• when thrust from her home in the bleak winter and forced to fend for herself, dreams of only one thing -- a husband. Not returning home, not reclaiming her good name and place in society.
• The only thing that could save her from a life of misery was, say it with me now, a prince
• The only thing that could awaken her? A prince.
• Enter The Little Mermaid in 1989, part of the "new" Disney
• one of the first Disney princesses who was also a feminist
• but to save her father from having to enlist in the wa
• Finally in 2009, we met Tiana -- Disney's first African-American "princess" and one whose adventure did not start with a guy. Tiana was on her way to becoming a business owner when a little bit of New Orleans magic turned her into a frog.
• using her own intuition and skill to keep herself and her companions, including a prince who had also been turned into a frog, out of danger. The story threw a lot of twists and curves her way, but Tiana held her own.

6 more annotations...

• he chooses to lose her voice and give up her entire world in order to hook up with some dude that she has never met.
• so he likes her for her body.
• Look Gracie: keep your mouth closed, and your body hot. That’ll score you the only thing you need… a man!
• Yes Belle, the only literate Princess that we know of.
• where we see him become verbally abusive, show signs of severe anger problems by busting dishes and destroying objects, and once again remember he has KIDNAPPED her.  The outcome: They fall in love and he becomes a prince. 
• Because she was too pretty.

4 more annotations...

• I've engrained a feminist philosophy in my superhero-loving son that girls don't need saving.
• After all, what's the harm in being a princess

• Her husband read princess books with new endings, "one that were all about agency and female control." Despite their efforts, her daughter became deeply drawn to the Disney princesses by three.

    
• rinces
• t Shaun
• Marketers bombard us with such severity that it's difficult to distinguish what you like and what you think you like.
• Princesses in and of themselves are problematic if they stay within that one stereotype,'" she says. "If it's one representation of girlhood then we're in trouble, but if the parents, teachers, or our culture, are willing to introduce different versions of what a girl can be," she continues, "that's girl empowerment."

5 more annotations...

• that Disney princesses -- Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the rest -- rarely slay dragons, play sports, pilot jets or do open-heart surgery. Instead, they fiddle with their coiffures, linger over invitations to the ball, flee ineffectually from evil crones and swoon.
• useful professional skills in today's world. So I
• You could buy a "Cinderella" book or a "Little Mermaid" doll, but, when you did so, you were establishing an allegiance to a particular character's story, not to an abstract "Princess concept."
• In 2001, sales at Disney consumer products were a lethargic $300 million. By 2007, Disney's "Princess" franchise was raking in $4 billion.
• Mothers killed off by mysterious illnesses.
• Mothers all missing; presumed dead.

4 more annotations...

• Walt Disney and the Disney franchise have trained young girls to believe that in order to be special and loved and feel good about themselves, they must look a certain way
• however usually the heroine, with whom the child is supposed to relate, is illustrated as having an unattainable beauty.
• Each of their heroines portrayed in the popular movies are illustrated as a tall women, with many curves, a tiny waist, delicate facial features, and luscious locks.
• has gotten slimmer and bustier over the years”
• Three of the girls decided to play that they were Disney princesses while the fourth, and slightly chubbier, child reluctantly decided to be the mom.
• Princesses don’t look like me.
• girls “who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs” (Orenstein, 3) – that is, being perpetually poised and beautiful – have a higher risk of becoming depressed later in life
• “please everyone, be thin, and dress right” (

6 more annotations...

• "It's a $4 billion dollar industry aimed at little girls," said author and speaker Peggy Orenstein. The proliferation of princess-themed merchandise is "telling them [little girls] not to just play princess, but to be a princess every day all the time, 365 days a year, 24/7."

• "I had like 20 [Disney princess] things when I was little," said Barbara Southworth, 10. "When I go to the store, mostly half of the store is princesses. Most girls only like it for four or five years, then they throw it out."

   
• ntegral part of childhood while girls are figuring out gender roles and building their self-esteem.
• being nice and being pretty are the most important things in being a girl," said Jennifer Berger, executive director of the non-profit media literacy group, About Face. "Not being smart, or assertive, or strong."
• "All these products at such an early age push girls to focus on how they look," she said. "When girls get overly focused on appearance, we see things like distorted body images, eating disorders, poor sexual choices, depression, low self-esteem."

3 more annotations...

• more empowered role models.
• one becomes a
• princess usually by marrying a prince — his title becomes hers through a wedding — and she has to be very pretty and very helpless in order to make him feel powerful enough to save her and then save her again by marrying her.
• What exactly is the big deal about a rich kid marrying an ordinary girl?
• a royal wedding that ended in bitterness, infidelity, and scandal
• But these dreams are located — every time — in the arms of a Prince. And the Prince — and his money, title, and good looks — fulfills the dreams of these young, lovely, and lonely girls.
• The truth is, I don’t want my girl to have these Princesses as models for womanhood, and most certainly not models for feminine desires and ambitions.
• girls are supposed to be girly, pretty, fashionistas, and thin, and their dreams include achieving these goals and gaining the favor of good-looking and hopefully, rich boys
• I don’t want my daughter to base her value, her worth on her looks, her breast size, her curves, or her appeal to boys. I want her to focus her self-worth on her brains, her potential, her dreams for achievement and success in the future

7 more annotations...

• Are our girls suffering from 'Princess Syndrome'? Disney heroines teach us to trade on our looks and value material things, claims new book

   Child psychologist Jennifer L Hardstein also believes the Kardashians have a similar influence

   
    
   

   By  Victoria Wellman
    UPDATED:  09:03 EST, 23 December 2011  

   
   
   
  •   Comments (173)  
   
  •    Share  
   
  •  
     
    •  
       
     
    •   
     
    •   
     
     
   
    
   

  Given that most little girls love to dress up as princesses, it is difficult to imagine what might be wrong with that.

  But one author has written an entire book on how she believes the fairytale fantasies send a dangerous message.

  Jennifer L Hardstein is behind the recently-published Princess Recovery: A How-To Guide to
• The child and adolescent  psychologist believes that children as young as two are taking away unrealistic ideals from fairytale books and Disney cartoons that  can affect their self esteem later on.
• if a girl is pretty enough and has fancy clothes and shoes, she  find love and popularity.
• 'Princess Syndrome'.
• girl's self-confidence and make it hard for children to understand as they grow up, that intelligence, generosity and passion are more important values.
• Girls are getting this message everywhere that... what their worth is based on is how they look and the things that they have and it's very superficial.'

4 more annotations...