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Nieces & the “princess phase”

December 20, 2010 by B. Daniel Blatt

Last week (on the advice of a legendary Hollywood producer of kids’ television), I watched the latest (and, despite reports, not last) Disney princess movie, Tangled. It was wonderfully Disney, very sweet, very touching and often very funny (e.g., the scene in the “Snuggly Duckling”).

Perhaps, I enjoyed it more because I imagined how my soon-to-be three-year-old niece would love it, recalling how her face lit up when each of the Disney princesses came up to our table at Ariel’s Grotto in Disney’s California Adventure this past July.  I wondered that she, like her sister and each of her cousins once did, is going through this princess phase, getting all goofy over such Disney movies and dressing up in regal regalia.

It’s not just my nieces.  On Saturday, Glenn Reynolds, linking an insightful piece by Virginia Postrel wrote that his “4-year-old niece is getting a princess costume for Christmas, because that’s what she’s into these days.”  “Why,” Postrel asks, “in a society without princesses, does this archetype remain so intensely glamorous to girls with all sorts of backgrounds and personalities?”  Great question.  I’m not quite sure the answer, but I will note that it has been fun watching my nieces go through the princess phase while their brothers and male cousins invariably pass through the superhero phase.

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Movies/Film & TV

Comments

  1. American Elephant says

    December 20, 2010 at 6:33 pm - December 20, 2010

    Ariel has a grotto? So does Hugh Heffner. I hope they aren’t anything alike.

  2. B. Daniel Blatt says

    December 20, 2010 at 6:52 pm - December 20, 2010

    AE, I can’t answer as I’m not familiar with Mr. Hefner’s theme parks.

  3. Sonicfrog says

    December 20, 2010 at 7:03 pm - December 20, 2010

    Why?

    Jeez! That’s Easy! Because a Princess, by her very nature, is always pretty, rich, and pretty much (eventually) gets everything she wants! That of course greatly appeals to 4 year olds….

    Hell, now that I think about it, based on my explanation, I’m thinking maybe I want to be a Princess too!!!!!! 🙂

  4. Victory of Faith says

    December 20, 2010 at 7:29 pm - December 20, 2010

    Very sweet, mate! Which phase are you going through?

    Take care!

  5. B. Daniel Blatt says

    December 20, 2010 at 7:50 pm - December 20, 2010

    Victory, still stuck in the supehero phase, but I prefer the originals, you know, from Greek mythology. 🙂

  6. B. Daniel Blatt says

    December 20, 2010 at 7:52 pm - December 20, 2010

    (and Beowulf, of course)

  7. Stone K says

    December 20, 2010 at 8:29 pm - December 20, 2010

    Sonic Frog has a point, rich, pretty and always gets the hottest (by cartoon standards anyways, and not that in anyway noticed) guys in the film.

    But shoot, if they gave that treatment to anyone one, girls would probably fall for it. I challenge Disney to give Madam Curie the same “Princess treatment” and I bet you next years hottest gift for pre-teen girls would be a lab coat the glows in the dark (yes a off color radiation joke).

    And on a personal level, like most kids I had my fantasies, but all I ever really wanted was to be a Tank commander… Something about plowing around in a massive metal shell blowing the crap out of bad guys always sounded fun. But since my cousins are almost exclusively female, well… You try to play “tank” with a bunch of girls who want to play tea party. I can tell you compromising to have a tea party in the middle of a battle is as embarrassing as it sounds…

  8. Sonicfrog says

    December 20, 2010 at 8:38 pm - December 20, 2010

    God, I’m a lousy homo… I totally forgot about the hot Prince… Though, in my opinion, many aren’t really all that!!!

  9. Leah says

    December 20, 2010 at 9:11 pm - December 20, 2010

    Sonic, the little girls who want to be princesses aren’t looking for the handsome prince. Disney had perfected the princess into pretty, rich with nice clothes and toys – that is all these little girls want. All those lovely Disney trappings.

