Linda Parson Pipi Longstocking
What would Linda Parson say about Pippi Long Stocking? (Feb 21 2010)
Parson states that “in our mass-media culture we are surrounded by the vestiges of fairy tales from marketing of Disney products to the perpetuation of romance ideology, the binary positioning women and men, and women’s and girls’ obsession to manifest socially defined beauty.” Pippi Longstocking challenges this idea since she is not obsessed with her looks; she is a freckled faced red hair nine year old girl who lives on the edge. She has superhuman strengths and is able to lift her horse one-handed without difficulty. Pippi doesn’t like to follow directions from adults and tends to mock them or challenges them when she encounters them. Her clothes are miss- matched or ragged. …show more content…
Pippi is more worried about having fun then worry about what she looks like or what she wears. Pippi Longstocking is a very strong free willed young woman. Parson would say that this movie challenges the idea that “fairy tales in the patriarchal tradition portray women as weak, submissive, dependent, and self sacrificing, while men are powerful, active, and dominant. “ Pippi lives on her own after she separated from her father at sea. Pippi lives in a small village, with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and her horse, Old Man. I do find it strange that even though she has no adults supervising her she has two male animals that stay with her and protect her from strangers. I am not sure that Astrid Lindgren when writing the book really thought about the idea of Pippi Longstocking having 2 male animals has her companions. The 2 male animals could be mistaken as taking the role of her father and watching and protecting Pippi Longstocking in her childhood years since her father was lost at sea and she lives alone. I think Pippi Longstocking is a very dominant young lady and wishes that everyone young children had fun and in the middle of trying to create fun for orphans she creates lots of chaos in the streets. Parson would state that even in Pippi Longstocking, she had to suffer in the fact that she lost her father however in the end, Captain Longstocking was washed ashore upon a South Sea island, where he was made the "fat white chief" by its native people. When the Captain returned to bring Pippi to his new home in the South Seas, Pippi found herself attached to the Villa and her new friends Tommy and Annika, and decided to stay where she was, though she and the children sometimes took trips with her father where she was confirmed as the "fat white chief's" daughter, Princess Pippilotta. Wow even Pippi Longstocking is a princess. Parson would agree that since Pippi Longstocking is a powerful woman that she doesn’t fit the social norm of what a beautiful women looks like. I would say that Parson would agree that Pippi Longstocking is a feminist movie that deals with freedom, choice and women can make a difference in the world today. I agree with Parson that “although feminist stories provided an alternative to the sexiest world, they are not powerful enough to disrupt it.” Even though Pippi Longstocking was popular I do not think that is was interesting enough to stay popular with the young girls like Cinderella or Snow White as they talk about becoming princesses and having a prince come rescue you and you can live happily ever after.
What would Rebbecca- Anne C. Do Rozario say about Pippi Longstocking? Feb 28, 2010
I would say that Rozario would say that Pippi Longstocking would more follow Team Disney story lines. In Father Disney movies the society is more male dominated, however in Pippi Longstocking she is the strong willed, independent vocal little girl who lives on her own and takes care of her-self and does not listen to any adults. She challenges authority which is what more of what the Team Disney movies do. According to Rozario, “yet if Walt Disney’s lifetime marked the father’s absence, Team Disney re-affirmation is a closer bond suggests that the company’s own paternal attachment to the more challenging daughter.” Pg 36 Pippi Longstocking challenges the status quo and the task that she does are more of task that she needs to do to fulfill her own independence and are by her choice and are not assigned to her by “wicked maternal figure”. Although Pippi Longstocking does not have a wicked step mother she has the “wicked” social worker Ms Banister who is always trying to convince Pippi that she needs to come to the orphan house so she can be adopted by a nice mother and father. Pippi tries to tell Ms Bannister that she has a mother and a father and she can take care of herself. Pippi even tries to give Ms Bannister money to make a nice Christmas for the orphan children. Ms Bannister is equally to a “wicked step mother” that we see in Disney films. Many times throughout the movie “Great Adventures,” Ms. Bannister adheres to many patriarchy ideologies throughout the shows and movies, for example when the children are going to the dentist she smacks all the children on the butt so that they move faster (control/ dominance over the children), Ms Bannister is a very powerful women however she is portrayed as being very ugly, or when she is driven everywhere by a driver she is portrayed as having higher social status. Rozario states on page 41, she would argue that the conflict between the princesses and the maternal substitute has more to do with the female authority than with maternal issues. Pippi would be a good example of Rozario’s argument about the adversary between the two female characters. As most Father Disney movies Pippi Longstocking does not have a mother figure in her life she knows her mother is in heaven and so she talks to stars when she needs her mother’s advice or when she just wants her mother to listen to her issues that she has been thru that week. In many Disney movies the animal sidekicks to the princess are often males and they seem to protect them from danger. Pippi Longstocking has a male monkey and male horse that go with her everywhere and helps her when she needs to scare away the 2 guys that want to buy her house that she is living in to build on. In Rozario's reading she states the absence of the mother figure…. “Is the consequence alliances which set women against women.” In Pippi Longstocking’s movie she is not really fighting against other female figures she is actually friends with Annika, however she challenges the older girl from the orphan when the kids are getting the teeth done and getting haircuts to have more fun in her life verse always making life a chore. Pippi Longstocking does challenge the idea of the typical structure of a normal Disney fairytale where the king is the hero and the prince is the rescuer. Pippi Longstocking I believe is the hero as she encourages Annika and Tommy to have fun, to be a bit more daring and to have faith in their own ability. In doing this many young girls will see that they too can have fun and most of all have faith in their own abilities to accomplish what they set forth to do, just as Pippi Longstocking did.
