Comments for Letters from a Small State

Comment on An (Fantasy) Island of My Own by marty

marty — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:50:12 +0000

You make sense to me. You are wacky – but I like wacky. And you life has taken more than a 360 degree turn… So maybe just dizzy with all those spins, turns and flips. You’re living your own little X-games life!

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Heather

Heather — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:28:44 +0000

This has been a fascinating conversation, or read in my case. There were so many things I wanted to comment on or add too but I can’t really remember now :-0
One important point I want to get out: if you think Disney princess culture is bad check out what rock stars and celebrities (and parents) are doing to children! This video is not for the weak of heart as it shows a little girl and boy bumping and grinding doggie style and more. At least in this version, only two kids are doing it. On Tosh.0 recently he played a similar video in which a BUNCH of kids were dancing nasty just like this. http://kidkameleon.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/omg-little-kids-dancing-nasty-in-a-video-where-are-the-parents-2/

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Lori Soderholm

Lori Soderholm — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:06:21 +0000

I had the same reaction when Elizabeth asked for a princess party and we steered her toward a “royal” party, full of castle characters instead. She’s all about pink and purple and sparkly everything these days. But, on the flip side, most of her best friends are boys and they all like to dig in the mud and hunt for bugs together.

We’re not a typical household, as we don’t have cable or satellite, so my kids have little to no exposure to commercials and Disney shows. Instead, it’s good old PBS for them. I think their perception of princesses is a little different than most other kids their ages. For example, they have red and blue ren. faire princess costumes instead of Disney princess costumes.

I also love irony and look for new twists on ‘classic’ fairy tales and avoid the Disney ones. My kids are not into the Barbie thing, either. Although I played with them as a kid and was a complete tomboy anyway, I still spent five years starving myself to the point of passing out at school. Not the image or life choice I want for my daughters.

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:03:02 +0000

Tara, I feel just the same way you do. It’s my point that we can’t give our girls that same experience of Snow White that we had. I came up in a time when having A GLOVE was a great thing. Now the pressures to have brands and project a type of image are enormous.

This is really an internal reflection on my love for pink. I love it, but I was noticing my reaction when I suddenly wanted something pink. It went beyond the aesthetic and became a politically and socially motivated choice.

Similar to your reaction to the princess glove! (-:

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:59:36 +0000

Interesting, Karen… well at least now they have their OWN Disney princess to make them feel badly about themselves. (-;

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by David Bushek

David Bushek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:56:20 +0000

You should listen to “Geek In the Pink” by Jason Mraz.

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by tara - scoutie girl

tara - scoutie girl — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:28:22 +0000

Hi Elizabeth!

I think I’m going to come at this from a different angle than you might expect. Pink isn’t a problem for me. In fact, I kind of love pink. And I don’t have a problem with princesses, either…

I think there’s power in our femininity – and not just from our sexuality. I think there’s an inherent strength in embracing what’s been stereotyped while redefining everything the stereotype stands for. (@lori, love the paper bag princess!)

My reaction to all things pink might come from having just barely been conscious of the 80s and later having enjoyed the Disney princess movies before the current commercial onslaught occurred…

How I feel about pink & the general concept of “princess,” doesn’t change for a minute, however, the nausea I feel when I see a baseball glove covered in Disney Princesses. That’s just not right.

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by karen

karen — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:11:58 +0000

There is a T-shirt by the makers of Mario Brothers Nintendo games with a blond princess on it that says, “I rescue myself”
When doing comparative racial studies I found that fewer African American girls have low social self esteem and anorexia as compared to white girls.

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Tweets that mention Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink | Letters from a Small State -- Topsy.com

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:49:10 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Elizabeth Howard, Elizabeth Howard. Elizabeth Howard said: Agree, disagree?? Come rant with me! "Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink" http://bit.ly/cDcnF1 [...]

Comment on Disney Princesses Have Ruined the Color Pink by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:23:48 +0000

Lori, I just read Lisa’s comment, and reading this, my immediate reaction is still “eewwww, princess!” even though in my mind I know I need to allow space for the girls to love that sort of thing. Thanks for the recommendation. Incidentally, I also despise the movie “Cars” for the same reason, on the boys side of the argument. I think I just prefer irony, and these kinds of films ignore that. Our kids are smart enough to understand it, so why not encourage it? Like the use of the Barbie and Ken characters in Toy Story 3?