Cinderella And Princess Culture Analysis

In the article, “Cinderella and Princess Culture”, Peggy Orenstein, a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine, explores the successful “princess” market and how it negatively impacts young children. Orenstein claims that the princess culture promotes a common gender stereotype of women to young children, especially young girls; therefore, society should lessen the encouragement of being a “princess” and fortify their promotion to a more strong-willed role model (327). Although the article contains evidence to support her claim, Orenstein is unsuccessful because of the use of her biases and opinions placed throughout the article, that expresses her own negative views toward princesses and the feministic reinforcements she makes on her own daughter.
As a self proclaimed feminist, Peggy Orenstein examines her concerns in the already prodigious “princess” culture and how it has been endorsed in society. She asserts her displeasure at the assumptions people make about young girls, especially her three year
Her claims are in a feministic perspective. She points out that she is a “feminist mother” (327). By stating “feminist” before “mother”, she addresses her claims in a biased manner; she is presenting her claims in the point of view of someone that has strong opinions on women, rather than using unbiased claims that do not address her own views towards princesses. She says that her daughter playing with a princess toy was her daughter’s way to “torture [her]” (327). Although Orenstein and Poniewozik both do not want their children to play as a princess, unlike Orenstein, Poniewozik comes to the conclusion that he will allow his daughter to imagine she is a princess if that is what she wants, because it will not greatly impact her future (323-25). Orenstein, on the other hand, does not want that for her child. She pressures and attempts to avoid the princess phase with her