What would Holly Hassel Say? 3-7-10
According to Holly Hassel’s essay about Monsters vs. Aliens she states, “Patriarchy is a kind of a society in which men and women participate in a society that is male privilege by being male dominated, male identified, and male centered. It is also organized around an obsession with control.” In Pippi Longstocking “New Adventures” all of the professional people you see throughout the movie are males examples (the policemen, the ice cream man, the businessmen trying to buy her house, the neighbors dad, Jack the pilot, firemen) the only women that you ever see in the movie are the teacher of Annika, the Social worker that is in charge of the orphans, and Annika’s mom. This seems very male privilege. The Social worker Ms Bannister is very obsessed with control over the orphans. She yells at them when they are having fun, she spanks them on the butt when they need to move faster, she reminds me of wicked step mothers in Disney movies. I would say that Holly Hassel would agree that Pippi Longstocking along with Monsters vs. Aliens is a radically different from the normal patriarchy films. Pippi Longstocking story line I believe is about how this young girl can survive by herself and how she can show others how to have fun in their daily lives. She also has a way to soften up the hearts of Ms. Bannister, Annika and Tommy’s dad in the end of the film to respect her and to believe in Pippi Longstocking. I believe this storyline challenges the idea that “Girls come to know that their value lies in the men’s desire for them.” Just like Susan, Pippi Longstocking needs to personally develop and to find out who she really was. Because in the end just like Susan rejects being normal, Pippi wants to live by Annika and Tommy and attend school instead of going to the island of Curry Curry to live with her dad the king. I think that Pippi Longstocking CR group is her friends Annika, Tommy, her horse and her monkey. According to Wikipedia a Consciousness raising groups meant helping oneself and helping others to become politically conscious. Consciousness raising groups aimed to get a better understanding of women's oppression by bringing women together to discuss and analyze their lives, without interference from the presence of men. Pippi Longstocking CR group helps her to understand that she wants to go to school and learn and that she really needed Annika and Tommy in her life. As she was sailing away on the boat with her dad she was discussing the idea of her living in the house by herself. Never once did her dad try to convince her to stay with him, he told her that he would miss her and Pippi Longstocking just replied with “Daddy I can take care of myself and we will come and visit you on the island.” Like in Monsters vs. Aliens Susan’s CR group helped her recognize her blinders and let out her anger and frustrations so that she can take a hold of her life. Once Pippi jumped back into the water to swim back to shore the town was cheering for her as they were excited that she was coming back to live in the small town.
What would Lisa Hager say? 3-7-10
Lisa Hager would agree that just like in Power Puff girls the Pippi Longstocking encourages identification with not just one but a few different types of girls and boys throughout the film. In the Power Puff girls their slogan is “saving the world before bedtime” and in Pippi Longstocking her main song she sings “Freedom calls
Pippi runsThe girl who never heard she couldn't do something Watch out world Cause here she comes
And she’s bound to teach you more than one thing.” As in the Power Puff girls they do not use violence to solve issues Pippi Longstocking never uses violence she just scares them with stories or her magic that she can move from one area to the other without a blink of the eye. Pippi Longstocking challenges the social norm of beauty just the same that the Power Puff girls do Pippi wears stocking up to knees and a dress that covers her from top to her knees, she wears rugged boots and she doesn’t care if she gets wet or dirty. I would say that Mc Cracken would agree that Pippi Longstocking can be viewed as a girl that was made without being a sexual object for male fantasies. Pippi was also I believed developed for young girls around the age of 10 or 11 to look similar to other children her age.
Ideas:
Pippi is fun because she breaks with conventional ideas about how girls should behave — and also, perhaps, makes fun of adults’ gender roles in the process. Like when she goes to the market in her giant, mill wheel-like hat, dressed in a full-length evening gown and with huge green rosettes on her shoes. She has also applied charcoal to her eyebrows and coated her mouth and nails with red paint.
“I think you should look like a really fine lady when you go to the market,” says Pippi. She herself is not as concerned about her appearance as many other girls and women. Pippi is definitely not an object, and evidently not prepared to succumb to the cosmetics industry, either.
Take Annika, Pippi’s friend, for instance, who is always well-behaved and well-dressed, the very image of a model girl of the post-war period.