  10. ILoveCapitalism says

    December 20, 2010 at 9:45 pm - December 20, 2010

    Kids lack power. Therefore, they are fascinated by power. And by the idea of being the most important, special, etc. person.

  11. ILoveCapitalism says

    December 21, 2010 at 12:16 am - December 21, 2010

    (continuing the thought) Kind of like hard-core leftists.

  12. ThatGayConservative says

    December 21, 2010 at 1:32 am - December 21, 2010

    I can’t remember what I used to pretend other than The Dukes of Hazard.

  13. Ben says

    December 21, 2010 at 2:41 am - December 21, 2010

    Cute for kids – but it will be great when Barbra Streisand grows out of her princess stage. Oh the stories.

  14. The Chattering Class says

    December 21, 2010 at 4:18 am - December 21, 2010

    “Sonic, the little girls who want to be princesses aren’t looking for the handsome prince. Disney had perfected the princess into pretty, rich with nice clothes and toys – that is all these little girls want. All those lovely Disney trappings.”

    There’s a big disconnect between how princesses are portrayed in cartoons and their role back in the days of yore. I suppose if you really don’t like your daughter going through a princess phase, and if you’re evil, you can always try to scare her out of it by telling her you’re going to actually treat her like a princess…

    Father: Today, I’m going to treat you like a real princess.

    Daughter: Oh Daddy, you’re the greatest!!! Do I get a pony?

    Father: You get something better: the opportunity to serve your noble family. To stave off any belligerence from the Johnston clan of the eastern cul-de-sac, it’s imperative an alliance is formed with the Kaufmans of 4th and Alder Avenue, to ensure the safety of our most vital trade route to the local Target. Today, I’ve arranged for you to marry the Kaufmans’ 42-year-old son, Terry, to strengthen the bonds between our two houses. Huzzah!

    Daughter [begins crying]: No! I just want to tank commander now!

  15. Stone K says

    December 21, 2010 at 8:43 am - December 21, 2010

    #14 Chattering Class – Lol God help me, if I ever had a daughter who said that to me I would buy her her first goggles and comms set on the spot and her first car will be cammo colored.

    Shoot I would even part with my most beloved tank collection to decorate her room… But would she prefer the German ww2 tanks or the Modern ones? hmmm…..

  16. Heliotrope says

    December 21, 2010 at 11:40 am - December 21, 2010

    “Why,” Postrel asks, “in a society without princesses, does this archetype remain so intensely glamorous to girls with all sorts of backgrounds and personalities?”

    Gag me with a spoon!!!

    Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows, Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and the British fueled land of make-believe. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Child’s Garden of Verses is nothing if not an examination of the child’s world:

    The world is so full of a number of things,
    I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.

    Those who undertake to examine the roots of fantasy in the child’s world have lost their childhood. Pity.

  17. Lori Heine says

    December 21, 2010 at 9:15 pm - December 21, 2010

    Exactly, Helio. Little girls have tea parties with their dollies simply because it’s fun. It’s no reason for them to be put under a microscope.

    I didn’t do that much when I was a kid. I usually played football and built forts with the little boys. But I admit, I had a secret urge to try playing Barbie.

    One time I did succumb. My little boy friends got upset about my defection. They pulled the heads off of all our Barbies and threw them into the trees.

    Seeing all those decapitated little blonde heads bobbing in the branches, I went back to football and forts. End of story.

    I wouldn’t want anybody to analyze that…

  18. rusty says

    December 21, 2010 at 10:31 pm - December 21, 2010

    Childhood has it’s own way of seeing, thinking and feeling and nothing is more foolish than to try and substitute ours for theirs! rousseau

  19. Audrey the Liberal says

    December 23, 2010 at 10:07 am - December 23, 2010

    On Saturday, Glenn Reynolds, linking an insightful piece by Virginia Postrel wrote that his “4-year-old niece is getting a princess costume for Christmas, because that’s what she’s into these days.” Virginia Postrel is a female. Please don’t make that mistake again, because Ginny is my girl.

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