Is the Princess Culture Hurtful or Harmless?

Once upon a time, young American girls weren’t as awash in pink as they so commonly are today.

According to Peggy Orenstein, author of the new book Cinderella Ate My Daughter, as late as 1930, little boys wore pink and little girls wore blue commonly.

Orenstein says in her book that while fairy-tale fantasies of princesses and princes have been prevalent in the culture for decades, they didn’t have nearly the reach that they do in the majority of  2- to 10-year-old girls’ homes today until relatively recently.

According to Orenstein, pink “girlie-girl” culture started to take firm hold in American households 10 years ago courtesy of Disney executive Paul Mooney. He originated the idea for the Disney Princess merchandise line and the company’s powerful marketing engine has saturated homes and stores since.

It has been lucrative for the company, to the tune of $4 billion dollars in 2009 alone.

Orenstein’s assessment of the trend is that it has a negative impact on the nation’s young girls by contributing to self-objectification and sexualization. This has been shown by the American Psychological Association to make girls vulnerable to problematic behaviors such as eating disorders and depression, and lower academic performance.

For a local take on the phenomenon, I turned to two members of our newly formed Patch Moms Council who have young daughters, Erin Edward of San Ramon and Barb Besse of Alamo. 

I asked them whether they felt the trend was harmful to young girls.

Edward says that while she agrees that princess marketing is “over the top,” she respectfully disagrees with Orenstein’s alarm.

“I don’t agree that the princess culture is a virus preying on our little girls,” she says. “The plethora of princesses is no more disturbing than the smarmy characters on 'Sponge Bob Squarepants.' ”

She says her daughter doesn’t necessarily share her opinion, and “recoils at pink toys and tiaras alike.”

Besse says that in her household the princess phase passed quickly, lasting only a little more than a year when her daughter was 4 years old.

Besse credits the relatively insignificant impact of the trend to her daughter’s balance between being a girlie-girl and a tomboy. While she watches princess movies and plays with dolls occasionally, she also plays soccer, baseball and takes gymnastics.

Both moms agree with Orenstein that providing a variety of toys, role models and play experiences can mitigate the pink tide.

Besse says, “I guess princesses aren't all bad as long as they are balanced by other influences.”