The Problem With Princesses
Shelby Tittle
Taylor 2B
10/27/2013
The Problem with Princesses
DPS, better known as Disney Princess Syndrome, is plaguing young women to believe they should focus on being beautiful and finding a man in order to be happy. Young girls strive to live up to Disney’s standard of beauty. All the Disney princesses have small waists, flawless skin, and wear only the best dresses. Going along with this trend, since Disney introduced the first princess in 1937 as Snow White, it has been known for portraying young women as weak and needy. These main characters are all the same, but that doesn’t mean our little girls have to imitate these characteristics. Disney princess stories negatively affect a young girl’s idea of what it means to be a woman. Disney princesses always depend on other people to solve their problems. Little girls who watch these movies think they don’t have to do anything for themselves. For example, Cinderella has a fairy godmother to help her go to the ball and meet the prince, the mice make her dress, and get the key from her stepmother to unlock Cinderella from the room upstairs. Then, in Sleeping Beauty the prince comes to save Aurora from her enchantment of sleep and the godfaries raise her in the woods. Also, in Snow White the dwarfs take her into their home and the prince kisses her to save her from the spell she is under. Some may say that these women did in fact need help. They argue that there is no way they could have gotten out of the situation without a little assistance. This is somewhat true, an example being that Snow White and Aurora couldn’t have been awaken from the spell without true love’s kiss. However six year olds don’t have the cognitive development to understand this. A six year old girl would wish for a fairy godmother or a prince to sweep her off her feet, neither of which will happen. Another example of how DPS affects young girls occurs when the main characters of the movies are trapped and then
Taylor 2B
10/27/2013
The Problem with Princesses
DPS, better known as Disney Princess Syndrome, is plaguing young women to believe they should focus on being beautiful and finding a man in order to be happy. Young girls strive to live up to Disney’s standard of beauty. All the Disney princesses have small waists, flawless skin, and wear only the best dresses. Going along with this trend, since Disney introduced the first princess in 1937 as Snow White, it has been known for portraying young women as weak and needy. These main characters are all the same, but that doesn’t mean our little girls have to imitate these characteristics. Disney princess stories negatively affect a young girl’s idea of what it means to be a woman. Disney princesses always depend on other people to solve their problems. Little girls who watch these movies think they don’t have to do anything for themselves. For example, Cinderella has a fairy godmother to help her go to the ball and meet the prince, the mice make her dress, and get the key from her stepmother to unlock Cinderella from the room upstairs. Then, in Sleeping Beauty the prince comes to save Aurora from her enchantment of sleep and the godfaries raise her in the woods. Also, in Snow White the dwarfs take her into their home and the prince kisses her to save her from the spell she is under. Some may say that these women did in fact need help. They argue that there is no way they could have gotten out of the situation without a little assistance. This is somewhat true, an example being that Snow White and Aurora couldn’t have been awaken from the spell without true love’s kiss. However six year olds don’t have the cognitive development to understand this. A six year old girl would wish for a fairy godmother or a prince to sweep her off her feet, neither of which will happen. Another example of how DPS affects young girls occurs when the main characters of the movies are trapped and then