Less discussion has centered on Disney princesses’ measurements. Parents and experts have long analyzed Barbie’s distorted proportions and the doll’s effect on little girls’ body image. It causes a lot of stress to little boys and girls who are not ‘feeling’ the pink or blue or dress up or cars thing.”Īnd that’s where support from Mom and Dad is invaluable to children. “Because otherwise you continue to have this pressure that all the ‘other girls are doing it.’ And you start to feel your child is going to be excluded, and that doesn’t feel good, so there is a lot of pressure, expectations, etc., that come into play.”Īgreed co-host MommyWords, “I think there is pressure even in pre-school to assert their gender. So how to slow down that train? “It really needs to be a community education effort,” said Peggy. We become the strange ones who want our girls to be little girls and not mini 20-somethings. Participant Mimi pointed out that “society throws it out there and so many families gobble it up, it becomes the norm. but we were watching Family Ties and not the Kardashians back then.”

Maybe 15 years ago that wasn’t the case…. Television has spiraled out of control, and families need to start having the right conversations again. And ultimately there IS a link there, it IS a concern, even if they aren’t watching Snooki.”Ĭo-host Vera concluded, “I think this conversation just emphasizes the point that parents need to be more involved. It worries me.”Īdded Peggy, “What you’re talking about is the performance culture that we live in, how everything is externalized, everything is about what you have and how you look rather than about character and deed. “I want them to understand that even reality TV isn’t reality. “I don’t want any of those reality TV stars to ever be role models for my girls,” replied Brandie. Going beyond fairy-tale princesses, participant Morra wondered how real-life “princesses” on reality TV shows such as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and the “Real Housewives” might affect girlie-girl culture. “I’m not saying that if you wave a magic wand at 2 you’re going to be sexting at 13, but parents really need to understand the arc of what’s being marketed to girls.” “What disturbed me most was that girls were being encouraged at an increasingly younger age to define themselves through appearance and play-sexiness, that the marketing had just gotten very, very intense towards 3-5 year olds,” Peggy commented.

You can read the entire fascinating and insightful conversation here:

Peggy joined us in TheMotherhood to talk about her book and the effects princess culture can have on raising our daughters. In her new book, “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” Peggy Orenstein argues that this commercialized princess stage is unnatural and asks if all of the pink is really necessary. When it comes to marketing to young girls going through a “princess phase,” there is only one color that matters anymore: pink.

A princess ate my daughter