Bonfire of the Disney Princesses 

By Barbara Ehrenreich

Since we we will be Disney themed this week I chose to read the Bonfire of the Disney Princesses article,  by Barbara Ehrenreich, published in 2007.

First of all the article is very outdated (2007) but from a feminist way of view.  I think she would maintain the same believes explaining the Disney princesses after 2000, where  Disney's Andy Mooney got the idea to bring the "gals" together in a team. They were all elevated to royal status and busied themselves achieving global domination. 

Ehrenreich writes that all little girls in the wired industrial world display their allegiance to the pink and purple-clad Disney dynasty.

She states that Disney thinks of princesses as role models. If that's the case the princesses are a bunch of wusses. They spend much of their time in captivity or in a coma, waking up when a prince comes along and kisses them. I did have to laugh about her statements. She definitely  has a sense of humor  to send out her sarcastic opinion.

Sadly to mention that the exception in Mulan (girl fights as boy  in army), like other princesses of color, Pocahontas, they lack full princess status and do not warrant a line of tiaras and gowns. Princesses have no ambitions or marketing skills. The author mentions that Snow White and Cinderella are good at house cleaning.

The only career ladder leads from a baby faced adolescence to a position as an enchantress, stepmother or witch.

Author mentions that feminist parents despise the idea that their little girls gave up Dora for the phony Disney princesses. Dora, who bounds through the jungle and saves baby jaguars with an archeologist as a mother. And no prince charming who comes to the rescue.

The big question that arises is: What's the appeal of the pink tulle princess cult.

Even her three year old flounces around with tiara and a princess gown. It shows that the author accepts it but despises it too.

Where she goes overboard in my opinion is the fact that she doesn't think sex belongs in a pre-K playroom. This text comes out of the blue. I don't think children in Pre- K think about sex when they twirl around in a tutu and a tiara on their head. A lot of the story goes over their head. The author interprets the Disney princesses with sexual abuse, even mentions at the beginning of the article that she believes  princesses with all the  princess attributes act as a form of a date-rape drug. She strongly disapproves the message that Andy Mooney shows with the princesses.

But at the and in the author's world,  even her three year old child can have the experience to feel like a princess.

The author mostly speaks with a feminist view in my opinion. There are so many factors that could be brought up on this subject. Discrimination, fantasy, racism, abortion law, and so on.