a refutation of feminist arguments surrounding the princesses.  However, it's clear throughout that the author herself embraces marriage and motherhood as good things that enrich and fulfill a woman's life, not as something that would hold anyone back from their dreams; and she does not approve of the man-hating tendencies of feminism but appreciates the differences of men and women.  I appreciated both of those things a lot.

I can honestly say that she changed my mind about some of the princesses - for good and for ill - and enriched my understanding of some of the princesses I've always enjoyed, and the ones my girls love. I am even more interested in princess and fairytale symbolism now, and I might have to see what other resources I can find on this topic.  I am keeping this book in my arsenal, because I think as my girls get into middle school and high school, this would be a really great book to read together as a princess character/worldview study.  I feel even more confident in allowing my girls to embrace the Disney princesses that are good role models (not all of them are), and I think I'm going to be requesting a few movies from the library to re-watch!  

Were you a Disney princess fan as a girl?  Do you let your girls watch the movies?

Also note: I listened to this book instead of reading - it was read by the author and quite engaging on audio!