As Peggy Orenstein’s three year-old daughter entered the “princess phase,” Orenstein became increasingly frustrated. As a feminist, she worried about the negative effects the princess obsession would have on her daughter and other young girls in their futures. In “Cinderella and Princess Culture,” Orenstein sets out to discuss these effects. She discovers that although it seems as if this princess craze is creating negative gender stereotypes at an early age, maybe princess enthusiasts are really benefitting from their obsession. Orenstein has gotten accustomed to adults assuming her daughter likes pink and princesses.
So many girls have this fantasy of being Cinderella and having a “fairy tale” life, but what version of Cinderella and what types of fairy tales are these girls looking up to for their idea of an ideal life? In Marcia Lieberman’s essay “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” she opposes the views of another scholar, Alison Laurie, who believes that fairy tales are something that radical feminists would approve of because the stories, “suggest a society in which women are as competent and active as men, at every age and in every class.” Lieberman argues that it is popular fairy tales--the ones that we all know and the ones we read to our children--that actually acculturate the masses of young girls in society, therefore the lesser-known stories cannot
The dentist asked her daughter if she wanted to sit in the “special princess throne.”She then goes on about other times the princess label has been put on her daughter and about her frustrations with these situations. Then, her daughter asks what’s wrong with princesses? She makes references to real life princesses, and also she talked about the princess trend that has swept across the nation. She states her strong feminist beliefs and questions “what playing Little Mermaid is teaching her [daughter] (Orenstein 671).” She then briefly acknowledges the counterargument and moves on to discussing the start and instant success of Disney’s princess products. She quotes the founder of the princess products, Andy Mooney, when he says that boys pass through phases and so will girls with the princess phase.
She does this in order to show how the obsession that the girlchild has with her own body was one of the largest factors in the suicide. Another one of the stereotypes that Piercy draws upon is their behavior. Piercy describes how the girlchild was told to “play coy.” This describes the societal pressure of what is stereotypically “lady-like.” She was “advised” to act as other ladies would act, and she tried to the furthest extent she could manage. She attempted to act demure and sweet, which was the only thing society allowed for. The term
Literary Analysis: “Barbie Doll” Today’s women hold themselves to unreachable and unreasonable standards of beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Girls and women of all ages and diversity have self-esteem issues due to the “beauty myth”. Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, defines it as an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of ‘the flawless beauty’.” In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll”, the deadly effects of the beauty myth are revealed. It all begins with a young girl being born into the world of judgment.
Lakisha Slaughter September 16, 2013 English 102 Dr. Fierce In the article “What’s wrong with Cinderella” Peggy Orenstein’s views are that of a mother and of a feminist. Orenstein raised several concerns regarding the mental and physical control brought upon the younger generation in which she contradicts herself and assign blame. The writer claims that the princess-themed commercial products have distressing effects in shaping young female generations’ outlooks as well as their qualities. Orenstein uses her daughter as the example in the article.
In my opinion, Americans tend to think that their appearance is everything and go to great measures to get their desired looks. I also believe that people in society are always trying too hard to make them self look like their ideal celebrity. I feel that men and women have different standards when it comes to appearance and how they view it. I also agree with Nancy Hellmich in her article, “Do Thin Models Warp Girls Body Image?” as she says that girls are becoming skinnier and skinnier as the years go by. I think as society tends to focus on their appearance more, it also becomes more dangerous.
Donna Woolfolk Cross explains in her article, "Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled" that propaganda shapes our attitudes on thousands of subjects by tactics such as name-calling which "consists of labeling people or ideas with words of bad connotation" (Cross 210). Aunt Lydia uses name-calling by stating that these women were lazy sluts and explains how important and how much better childbirth is in Gilead in comparison to the old days. Her manipulative speech is what blocks the handmaids from thinking, only to react unquestioningly. Cross's article explains that glittering generalities "try to get us to accept and agree without examining the evidence" (Cross 211). Aunt Lydia's use of glittering generalities and convincing tone of voice makes these women accept whatever she defines them as, giving no reason to think otherwise.
After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I” (Lee, 318). Aunt Alexandra hosts a tea party at the house and Scout is expected to behave respectively. She is to be mannered and offer tea to the guests, in a lady like manner. Women have been oppressed for generations after generations, and been seen as the inferior gender. With the progress of time, women’s empowerment has increased and prejudice assumptions towards women have
All of these things helped conform little girls into thinking that their role in life was to be something pretty for a man to look at. Modern times are not that much better. Little girls are still given Barbie dolls and feel pressure from an adolescent age to look a certain way. This epidemic is causing girls to succumb to eating disorders, face bias when it comes to their appearance by others, and have a general low self-esteem. Stereotyping people is just as dangerous as bullying