What would Jack Zipes say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-4-10)
According to Jack Zipes he believes, “because of the success of Harry Potter novels is so great and reflects certain troubling social cultural trends that we must try to evaluate the phenomenon.” Pippi Longstocking was not a phenomenon however I feel that she is worth evaluating how she challenges patrichary and how she is the main and powerful character of this storyline. Unlike the Harry Potter collection Pippi Longstocking never controlled the mass media or the market demands however she had won the hearts of many girls. For Halloween women of all ages dressed like Pippi Longstocking and tried to get their hair to stand out with red hair and freckles on their checks. Society breads on phenomenon and controllers the minds of little children in the buying/marketing of Harry Potter goods. It also has a control over status as normally they price of Harry Potter goods are not cheap so low income families struggle to be able to give their children their wants and that then plays a role how their friends or classmates treat or tease them on a day to day basis. Pippi Longstocking taught children that they do not need new items to have a good time but if they use their imagination then everything can be fun such as cleaning and school work. Pippi Longstockings uses everyday items to have fun in her life and does not worry about all the popular goods being sold. Jack Zipes states that the Harry Potter books are very predictable despite the clever turns and twists in the intricate plots. I do not feel that Pippi Longstocking plots are very predictable I would have never guessed that in the end of the movie Pippi Longstockings “New Adventures” that she would deny her father the joys of going to live on the island with him but to stay in the town where she had made friends to learn and to go to school to better her life.
What would Elizabeth E. Heilman and Tevor Donaldson say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-4-10)
These authors have stated, “many children yearn to be lost in literary worlds where they can experience adventure, heroic and power,” many girls I feel have been lost in the world of Pippi Longstocking and her many adventures and her strong powers that she uses to have fun. Have Pippi Longstocking states, “You believe in yourself you can do anything.” Just like in the Box Car Children in how the boys have the adventures and the girls cook and clean. There I a scene in the movie that Annika has to clean off the table while her brother and dad sit at the table and wait for dessert to be brought to them. This reinforces patriarchary in the idea that women are to cook and clean and wait on men. This movie challenges patriarchary in many ways however it still reinforces some of the patriarchal ideologies. Unlike in Harry Potter women are featured as second nature, Pippi Longstocking is the main the character and she has Annika and Tommy has her friends. I do have to say that just like in Harry Potter in how Harry and Ron are made out to be the most important characters even though they depend on Hermione for all her knowledge to get them through their troubles. The men in Pippi Longstocking movie are the ones that hold the power and authority examples: Policemen, Firemen, Annika and Tommy’s Dad is a man who makes business decisions for the city. The women characters in Harry Potter are freighting, evil or are obsessed with looks, in Pippi Longstocking I feel these authors would say the women are portrayed as powerful, however they are not the socially norm of beautiful. I would say that these authors would say that Pippi Longstocking challenges a great deal of the patriarchy ideologies however it reinforces some of the basic patriarchal values about women.
What would Sherrie A. Inness say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-25-10)
When reading Chapter 3 of “It’s a Girl Thing”: Tough Female Action Figures in the toy story by Sherrie Inness all I could do was wonder if Pippi Longstocking ever was made into an Action Figure or was she only produced as a doll for the little girls to play with. When doing my research I came across the following information, In Europe the image of Inger's Pippi could be purchased everywhere, in the form of postcards, calendars, wall-posters, jigsaw puzzles, dolls, figurines and other memorabilia. Pippi Longstocking was never made into an action figure but had she been I think she could have been right up there with She-Ra. As in Inness article both She-Ra and Pippi’s toughness would have been limited since their extra special power was “magic, more than muscle” that gave them the extra edge. In Inness article she writes about how Stephen Kline notes that “Sex typing of toys is an important source for separating the sexes in terms of the cognitive, emotional, and social skills that children acquire.” He also goes on to talk about as he observed, gender stereotyping of toys is one way that boys and girls learn about separate roles that are relegated to them as males and females. I believe that girls could learn from watching Pippi that there was more to life then “dolls”. Pippi Longstocking, who lives with only her horse and a monkey at Villa Villekulla, lives every day fully—being a “thing finder,” through a series of adventures involving perilous balloon-flights, fairground fun, ghost-hunting and constant battles with the interfering social worker Miss Prysselius, having a picnic in a hollow tree, performing at the circus, attending a tea with the ladies, foiling burglars, playing tag with two policemen, attending school for only one day, and giving herself a birthday party. Pippi survives quite happily, but she actively thrives on what the townspeople see as overwhelming adversity. Pippi is empowered as a result, both mentally and physically. She is after all the strongest girl in the whole world. According to Inness one thing I think Pippi shows children is how to be powerful being “you”, since they have little power in their lives.
What would Sherrie A Inness say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-25-10)
Why do girls flock to purchase “new” dolls?
Well according to Sherri Inness in “Anti- Barbies” she talks about the American Girl dolls and how they are challenging Barbie and the views that girls have about themselves. However I found it very fastening how these dolls start off at $82 and can total up to $995 if you were to purchase all the accessories that went with them. These dolls were marketed towards the middle-upper class white family. Sherrie Innes would say that the Pippi Longstocking doll would market to all classes, Pippi is no ordinary girl- she has bright red pigtails, she can carry a horse with one hand, and she is not afraid of anything! She would need no accessories as she finds adventure in everything she does making pancakes, cleaning around the house, going to school and many more adventures that she takes. Unlike the American Girl dolls that grew in sales over 7 years it took years for Pippi Longstocking to become popular. The first Pippi book was published in Sweden in 1945 and it didn't take too long for Lindgren's book to reach the screen, but this was rarely seen and the few stills that surface from it showed a bulky young woman with a female wrestler physique, hardly the ideal image of a boisterous nine year old girl! After this production it took nearly two decades before anyone else attempted to film Pippi, and when they did it was for the small screen. In the 1970’s the Pippi TV series and films rampaged throughout Europe and much of the world gaining a foothold they have never relinquished. Inness would say that both Pippi and the American Girl dolls taught young girls was it is okay to be different and the importance of friendship with all enthicy and class. I did find it strange that the American Doll company makes a black doll and markets her as a slave. This seemed strange to me since their demographic is towards the upper middle class girls which back in the day would have been from a family who mostly likely approved of having
slaves or even had a few themselves. Innes says in her article although these toys carry a more socially acceptable educational message than Barbie they still suggest numerous traditional ideas about how girls and women should act, behave, and look. As in Pippi Longstocking I believe she tries to challenge the idea on how girls should act, behave, and look. However there are still parts in the show that reinforces the traditional ideas of women, like Annika’s mom and all of her behaviors in the movie and the books portray women being the caretakers of the children and of the household chores.
