Turning the Fairytale into Reality

Once upon a time, I read Peggy Ornstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. And it got me thinking; maybe these Disney Princesses got a bad rap.

While the 26,000+ Disney Princess SKUs make it a bit difficult to grow up a tomboy today, Disney’s not to blame. Marketers can’t be faulted for making what sells. But they can be challenged to think outside that perfectly wrapped, pink box when developing products and messaging for young girls.

Not every girl is blinded by the pretty-pretty-princess mantra and pink hue—a lesson they may have learned from, dare I say it, Disney Princesses. Belle (dressed in yellow) was an avid reader and dreamer as she eluded the strapping Gaston’s advances, much to the dismay of other single ladies in town. Mulan (dressed in green) went to war and threw down while saving China. Jasmine (dressed in blue) left behind a life she could no longer live and opted for life as a street rat, for a few hours at least.

With messages like this, we know being a princess doesn’t mean sitting in an ivory tower and waiting for Prince Charming. Young girls don’t have to play the role of damsel in distress and there’s clearly money to be made in expanding the marketing messaging.

It’s time these two lived happily ever after.