Princess/Superhero Culture

Before I being to really spill my thoughts in this blog post, I want to start off with a quick caveat. So to anyone who is reading this, please know that I am in no way supporting harmful or jaded gender stereotypes, but I do somewhat question the extent to which we are trying to resist them. In class we have talked in great length about feminist theory, gender norms, the princess/superhero culture, and how all of that is promoted through the media. Some of these stereotypes are without a doubt damaging to both genders, but again, I really do doubt that it is all that bad. For example, the whole Toddlers in Tiaras epidemic (for lack of a better word) I do think is a disgusting craze. I think that it could very likely have a harmful effect on young girls that are exposed to that kind of high-maintenance, unrealistic, and materialistic sense of beauty. But then again, that is a very dramatic example of the princess culture. When it comes to other displays of femininity through the idea of being a princess, that’s when I start to question if it is really such a bad thing. I know I for one always idolized the princesses at Disney World; Cinderella was my favorite. And I honestly don’t think that’s a bad female image for any young girl to look up to. I know we have talked about how this whole princess/superhero culture tends to reinforce that women should be beautiful and submissive, while men should be macho and unemotional, but in the grand scheme of things, is that really all that bad? It’s not like its Toddlers in Tiaras where its showing young girls that they need to be all glitzy and demanding. But as long as the media isn’t taking it that far, then I don’t think there’s really any problem with looking up to princesses and superheroes. I am only 21 years old, so I haven’t been on this planet long enough to really say anything overly wise on the idea of gender stereotypes, but I have noticed that there is actually is some truth to them. For example, most (yes this is a generalization) men that I know are relatively unemotional… at least in comparison to women. Not that being strong and unemotional is something that they should strive for, but I think that stereotype is there because it really does hold some truth. Same goes for women. Maybe this is a close-minded statement, I don’t know, but honestly what woman doesn’t want to be beautiful? Like I said, this shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all defining characteristic of a woman that we should be striving towards, but beauty (in lots of forms) IS a lot of what makes up a woman. At least that’s kind of what I think. And since princesses epitomize beauty, they are a logical representation of what young girls look up to and what the media therefore capitalizes on.