What would Gaunt say about Pippi Longstocking? 5-2-10
When reading the article I thought all about my early gradeschool days when I lived in Lebanon, IL and had many African American friends. I never able to conquer double dutch but I can tell you that I was always in ah of my friends would would double dutch with no problem while sing songs. My friends would always try to teach me in slow motion how to double dutch but never got the hang of it. In the article “Games Black Girls Play” on page 5 Girloy points to the fact that a whole world of communcication exists beyond the analysis and interpretations of song lyrics. That reminds me of some of the songs in Pippi Longstocking and how I she lives by singing with her friend. I think if you really look at her lyrics you will see that Pippi is trying to express herself in the only way that she knows how to do. She never plays hand games or double dutch atleast in any of the shows or moives that I have seen however it always seems to be that when Pippi is singing she is dancing or moving around. My favorite song is when she is singing about Cleaning and she is showing Annika and Tommy how cleaning can be made into a game.
I put my scrubbing shoes on and I never get the blues on
Monday morning, yeah yeah
This dust'll be a goner as I hit each dirty corner
Without warning, yeah yeah
Throwing soap suds everywhere, we're being careful, very careful
To enjoy ourselves each step of the way
Scrubbing day is a holiday and the game we play
Is as wild as it can get
Scrubbing day is my favorite day, 'cause on scrubbing day
We make everything get wet
The greater the confusion, I have come to the conclusion
Things get cleaner, oh yeah
The white is whiter, red is redder, blue is bluer,
And the green gets greener, yeah yeah
Throwing water everywhere, there is a feeling in the air
That any minute we could all float away
Scrubbing day is a holiday and the game we play
Is as wild as it can get
Scrubbing day is my favorite day, 'cause on scrubbing day
We make everything get wet
Pippi Longstocking’s theme song I think Gaunt would say would like in Chapter 4 of her book that Pippi Longstocking music offers a way of understanding how girl’s musical games help them to indentify with men however I think Gaunt would say that her musical talent helps her to indentify with both genders. I do not think that in Pippi’s music she views men and masculinity as powerful, I believe that Pippi thinks that she can change the hearts of many by her music and friendship.
What would the article "Pretty in Pink: What Girls Wear" think about Pippi Longstocking? 5-9-10
In the first paragraph of this article it states,"Typically, a little girl will be dressed in pink and frills and a boy in blue with a sporty theme." Pippi Longstocking challenges this idea as in every moive or show I have seen Pippi Lonstocking is never wearing pink or frills. Her typically outfit is a ragged blue dress with a red shirt mis-match knee high socks normally of bold dark primary clothes. In the article they talk about difference clothes and play clothes. In Pippi Longstocking she I do not remember her really ever changing her clothes, in the moive Pippi Longstocking the Great Adventures she cleans the house, plays outside, goes to school for one day with Annika and Tommy, goes on an adventure which consist of camping, swimming, and even floating down a river in the same outfit. On wash day Pippi Longstocking takes a bath in her outfit and then spin dries and says she is all clean. I do not think that Pippi Longstocking would survive in today's world of girls clothing. She never wears shirts with slogans on them or pink or glitter on them Her skirt is not a mini skirt and she wears shorts under her skirt with black shoes. When I googled Pippi Longstocking outfit and I came across a how to make a Pippi Longstocking outfit and it consist of the following steps:
1. Dress in a bright patterned jumper or a dark blue dress adorned with patches. Wear any color turtleneck underneath.
2. Put on knee-high mismatched socks in loud colors and step into any pair of old shoes: cracked boots, worn out sneakers or faded clogs. The bigger and chunkier the shoes, the better.
In the article it talks about how girls either choose all pink or want nothing to do with pink. This kind of girl is either really feminine, or she rejects the feminine for more masculine choices. Even though Pippi Longstocking does not wear pink I do not think she rejects feminine choices as she is wearing a jumper which is something that only girls wear. I think if women choose more masculine choices they normally do not choose to wear skirts as that is a sign of feminine choices in my mind. I would have to say that Pippi does wear a red shirt under her blue jumper or red stripe socks and I would have to say that Pippi Longstocking is as the article states bold and assertive and that is what red means. Overall I would have to say that Pippi Longstocking rejects the idea of girls wearing pink or even glitter or slogans of their shirts. Pippi Longstocking is a young girl who does not care what everyone thinks of her and she most of all does not care what she wears. She wears clothes in her mind that are comfortable and easy to accomplish her daily tasks.
