The Princess Obsession: Is It Healthy?

By Author: Melanie Rivers
Total Articles: 12
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Even if you don't have young girls, you can't help but notice the large number of princess items in the stores these days. Poofy pink princess dresses, renaissance princess costumes, dress up shoes, wands and of course tiaras. You see princess play castles, games, books and princess room décor. It's everywhere you turn: princess, princess, princess!

My two daughters started their princess obsession somewhere between ages 2 ½ and 3 years old. Their favorite games at that age always involved playing princess dress up.

And when I'd put my foot down on them wearing their dress up costumes to the restaurant or the grocery store, they reverted to the everyday princess dresses that included frilly pettiskirts and ruffled tops.

Where does this love of all things princess come from? Obviously not from their mom. I was a full-fledged tom boy until I hit high school. I preferred to play army and baseball with my older brother than dolls and tea parties with girls my age. So what drives this somewhat new obsession? Is it the media? Well, possibly.

My older daughter loved all the Disney Princess ...
... movies starting at a very young age. But my younger daughter hasn't even seen these movies... not even once. I'm sure most would say she's just emulating her big sister.

When I was a child, these beautiful princess dresses for young girls didn't even exist. The only option for dress up was either to raid your mom's closet or pull out that old plastic Halloween costume that surely wasn't soft, pink or beautiful. Maybe with so many princess dresses out there today, little girls realize from a young age that dress up is just plain fun.

Recently a lot of chatter has exploded over the princess obsession due to recent release of the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein. Many of the princess debates swirl around questions such as: Does the princess obsession build strong, confident, smart young ladies? Or does it teach them the wrong message? What if Prince Charming doesn't ride up on his steed and save your young girls from chores and her evil stepmother? Is it making our young girls shallow and weak? Are princesses good role models? Can we really blame self-esteem issues and eating disorders on Cinderella?

If my girls want to dress up and wear princess dresses, that is fine with me. Dress up teaches them independence by learning the skills of dressing / undressing themselves with little assistance from others. And it teaches them to use their creativity and imagination.

As for princesses being good role models...most princesses I know are kind, gentle and have great manners. They say please and thank you, they're polite and have great table manners. These are all traits I would love to instill in my little princesses at a very young age.

True, some of the princesses could take more control of their own destinies and possibly they are focused too much on outward appearances, but generally the positives out weigh the negatives in my opinion.

As long as my girls are little and believe in princesses and fairy tales, I am all for it. That innocence doesn't last long, so I going to enjoy as long as they're willing to believe.