"Princesses"

The way we advertise products to society has a profound impact on gender ideologies, and vice versa. I can’t think of a better example than the Disney Princesses. In 2000, the marketing of the Disney Princesses together has resulted in the fastest growing brand in the company’s history, exploding into the massive franchise that exists today. After reading Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, I learned that by 2009, the Princesses has amassed more than $4 billion in revenue. Disney relies on the image and legacy the Princesses have made on society to continue their record sales. But these seemingly innocent characters have exposed young girls to the skewed gender ideologies of our society. Growing up with these stories that place a great importance on physical appearance and dependence on a man, girls are struggling with the pressure to be “perfect”, to be pretty and smart, and to have it all. The media has a greater influence on our ideologies than we would like to believe. Advertising that is directed towards young children perpetuates these ideologies to the upcoming generation, and our society allows this to happen. Maybe because we can’t possible stop the powerful franchise that is Disney, or maybe we don’t look deep enough to realize the gender roles they are perpetuating, or maybe we are ignorant to the effect on our children. Regardless, these Princesses, and other “girly” toys, are making it increasingly difficult to shed our ideologies of women as submissive to, and dependent on, men, as well as the increasing importance of physical appearance and femininity.