Parson states that “in our mass-media culture we are surrounded by the vestiges of fairy tales from marketing of Disney products to the perpetuation of romance ideology, the binary positioning women and men, and women’s and girls’ obsession to manifest socially defined beauty.” Pippi Longstocking challenges this idea since she is not obsessed with her looks; she is a freckled faced red hair nine year old girl who lives on the edge. She has superhuman strengths and is able to lift her horse one-handed without difficulty. Pippi doesn’t like to follow directions from adults and tends to mock them or challenges them when she encounters them. Her clothes are miss- matched or ragged. …show more content…
Pippi is more worried about having fun then worry about what she looks like or what she wears. Pippi Longstocking is a very strong free willed young woman. Parson would say that this movie challenges the idea that “fairy tales in the patriarchal tradition portray women as weak, submissive, dependent, and self sacrificing, while men are powerful, active, and dominant. “ Pippi lives on her own after she separated from her father at sea. Pippi lives in a small village, with her monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and her horse, Old Man. I do find it strange that even though she has no adults supervising her she has two male animals that stay with her and protect her from strangers. I am not sure that Astrid Lindgren when writing the book really thought about the idea of Pippi Longstocking having 2 male animals has her companions. The 2 male animals could be mistaken as taking the role of her father and watching and protecting Pippi Longstocking in her childhood years since her father was lost at sea and she lives alone. I think Pippi Longstocking is a very dominant young lady and wishes that everyone young children had fun and in the middle of trying to create fun for orphans she creates lots of chaos in the streets. Parson would state that even in Pippi Longstocking, she had to suffer in the fact that she lost her father however in the end, Captain Longstocking was washed ashore upon a South Sea island, where he was made the "fat white chief" by its native people. When the Captain returned to bring Pippi to his new home in the South Seas, Pippi found herself attached to the Villa and her new friends Tommy and Annika, and decided to stay where she was, though she and the children sometimes took trips with her father where she was confirmed as the "fat white chief's" daughter, Princess Pippilotta. Wow even Pippi Longstocking is a princess. Parson would agree that since Pippi Longstocking is a powerful woman that she doesn’t fit the social norm of what a beautiful women looks like. I would say that Parson would agree that Pippi Longstocking is a feminist movie that deals with freedom, choice and women can make a difference in the world today. I agree with Parson that “although feminist stories provided an alternative to the sexiest world, they are not powerful enough to disrupt it.” Even though Pippi Longstocking was popular I do not think that is was interesting enough to stay popular with the young girls like Cinderella or Snow White as they talk about becoming princesses and having a prince come rescue you and you can live happily ever after.
What would Rebbecca- Anne C. Do Rozario say about Pippi Longstocking? Feb 28, 2010
I would say that Rozario would say that Pippi Longstocking would more follow Team Disney story lines. In Father Disney movies the society is more male dominated, however in Pippi Longstocking she is the strong willed, independent vocal little girl who lives on her own and takes care of her-self and does not listen to any adults. She challenges authority which is what more of what the Team Disney movies do. According to Rozario, “yet if Walt Disney’s lifetime marked the father’s absence, Team Disney re-affirmation is a closer bond suggests that the company’s own paternal attachment to the more challenging daughter.” Pg 36 Pippi Longstocking challenges the status quo and the task that she does are more of task that she needs to do to fulfill her own independence and are by her choice and are not assigned to her by “wicked maternal figure”. Although Pippi Longstocking does not have a wicked step mother she has the “wicked” social worker Ms Banister who is always trying to convince Pippi that she needs to come to the orphan house so she can be adopted by a nice mother and father. Pippi tries to tell Ms Bannister that she has a mother and a father and she can take care of herself. Pippi even tries to give Ms Bannister money to make a nice Christmas for the orphan children. Ms Bannister is equally to a “wicked step mother” that we see in Disney films. Many times throughout the movie “Great Adventures,” Ms. Bannister adheres to many patriarchy ideologies throughout the shows and movies, for example when the children are going to the dentist she smacks all the children on the butt so that they move faster (control/ dominance over the children), Ms Bannister is a very powerful women however she is portrayed as being very ugly, or when she is driven everywhere by a driver she is portrayed as having higher social status. Rozario states on page 41, she would argue that the conflict between the princesses and the maternal substitute has more to do with the female authority than with maternal issues. Pippi would be a good example of Rozario’s argument about the adversary between the two female characters. As most Father Disney movies Pippi Longstocking does not have a mother figure in her life she knows her mother is in heaven and so she talks to stars when she needs her mother’s advice or when she just wants her mother to listen to her issues that she has been thru that week. In many Disney movies the animal sidekicks to the princess are often males and they seem to protect them from danger. Pippi Longstocking has a male monkey and male horse that go with her everywhere and helps her when she needs to scare away the 2 guys that want to buy her house that she is living in to build on. In Rozario's reading she states the absence of the mother figure…. “Is the consequence alliances which set women against women.” In Pippi Longstocking’s movie she is not really fighting against other female figures she is actually friends with Annika, however she challenges the older girl from the orphan when the kids are getting the teeth done and getting haircuts to have more fun in her life verse always making life a chore. Pippi Longstocking does challenge the idea of the typical structure of a normal Disney fairytale where the king is the hero and the prince is the rescuer. Pippi Longstocking I believe is the hero as she encourages Annika and Tommy to have fun, to be a bit more daring and to have faith in their own ability. In doing this many young girls will see that they too can have fun and most of all have faith in their own abilities to accomplish what they set forth to do, just as Pippi Longstocking did.
