What's wrong with wanting to be a princess?

Y'know. Every so often someone writes an article* about the negative impact of little girls dressing up as princesses and it really sticks in my craw. So I've decided to write about it, even though questioning this topic might look like I'm missing some sort of important point while living in the dark ages waiting to be rescued.

I understand that the Princess myth doesn't fit into reality. Write about the princess themed merchandise that makes up a $4.4 billion dollar industry and the phrases 'women's oppression,' 'bad role model,' and 'pandemic' inevitably come up. The hidden dangers lurk everywhere waiting to ensnare little girls with tiaras, dresses, puzzles, books, and movies. Speaking of movies, the Disney company "shamelessly profits" by releasing yet another princess movie. The conspiracy to appeal to little girls of all nationalities and cultures is clearly apparent with Disney's new African American princess.

Today's informed parent should protect all of their children from ever stepping foot in a toy store lest they be accosted by a princess themed item that their daughter cannot obviously live without. Shield the eyes of your child. Take the moral high ground when you see Princess costumes in the street on Halloween. Tsk tsk, you say to yourself. If only those parents knew that they were perpetuating a myth, that it's unhealthy for little girls to dress up and pretend. Better to focus your efforts on moulding your child into your definition of success.

It's easy to use Diana or Princess Masako of Japan as a parable of how royalty doesn't live happily ever after. Or speculate on the downfall of royal marriages. Extreme examples only show the one side. Must we rewrite Cinderella, revealing the cold hard reality to our children? Isn't this why those stories end with 'And they lived happily ever after?' The story-tellers knew the reality way back then didn't they? Another conspiracy. But useful. When feminists run out of things to write, at least they've got the princess myth to complain about.

Sometimes I wonder whether we're not giving our children enough credit for being able to see past this fantasy. Children who once believed in Santa Claus are not scarred for life once they find out he isn't real. Must the desire to have the latest Princess barbie doll lead to the downfall of the women's movement? Is it really that important?

Obviously to some, it is. But do those same people analyse the impact on society when boys pretend to be knights in shining armour? Isn't that just as unrealistic? Maybe I'm biased because of my interest in royalty. Or the fact that as a little girl, I too wanted to be a princess. I eventually grew out of it because it was just a dream. Regardless of how unrealistic, I won't stop my daughter from dressing up like a princess, or playing make believe with the idea. Because there's nothing wrong with it.

© Marilyn Braun 2008

* This article was inspired by a posting on the World of Royalty Blog.

The Great Royal Reveal

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really like surprises. I have an unerring ability, through no real effort of my own, to find out what my birthday and Christmas gifts will be. I also, quite by accident, found out the sex of my first born. My seeming desire to spoil surprises for myself includes wanting, deliberately this time, to find out the sex of my second child. Yes, I only have to wait a few more weeks, but in the interim I could have been deciding on names, color schemes and buying the right clothes. Unfortunately, I was foiled as the ultrasound technician, who for whatever reason, did not write down the sex.

Anyways, I was very happy when I read that the Crown Prince of Spain would reveal the sex of his second child prior to its birth. Today we've learned that the couple's second child is a girl, thus continuing the possibility that their first daughter, the adorable Infanta Leonor, could become the next Queen of Spain. No longer do we have to wait on tender hooks until May 2007, when this second child is due to arrive, to find out whether the laws might be changed to allow for female succession. Who would want to deny Leonor the right to the throne based on her sex? Many people, as we've seen in Japan with the recent birth of a male heir to the throne to displace the daughter and only child of the Crown Prince and Princess.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to know, in advance, what the sex of each expected royal child? Especially when so much is riding on it? We could have been knitting blue booties and baby blankets to send to Japan months ago. The traditionalists could have kicked back and relaxed. Princess Masako could have prepared herself for the onslaught of unfair comparisons to her sister-in-law for producing a male heir instead of her own. No such surprise awaited the arrival of the first born heirs to the Norwegian, Dutch and Belgian thrones. As they've already changed their laws, we could concentrate on the new arrivals (all girls), being healthy instead of on their sex.

Ultrasound technology for gynecological use has been around since the late 1950's, early 1960's. In 1971 we could have known the sex of Princess Märtha Louise, eldest child of the then, Crown Prince and Princess of Norway, who was displaced in the line of succession by the birth of her younger brother, the present Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Or in 1977 when the now Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the first born child of the King and Queen of Sweden was born. Could the laws have been changed way back then? We'll never know. But today we could be looking at Crown Princess Märtha Louise and Victoria could have had her right to the throne acknowledged early on instead of having to displace her younger brother when the law was eventually changed in 1980. Diana, Princess of Wales knew the sex of Prince William, probably one of the most anticipated royal arrivals until the births of Prince Christian of Denmark and the new Prince Hisahito of Japan. Had Diana announced she was expecting a boy in advance, we could have all breathed a sigh of relief at maintaining the status quo or made plans for change.

Regardless of the sex of her siblings, my personal preference would be for Leonor to maintain her right to the throne and to not be displaced because she's a girl. Women have shown they are just as capable of being great leaders as men and no law can change that fact.

© Marilyn Braun 2006