Princess Culture from the Male Perspective

            Whenever I think of the word princess, I immediately think of the animated women who wear big gowns, have beautiful hair and physical features, such as Jasmine, Belle, and Snow White. I normally think that they have perfect lives that everyone (mainly girls) strives for. They have a man that cares about them, great looks, and lots of frivolous items. What more could they ask for? After all of the lectures and readings about this section, I have learned that there are more than meets the eye with princesses.

            According to Joanne Laucius, author of Princess culture turning girls into overspending narcissists, she worries that “little princesses grow up to be insufferable adolescents and adults who demand constant adulation and access to a bottomless pot of spending money.” I always knew that spoiled little girls would generally become somewhat snooty, but what I did not realize is that it carries on throughout their whole lives. I mean I know of some people who have rich parents and have a lot of nice things, but I always thought that by a certain age that they would have learned their lesson on the value of money. After bring appalled by this theory and how much it is quite accurate, I began to look back at my life and see if I was a spoiled little prince (not princess because I am a male). After all, it is not just little girls that could be affected by the princess culture.

            As a Fashion major, I tend to have a lot of frivolous things (mostly clothing items) and like to spend a lot of money due to the brand name and/or quality of the object. When I was younger, I do not remember being much of a fan of the princesses of Disney movies and what not. I have seen all of it like every other child, but I did not think that I wanted to be like the princesses in the movies. I had just thought that they were pretty women who had nice things. My parents did spoil me when I was a child and they still kind of do as of right now to be honest. It was nice to be able to get whatever I wanted when I wanted it. As I was growing up, the ease of getting anything I wanted started to dissipate. They started to make me do chores and get good grades in order to have nice things. That lesson still exists today, but mostly just the getting good grades due to the fact that I am in college and do no live at home.

            I think that a big lesson in controlling princess behavior is to start controlling it at a young age. If my parents did not tell me to do chores and get good grades as a mean of working for the things that I wanted, then I probably would have been a completely different person than I am today. I probably would have been a spoiled, narcissistic prince (but not in the royalty way). I am sure that parents want to give their children everything they want, but there must be a time to teach them the value of hard work and money (preferably when they grow up) in order for the princess behavior to get out of hand in the future.