What would Holly Hassel Say? 3-7-10
According to Holly Hassel’s essay about Monsters vs. Aliens she states, “Patriarchy is a kind of a society in which men and women participate in a society that is male privilege by being male dominated, male identified, and male centered. It is also organized around an obsession with control.” In Pippi Longstocking “New Adventures” all of the professional people you see throughout the movie are males examples (the policemen, the ice cream man, the businessmen trying to buy her house, the neighbors dad, Jack the pilot, firemen) the only women that you ever see in the movie are the teacher of Annika, the Social worker that is in charge of the orphans, and Annika’s mom. This seems very male privilege. The Social worker Ms Bannister is very obsessed with control over the orphans. She yells at them when they are having fun, she spanks them on the butt when they need to move faster, she reminds me of wicked step mothers in Disney movies. I would say that Holly Hassel would agree that Pippi Longstocking along with Monsters vs. Aliens is a radically different from the normal patriarchy films. Pippi Longstocking story line I believe is about how this young girl can survive by herself and how she can show others how to have fun in their daily lives. She also has a way to soften up the hearts of Ms. Bannister, Annika and Tommy’s dad in the end of the film to respect her and to believe in Pippi Longstocking. I believe this storyline challenges the idea that “Girls come to know that their value lies in the men’s desire for them.” Just like Susan, Pippi Longstocking needs to personally develop and to find out who she really was. Because in the end just like Susan rejects being normal, Pippi wants to live by Annika and Tommy and attend school instead of going to the island of Curry Curry to live with her dad the king. I think that Pippi Longstocking CR group is her friends Annika, Tommy, her horse and her monkey. According to Wikipedia a Consciousness raising groups meant helping oneself and helping others to become politically conscious. Consciousness raising groups aimed to get a better understanding of women's oppression by bringing women together to discuss and analyze their lives, without interference from the presence of men. Pippi Longstocking CR group helps her to understand that she wants to go to school and learn and that she really needed Annika and Tommy in her life. As she was sailing away on the boat with her dad she was discussing the idea of her living in the house by herself. Never once did her dad try to convince her to stay with him, he told her that he would miss her and Pippi Longstocking just replied with “Daddy I can take care of myself and we will come and visit you on the island.” Like in Monsters vs. Aliens Susan’s CR group helped her recognize her blinders and let out her anger and frustrations so that she can take a hold of her life. Once Pippi jumped back into the water to swim back to shore the town was cheering for her as they were excited that she was coming back to live in the small town.
What would Lisa Hager say? 3-7-10
Lisa Hager would agree that just like in Power Puff girls the Pippi Longstocking encourages identification with not just one but a few different types of girls and boys throughout the film. In the Power Puff girls their slogan is “saving the world before bedtime” and in Pippi Longstocking her main song she sings “Freedom calls
Pippi runsThe girl who never heard she couldn't do something Watch out world Cause here she comes
And she’s bound to teach you more than one thing.” As in the Power Puff girls they do not use violence to solve issues Pippi Longstocking never uses violence she just scares them with stories or her magic that she can move from one area to the other without a blink of the eye. Pippi Longstocking challenges the social norm of beauty just the same that the Power Puff girls do Pippi wears stocking up to knees and a dress that covers her from top to her knees, she wears rugged boots and she doesn’t care if she gets wet or dirty. I would say that Mc Cracken would agree that Pippi Longstocking can be viewed as a girl that was made without being a sexual object for male fantasies. Pippi was also I believed developed for young girls around the age of 10 or 11 to look similar to other children her age.
Ideas:
Pippi is fun because she breaks with conventional ideas about how girls should behave — and also, perhaps, makes fun of adults’ gender roles in the process. Like when she goes to the market in her giant, mill wheel-like hat, dressed in a full-length evening gown and with huge green rosettes on her shoes. She has also applied charcoal to her eyebrows and coated her mouth and nails with red paint.
“I think you should look like a really fine lady when you go to the market,” says Pippi. She herself is not as concerned about her appearance as many other girls and women. Pippi is definitely not an object, and evidently not prepared to succumb to the cosmetics industry, either.
Take Annika, Pippi’s friend, for instance, who is always well-behaved and well-dressed, the very image of a model girl of the post-war period.
