We’ve had a lot to say about princesses, Disney-style and otherwise, during this past week. Our relationship to princesses is as much about our personal identities as it is about the social messages about princesses that come from both popular culture and corporations. Throughout it all, I think the essential question that nags at us […]
Continue ReadingEvery girl wants to be a princess, right? No. No, no. Nope. If that hasn’t been made clear on GeekMom thus far, you’ve been skipping posts again. I never wanted to be a princess. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some ball gowns (mostly worn to Wal-Mart) and I would not be opposed to […]
Continue ReadingI know a lot of moms hate Disney, and specifically the Disney Princesses, for feminist reasons. The lack of strong female role models. The helpless girl who needs to be rescued by a big, strong man. But my Disney problems started before Andy Mooney launched the Princess franchise, increasing both his consumer products division’s sales […]
Continue ReadingI have two boys. I didn’t have to worry (like some of my friends with daughters did) that reading or watching movies about princesses saved from peril by handsome princesses would inspire a “rescue me” attitude. Even so, I did want my boys to grow up knowing that women are just as capable as men. […]
Continue ReadingI was never a ‘Disney Princess’ kind of girl. I had less than zero interest in gowns, fairy godmothers, or charming princes. Glass slippers were a liability where I grew up, in the vast, super-heated wilderness of the American Southwest. No, while other girls twirled and sang like Belle and Ariel, I was off gallivanting […]
Continue ReadingI’m celebrating Princess Week at GeekMom by putting my favorite kids’ song from last year on endless repeat, “The Princess Who Saved Herself” by the fabulous and geeky Jonathan Coulton. (The poster above is by the fabulous and geeky Len Peralta, of Geek a Week fame.) On his blog, Coulton describes his reasons for writing this […]
Continue ReadingPrincess Week got me to thinking, which Disney Princess is the geekiest? All the princesses have their little quirks. Cinderella is a clean freak who has trouble keeping track of time. Sleeping Beauty wants to marry a guy she met in the woods and seems upset to find out she is a princess. Pocahontas can talk […]
Continue ReadingOn one of our trips to the library last summer my daughter was pulling books off the shelf willy nilly and asking to take each and every one home. She loves to read and in her mind there was no reason that she couldn’t read all those books. I limited her to 10 books because that was how […]
Continue ReadingOn a recent blizzardy day, the kids on our floor had an impromptu playdate in the hall. Once everyone was exhausted from the obstacle course, someone brought out the card game Sleeping Queens. The kids plunked down on the floor in two teams: a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old versus a 5-year-old and a 6-year-old. The […]
Continue ReadingAt the end of last year, just before the holidays, Disney announced that they would cease making princess movies. Women around the world took in a collective gasp, some of relief and others of horror. The era of the Disney princess was drawing to a close. The actual statement made by Disney executives says fairy […]
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