But in the preschool years their brains are still developing, and play with both genders is important. We expect children to segregate by gender at a certain age. Orenstein is concerned that today’s “pink-and-sparkly” culture will cut girls off from boys at an age where children should be interacting freely. Today’s moms told Orenstein they wanted their daughters to feel beautiful and special, to celebrate girlhood. Unfortunately, gender-neutral can also feel like a suppression of female identity. They themselves were rebelling against the strict gender roles of the 50s. Many women in the 70s tried to raise their daughters in a more “gender-neutral” way, rejecting girly toys and minimizing emphasis on appearance. Some of today’s “girl culture” comes from today’s mothers. She is special and unique, but she also has no girl friends. In fact, the whole princess idea is that the princess stands alone. The princesses just stare out at you from dishes and backpacks but they never actually interact with anyone. With the princess merchandise, it’s all about appearance.
In the fairy tales, the characters have context – they overcome adversity and solve problems.
The parents she interviews respond, “I don’t want my kids to know the stories, since the princesses are just these helpless girls who get rescued by princes, but I don’t mind them feeling pretty and special.”Īctually, Orenstein and child development experts come to the opposite conclusion. She considers whether it’s the fairy tales that bother her or just the cutesiness of it all. He realized then that “every girl wanted to be a princess” and who better than Disney to market it to them?Īs a parent, Orenstein struggles with how much princess is too much. They were created in 2001, when a Disney executive went to a party and saw lots of little girls in homemade princess costumes. If you have a daughter you know that those “Disney Princesses” are everywhere.
Twenty years ago they were marketed to “tweens,” and now they are aimed at your three year old. She is now a parent, and in this book she talks about her challenges of raising her own daughter in a gender-positive way.įorty years ago, products like Barbies, makeup, and clothes were marketed to teenagers. Orenstein has been researching girls, education, and self-esteem issues for years. This book by Peggy Orenstein will definitely get you thinking about what influenced you as a child and how girl-culture has changed since then. Review of Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Deborah Spitz Here is a look back at reviewer Deborah Spitz’s review of Cinderella Ate My Daughter stay tuned for my review of Girls & Sex! Upon receiving a review copy of Peggy Orenstein’s latest book, Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape, from her publicist at HarperCollins, I recalled another book of hers I really enjoyed, Cinderella Ate My Daughter.
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