What would Jack Zipes say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-4-10)
According to Jack Zipes he believes, “because of the success of Harry Potter novels is so great and reflects certain troubling social cultural trends that we must try to evaluate the phenomenon.” Pippi Longstocking was not a phenomenon however I feel that she is worth evaluating how she challenges patrichary and how she is the main and powerful character of this storyline. Unlike the Harry Potter collection Pippi Longstocking never controlled the mass media or the market demands however she had won the hearts of many girls. For Halloween women of all ages dressed like Pippi Longstocking and tried to get their hair to stand out with red hair and freckles on their checks. Society breads on phenomenon and controllers the minds of little children in the buying/marketing of Harry Potter goods. It also has a control over status as normally they price of Harry Potter goods are not cheap so low income families struggle to be able to give their children their wants and that then plays a role how their friends or classmates treat or tease them on a day to day basis. Pippi Longstocking taught children that they do not need new items to have a good time but if they use their imagination then everything can be fun such as cleaning and school work. Pippi Longstockings uses everyday items to have fun in her life and does not worry about all the popular goods being sold. Jack Zipes states that the Harry Potter books are very predictable despite the clever turns and twists in the intricate plots. I do not feel that Pippi Longstocking plots are very predictable I would have never guessed that in the end of the movie Pippi Longstockings “New Adventures” that she would deny her father the joys of going to live on the island with him but to stay in the town where she had made friends to learn and to go to school to better her life.
What would Elizabeth E. Heilman and Tevor Donaldson say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-4-10)
These authors have stated, “many children yearn to be lost in literary worlds where they can experience adventure, heroic and power,” many girls I feel have been lost in the world of Pippi Longstocking and her many adventures and her strong powers that she uses to have fun. Have Pippi Longstocking states, “You believe in yourself you can do anything.” Just like in the Box Car Children in how the boys have the adventures and the girls cook and clean. There I a scene in the movie that Annika has to clean off the table while her brother and dad sit at the table and wait for dessert to be brought to them. This reinforces patriarchary in the idea that women are to cook and clean and wait on men. This movie challenges patriarchary in many ways however it still reinforces some of the patriarchal ideologies. Unlike in Harry Potter women are featured as second nature, Pippi Longstocking is the main the character and she has Annika and Tommy has her friends. I do have to say that just like in Harry Potter in how Harry and Ron are made out to be the most important characters even though they depend on Hermione for all her knowledge to get them through their troubles. The men in Pippi Longstocking movie are the ones that hold the power and authority examples: Policemen, Firemen, Annika and Tommy’s Dad is a man who makes business decisions for the city. The women characters in Harry Potter are freighting, evil or are obsessed with looks, in Pippi Longstocking I feel these authors would say the women are portrayed as powerful, however they are not the socially norm of beautiful. I would say that these authors would say that Pippi Longstocking challenges a great deal of the patriarchy ideologies however it reinforces some of the basic patriarchal values about women.
What would Sherrie A. Inness say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-25-10)
When reading Chapter 3 of “It’s a Girl Thing”: Tough Female Action Figures in the toy story by Sherrie Inness all I could do was wonder if Pippi Longstocking ever was made into an Action Figure or was she only produced as a doll for the little girls to play with. When doing my research I came across the following information, In Europe the image of Inger's Pippi could be purchased everywhere, in the form of postcards, calendars, wall-posters, jigsaw puzzles, dolls, figurines and other memorabilia. Pippi Longstocking was never made into an action figure but had she been I think she could have been right up there with She-Ra. As in Inness article both She-Ra and Pippi’s toughness would have been limited since their extra special power was “magic, more than muscle” that gave them the extra edge. In Inness article she writes about how Stephen Kline notes that “Sex typing of toys is an important source for separating the sexes in terms of the cognitive, emotional, and social skills that children acquire.” He also goes on to talk about as he observed, gender stereotyping of toys is one way that boys and girls learn about separate roles that are relegated to them as males and females. I believe that girls could learn from watching Pippi that there was more to life then “dolls”. Pippi Longstocking, who lives with only her horse and a monkey at Villa Villekulla, lives every day fully—being a “thing finder,” through a series of adventures involving perilous balloon-flights, fairground fun, ghost-hunting and constant battles with the interfering social worker Miss Prysselius, having a picnic in a hollow tree, performing at the circus, attending a tea with the ladies, foiling burglars, playing tag with two policemen, attending school for only one day, and giving herself a birthday party. Pippi survives quite happily, but she actively thrives on what the townspeople see as overwhelming adversity. Pippi is empowered as a result, both mentally and physically. She is after all the strongest girl in the whole world. According to Inness one thing I think Pippi shows children is how to be powerful being “you”, since they have little power in their lives.
What would Sherrie A Inness say about Pippi Longstocking? (4-25-10)
Why do girls flock to purchase “new” dolls?
Well according to Sherri Inness in “Anti- Barbies” she talks about the American Girl dolls and how they are challenging Barbie and the views that girls have about themselves. However I found it very fastening how these dolls start off at $82 and can total up to $995 if you were to purchase all the accessories that went with them. These dolls were marketed towards the middle-upper class white family. Sherrie Innes would say that the Pippi Longstocking doll would market to all classes, Pippi is no ordinary girl- she has bright red pigtails, she can carry a horse with one hand, and she is not afraid of anything! She would need no accessories as she finds adventure in everything she does making pancakes, cleaning around the house, going to school and many more adventures that she takes. Unlike the American Girl dolls that grew in sales over 7 years it took years for Pippi Longstocking to become popular. The first Pippi book was published in Sweden in 1945 and it didn't take too long for Lindgren's book to reach the screen, but this was rarely seen and the few stills that surface from it showed a bulky young woman with a female wrestler physique, hardly the ideal image of a boisterous nine year old girl! After this production it took nearly two decades before anyone else attempted to film Pippi, and when they did it was for the small screen. In the 1970’s the Pippi TV series and films rampaged throughout Europe and much of the world gaining a foothold they have never relinquished. Inness would say that both Pippi and the American Girl dolls taught young girls was it is okay to be different and the importance of friendship with all enthicy and class. I did find it strange that the American Doll company makes a black doll and markets her as a slave. This seemed strange to me since their demographic is towards the upper middle class girls which back in the day would have been from a family who mostly likely approved of having
slaves or even had a few themselves. Innes says in her article although these toys carry a more socially acceptable educational message than Barbie they still suggest numerous traditional ideas about how girls and women should act, behave, and look. As in Pippi Longstocking I believe she tries to challenge the idea on how girls should act, behave, and look. However there are still parts in the show that reinforces the traditional ideas of women, like Annika’s mom and all of her behaviors in the movie and the books portray women being the caretakers of the children and of the household chores.
