ANN HARRIS

Summary and Response on “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”

“Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” written by Stephanie Hanes, was published in Christian Science Monitor on October 3, 2011. Hanes wrote this article in response to the bulk of Disney princess toys and movies that came out around that time. The author uses logos when she contends that Disney Princesses have a gargantuan impact on the early development of children ages three to fourteen, by using a blog called, “Disney Princess Recovery: Brining Sexy Back for a Full Refund”.

This article can be divided into 5 sections. In the introduction the author presents a mother named Mary Finucane’s concern with her 3 year olds daughter lack of interest in actually enjoying being a toddler. In the next section Hanes offers up some research she’s done and shares her blog with us. In the third section, the author proposes that if they could get the girls to really see the damage that is being done, then maybe there could be a change. Hanes concludes the article by presenting a major proposal of her own to help break this chain of little girls becoming little women.

I agree with Hanes’ thesis. One reason is, research has found girls to be very much concerned with the way they look from a very tender age. Since girls are affected by what they see and do, it becomes important to involve them in activities considered of some importance like sports, theatre or music, as opposed to taking all their time making themselves attractive spending a lot on shopping and talking about who is dating who. Participating in sports, music or theatre helps girls express themselves and thus achieve self- esteem, which in turn could lead to mastery of the skills. The division between boys and girls comes about in how each gender aspires to do in the world. Boys think of being heroes or warriors, thus taking action. Girls, having being influenced by the Disney Princess culture think of being a “damsel in distress or sleeping or waiting to be rescued and swept off her feet by the hand- some prince.

Girls like boys need to develop a high self-esteem from their abilities. Research says that there is need for girls to stop looking to external sources for self-validation and instead look within their own voice and their own strengths. A boy will easily say what they are good at, while a girl, asked the same question is likely to blush (Steiner Adair, 2011). There is some pressure from society for girls to be polite and not cause conflict. Yet it should be noted that girls are under as much pressure as boys to perform, and remain nice and kind. This is one reason girls give for having unwanted sex. It is worth noting however that photo shopped celebrities and rail thin models seem to set impossible standards of beauty for girls. A large percentage of girls thus engage in some kind of disordered eating. Some girls even develop full – blown eating disorders. However, it has been argued that, for many girls, it is not the celebrities or models that make them feel bad about being overweight, but their peers. Too many teenage girls' belief that you can only be happy if you are beautiful and skinny. Skinny is a big one” (Katherine Dryer 2013). These girls believe that you cannot have friends unless you are skinny. You will never have a boyfriend. The pressure in looks is not on boys.

Another reason is, recently, it has been found that girls are being exposed to a culture that grows them up too soon. This is seen even in the clothes being designed for girls. Nowadays there are thong panties for five year olds; you can also get bras for six, seven and eight year olds who have flat chest. This leads to young girls being prematurely objectified. This has been linked to most common health problems of girls and women, eating disorders, low self –esteem and depression.

A recent study has revealed that magazines have a dramatic increase in hyper sexualized images of women. Most women that grace magazines covers are conveyed in a blatantly sexual way. This is as compared to 17% of the men, who have been hyper sexualized. The danger is, if girls convinced to equate sexy with popularity and girl-ness itself. Sexy requires right clothing make up, hairdo, accessories and shoes. This has been intensified by deepening gender divisions in toys, clothing and play activities. Boys have far more options of how to define themselves. In many ways, girls are being presented with a thin image of girlhood from an early age. They prefer pink, because it has been branded sexy. However, there is no pink equivalent for boys. Boys are exposed to color blue, sports equipment and fire engines from an early age. There are many intervention strategies. Though there may be no need of banning the “princess” mentality, there is need to change the story line. Stories that tap into the insight and abilities of girls. Mentors who have excelled should be provided too. There is need to take our concern to the public sphere, the political arena and executives of organizations for a change. Measures should also be taken to restrict sexualized advertisements targeting girls. Further research indicated that, in spite of everything, girls are not doing so badly. High school girls perform as well as boys in science and mathematics. They are also excelling in sports which have been linked to better body images, lower teen pregnancy rates and higher scholastic performance. There is a noted progress in regarding equity of gender.

A final reason is the “sexy babes” trend.  Many young women have replaced being feminized with being hot. There is an increasingly strong belief that if you are going to attempt anything else, you also need to look sexy and hot. Women, even when they are lawyers, doctors and politicians are also presented as sexy in the media.  A woman may run for a high political office, but there is almost analysis about whether she is sexy, too.

A major proposal is for girls to broaden their horizons to keep girls from falling into rigid gender roles. Parents should also be involved to help girls gain the grip. Girls should get out of the belief that you can’t leap because you are a princess or female. Because in reality you can leap because you are female.

WORKS CITED

Hanes, Stephanie. “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”