Princesses Are Not Great Role Models for Girls

21 点作者 urahara将近 8 年前

10 条评论

I agree with the title, as it's not optimal for role models to be primarily women who have power, success and happiness because they were born into it by luck.However:"Mulan is a bold Chinese warrior, respected and followed by her people…all of whom think she is a man, because she has deceived them by cutting her hair. The point here appears to be that to become a good leader, a woman should look and act like a man."This person has severely misunderstood the point of Mulan.

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gambiting将近 8 年前

"With Pocahontas (1995), for example, Disney showed that not even cartoon women can “have it all”. The Indian princess must choose between success in the public sphere and a happy romantic life."If you make a movie about life in a society which does not value women equally, how can you be surprised that the movie does not present them as such."Mulan is a bold Chinese warrior, respected and followed by her people…all of whom think she is a man, because she has deceived them by cutting her hair. The point here appears to be that to become a good leader, a woman should look and act like a man."I mean....what? Is that the lesson you got out of that movie??? It's an extremely shallow interpretation of the message here, one that almost seems bent just to fit a certain narrative."But, the protagonist Elsa has dubious leadership skills. As the elder sister, she is responsible for governing, but when she gets nervous she lets her emotions get the better of her. Despite her good intentions, she cannot effectively wield power.As a result, she freezes her realm and withdraws into a solitary world. In other words, she lacks emotional intelligence."Once again, you are trying to make the interpretation fit the narration. Maybe she is just portrayed as a normal human being who has flaws, not a perfect-in-every-way robot? Wouldn't a film where the main character never makes any mistakes and has perfect control of their emotions be just.....boring? If anything, I'm really bothered by the fact that in those movies men are shown as having zero emotions whatsoever, as if men should have everything planned out beforehand - what a stupid idea.

exabrial将近 8 年前

I agreed with the premise of the article: I don't want my daughters to feel they are hapless beings designed for a man's pleasure.But I departed about halfway through the article, at "gender free toys."It's no secret that on average, women tend to be more empathetic than men, and men tend to be more assertive/combative than women. There are of course exceptions to this rule, and of course, reasons why each sex should develop both skills.However, after reading "Now, Discover Your Strengths" it's also _vitally_ important that you play to your natural strengths more than anything. For a large percentage of women, this may mean developing the very valuable skill of empathy, and for men, this may mean learning to control and focus their natural aggression. Gender oriented toys can help children develop these skills at a young age.There's a wide spectrum of overlap between men and women but denying the very obvious truth that they are inherently different is not only ridiculous but can disable people from using their natural abilities to suceed.

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belorn将近 8 年前

Any analysis is incomplete if all it look at is the protagonist without looking at the mirror image that is the antagonist. Each film is only as good as its villain, so what does a typical Disney villain look like and what gender/attributes do they have?In Pocahontas the antagonist is the exploiter, the disrupter of natural order, and the destroyer, and male. In Hercules he is the manipulator and manifestation of evil. In Mulan he is represented as the mindless horde of destroyers. In frozen he is the liar, the cheater, the bully. In Aladdin it is the mustache-twirling, eye-rolling, leering, and old man.There is a small minority of Disney movies that have a female antagonist, but they are all version of the same evil witch stereotype. Old, infertile, predator of children.So what does this teach children about social behavior and crime? What about who deserve sympathy and who is redeemable? About conflict resolution and handling of blame?Disney movies aren't the best places if we want to avoid stereotypes, and that include the newer movies like Frozen.

mercutio2将近 8 年前

This is a good and interesting article, with which I largely agree (I impose more extreme limitations on princess products than this author is calling for, in fact).But this statement, which the author implies is problematic:"A successful public life interferes in a woman’s private life."Just seems true, regardless of whether you replace woman with person.Pretending all adults have limitless capacity to be SuperFamily while simultaneously being SuperWorkerBee just seems silly.As it happens, I tend to think The Kids Are Alright is a pretty good way of thinking about family/work compromises; it's mostly about adult's preference to be all things to all people, not about kids' needs.In a way, I think this idea we're super accessible to kids even when working hard actually can lead to worse parent child engagement. Really high quality interactions often take planning, and if you're too busy beating yourself up over missing bedtime, you don't take the time to plan that special activity.

wavefunction将近 8 年前

Thank god. If ever I am lucky enough to have a daughter I hope to expose her to the vivacious and remarkable women throughout history, be they scientists or explorers or athletes.The reality for most actual Princesses throughout history is depressing and off-putting, and the fantasy is saccharine and irresponsible.

ctdonath将近 8 年前

Another biased article completely failing to address the natural tendencies toward "gender roles". Yes, maybe society tends to enforce them, but kids are not blank slates waiting for gender assignment.There's a difference between "back off the pink and guns" vs "respect natural tendencies, and variations thereto".

DanBC将近 8 年前

If you want good role models for girls the book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls might be interesting.<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/0...</a>

lupinglade将近 8 年前

Do most people really not realize this? Teach your kids to be human and capable, not princesses and scared of everything.

easychewie将近 8 年前

1. Leadership is male.2. Women are better leaders when they look and act like men.3. A successful public life interferes in a woman’s private life.4. When women get emotionally involved, they lose rational thought, and their leadership capacity fails them.I couldn't agree more.

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