What would Gaunt say about Pippi Longstocking? 5-2-10
When reading the article I thought all about my early gradeschool days when I lived in Lebanon, IL and had many African American friends. I never able to conquer double dutch but I can tell you that I was always in ah of my friends would would double dutch with no problem while sing songs. My friends would always try to teach me in slow motion how to double dutch but never got the hang of it. In the article “Games Black Girls Play” on page 5 Girloy points to the fact that a whole world of communcication exists beyond the analysis and interpretations of song lyrics. That reminds me of some of the songs in Pippi Longstocking and how I she lives by singing with her friend. I think if you really look at her lyrics you will see that Pippi is trying to express herself in the only way that she knows how to do. She never plays hand games or double dutch atleast in any of the shows or moives that I have seen however it always seems to be that when Pippi is singing she is dancing or moving around. My favorite song is when she is singing about Cleaning and she is showing Annika and Tommy how cleaning can be made into a game.
I put my scrubbing shoes on and I never get the blues on
Monday morning, yeah yeah
This dust'll be a goner as I hit each dirty corner
Without warning, yeah yeah
Throwing soap suds everywhere, we're being careful, very careful
To enjoy ourselves each step of the way
Scrubbing day is a holiday and the game we play
Is as wild as it can get
Scrubbing day is my favorite day, 'cause on scrubbing day
We make everything get wet
The greater the confusion, I have come to the conclusion
Things get cleaner, oh yeah
The white is whiter, red is redder, blue is bluer,
And the green gets greener, yeah yeah
Throwing water everywhere, there is a feeling in the air
That any minute we could all float away
Scrubbing day is a holiday and the game we play
Is as wild as it can get
Scrubbing day is my favorite day, 'cause on scrubbing day
We make everything get wet
Pippi Longstocking’s theme song I think Gaunt would say would like in Chapter 4 of her book that Pippi Longstocking music offers a way of understanding how girl’s musical games help them to indentify with men however I think Gaunt would say that her musical talent helps her to indentify with both genders. I do not think that in Pippi’s music she views men and masculinity as powerful, I believe that Pippi thinks that she can change the hearts of many by her music and friendship.
What would the article "Pretty in Pink: What Girls Wear" think about Pippi Longstocking? 5-9-10
In the first paragraph of this article it states,"Typically, a little girl will be dressed in pink and frills and a boy in blue with a sporty theme." Pippi Longstocking challenges this idea as in every moive or show I have seen Pippi Lonstocking is never wearing pink or frills. Her typically outfit is a ragged blue dress with a red shirt mis-match knee high socks normally of bold dark primary clothes. In the article they talk about difference clothes and play clothes. In Pippi Longstocking she I do not remember her really ever changing her clothes, in the moive Pippi Longstocking the Great Adventures she cleans the house, plays outside, goes to school for one day with Annika and Tommy, goes on an adventure which consist of camping, swimming, and even floating down a river in the same outfit. On wash day Pippi Longstocking takes a bath in her outfit and then spin dries and says she is all clean. I do not think that Pippi Longstocking would survive in today's world of girls clothing. She never wears shirts with slogans on them or pink or glitter on them Her skirt is not a mini skirt and she wears shorts under her skirt with black shoes. When I googled Pippi Longstocking outfit and I came across a how to make a Pippi Longstocking outfit and it consist of the following steps:
1. Dress in a bright patterned jumper or a dark blue dress adorned with patches. Wear any color turtleneck underneath.
2. Put on knee-high mismatched socks in loud colors and step into any pair of old shoes: cracked boots, worn out sneakers or faded clogs. The bigger and chunkier the shoes, the better.
In the article it talks about how girls either choose all pink or want nothing to do with pink. This kind of girl is either really feminine, or she rejects the feminine for more masculine choices. Even though Pippi Longstocking does not wear pink I do not think she rejects feminine choices as she is wearing a jumper which is something that only girls wear. I think if women choose more masculine choices they normally do not choose to wear skirts as that is a sign of feminine choices in my mind. I would have to say that Pippi does wear a red shirt under her blue jumper or red stripe socks and I would have to say that Pippi Longstocking is as the article states bold and assertive and that is what red means. Overall I would have to say that Pippi Longstocking rejects the idea of girls wearing pink or even glitter or slogans of their shirts. Pippi Longstocking is a young girl who does not care what everyone thinks of her and she most of all does not care what she wears. She wears clothes in her mind that are comfortable and easy to accomplish her daily tasks.