Protect Us from Princesses!

When my three girls were small, particularly the oldest two, I loved it when they pretended to be princesses. I'm a girly girl; I love the fluffy tu-tus, the pink frills and anything that sparkles.  I thought it was cute when they chose their favorite princesses from the Disney movies, then I even stood in line with them to meet their idols at Disneyland. 

Now, however, the Disney princess phenomenon has become a royal pain in my ass. 

I don't have a huge beef with Disney's cartoon princesses (well, apart from the absent/dead mothers, though I recognize that girls with strong mothers may not have the drive to overcome obstacles in the fictional world).  However, the banal Princess Protection Program that premiered this weekend on The Disney Channel was an affront to feminine power, princess or not.  Okay, there was a mom in the movie, but she was being held against her will and Demi Lovato, as the princess, was taken in as part of some sort of witness protection program in a small town, where she befriends Selena Gomez and becomes a homecoming princess, etc.  Try, for a moment, to ignore the rather bad acting and formulaic Disney concoction of "we're becoming friends" montages set to teen pop songs performed by the lead actresses (who are, golly gee, BFFs in real life, as I learned from the numerous Disney shorts leading up to the premiere)... and I'll tell you what I really didn't like about it: the bitches.

Is anyone else as tired of the bitchy popular teen girl stereotype as I am?  There is, of course, the dictator that is trying to take down the princess' country/monarchy/whatever (I couldn't watch it all closely... you understand, as a grown-up, that my attention span for such things tends to wane...), but the real villain to me, as a mom, was the bitchy girl who treated everyone (including her best frenemy) so poorly but still seemed to get whatever she wanted in her quest to become the homecoming queen (a "real life" version of royalty, I suppose).  She's a bully and no one really can stop her eye-rolling or her "I'm pretty so I don't have to be smart" attitude.  It made me want to barf.

How is it that our media can produce both intelligent programs for young children like SuperWhy! and Blue's Clues, which are developed with thorough research in early development and strive to make a positive difference in kids' early lives, as well as mind-numbing time wasters like the Princess Protection Program, which seemed only to perpetuate girl bullying?  I just don't understand the discrepancy. 

I am not the kind of mother who limits my kids' media exposure in a measured fashion; as parents, we tend to just keep an eye on what they're watching or playing and, if they've been inside too long, we send them outdoors or tell them to read.  But if they're watching something, I want it to have some relevance, a message about friendship or character, a lesson in science or reading or problem-solving, a few dance moves or a catchy song.  Or, like Nacho Libre, just be really, really funny.  I just don't want them to see the same stereotypes, which I've seen modeled in real life (we had a problem earlier this year).  I'd rather they see ways to combat the bitchiness of teen girls and become self-possessed, confident girls instead.

How 'bout it, Disney?  Can you do it?  It's cool, no rush.  Thanks to you, we're gonna watch less TV this summer anyway.

This is an original post for LA Moms Blog.  When Erin isn't grousing about kids' media choices, she can be found writing short fiction or lazing about in the pool with her three girls.