I know, right? Leia is such a better role model than Cinderella. Leia doesn’t need a big, tough man to rescue her. She rescues her rescuers!
Can you picture Cinderella, or Belle, or whomever saying “into the garbage chute, flyboy” to Prince Charming? I think not.
LOL. I feel your pain, my friend. It takes me all the restraint I have to not give my 6 year old girl a time out for referring a Jedi Knight’s weapon as a “Lifesaver” instead of a “Lightsaber”.
I believe that back in colonial days that kind of blasphemy got one four days in the stock.
Husband confessed he knocked over the table my computer is on. He says he will buy a new one for me since he feels so bad. I just do not think we really have the money.
Let’s not be hasty now and lump all the Disney princesses together.
Remember that Belle makes a deal with the Beast that SHE will stay in his castle forever if, in exchange, the Beast lets Belle’s father go free. And then later on she leaves the castle when she sees in the magic mirror that her dad needs her help. That’s pretty darn brave and pretty self-sacrificing. I don’t see Princess Leia stepping up like that. (Oh my gods, I’ve become a Disney Princess geek :eek: )
I’m planing to raise my daughters to be like Belle–in other words, instill them with the courage to sacrifice all for me, their dad. :o
Bleah. I hate it when one little moment of inattention leads to such great damage! OTOH, it would be worth looking into a new one as prices have really come down. You might (fingers crossed) be surprised.
One of the few great things my father ever did for me, besides give me half my genes, was tell me the story of Star Wars when I was about five. He gave me a kid-digestible version and I loved it. I also got some slight tailoring to my interests, which helped (those included girls kicking butt, robots, and magic). Perhaps try that? Give her a taste for the good stuff before sitting her down for the whole show.
I am quite firm on the “absolutely no Disney Princesses crap in our house” rule for the future kiddos. Yes, Belle/Beauty has admirable qualities, but they tend to be even more admirable in the many non-Disney versions of the tale. The Princesses marketing scheme and the Disney vision of femininity are both really GROSS.
Word!
My book club read a series of queer retellings of fairy tales and Beauty and the Beast was my fave. The story opened like the Grimm’s version, but as Beauty began to fall for the Beast she became curious about his past. She finally got the Beast to tell her his story, and it turned out that the Beast started life as a princess. She grew up and became queen of the castle, and was constantly sought by eligible men, who were interested in her so that they could become king of the castle. Fed up with all this and much preferring to rule herself, the queen put on a Beast mask and got to work. Beauty thought that was awesome and decided to stick around. Happily ever after, etc., etc.
I am quite firm on the “absolutely no Disney Princesses crap in our house” rule for the future kiddos. Yes, Belle/Beauty has admirable qualities, but they tend to be even more admirable in the many non-Disney versions of the tale. The Princesses marketing scheme and the Disney vision of femininity are both really GROSS.
Agreed…and yet, somehow, my oldest got REALLY into Disney princesses. Go figure!
I have or had a 17 mac laptop. It is the original model so it was getting time for a new one but I am sad to be forced into it when house repairs should come first.
Yes, I truly am a Sith Lord. Later today I’ll post a picture of me yesterday in my driveway screaming to the neighborhood “NOW WITNESS THE POWER OF MY FULLY ARMED AND OPERATIONAL SNOWBLOWER!!!”
Years ago, my husband refused to buy our daughter a Kelly play park but didn’t blink at buying my son the hot wheels car wash. Supposedly the dolls were sexist and the cars were “real” toys. We had to have “a talk”.
In an attempt to help our daughters grow into independent women, I occasionally worry that we are raising all masculine toys and traits up as some great universal standard and lowering the feminine toys and traits to second class. Trouble is, some children get no joy out of lightsabers or cars and would prefer to sit in a corner and pretend Mommy Barbie is taking Kelly to the play park. There is no difference in a young girl wanting Barbie because she saw it on TV and a young boy wanting a lightsaber because he saw it on TV. Both are rather commercial and stereotypical toys (they say that girls are passive and caring and boys are active and violent). It would be better to have toys that are less commercial and stereotypical and see what the kids can make of them.
Very few little girls will be fighting with home made swords in the playground and few boys will dressing up Barbies. But girls can learn to be caring AND assertive and boys can learn to be assertive AND caring. When my daughter plays cars with my son the cars all have to have their own houses and become friends with the other cars and have long car conversations about their lives. This is usually followed by some son driven catastrophe which forces emergency response teams to react to criminal and destructive car types trying to wreak havoc on car town. Of course my son (who supposedly won’t play girl games) will allow his Webkins to be married off in elaborate ceremonies (as long as there is no kissing) with baby Webkins to follow.
I just liked toys that I could use my imagination. If it was GI Joe or Barbie I really did not care. I liked hot wheels and Dawn a doll that was like Barbie. My first Barbie I bought was the Star Trek one. My problem is why do all girl toys have to be pink. I rather see primary colors like the boys have.
It goes to women’s tools too. I am small and saw a set of tools made for women. Yes they were pink. I picked the hammer up and realized it was just the same old thing but painted pink. I was hoping for a smaller grip or a shorter handle. Just pink! Well I did not buy it since I could just use the manly brown handle hammer I had at home that my husband can use too.
Boys should play with dolls since someday they may be dads who will have to know how to deal with a baby. I always say let the child pick. If a girl wants a boy toy or a boy wants a girl toy let them pick. Since I had a brother I played with both kind of toys and really enjoyed all of them.
Hey! I had a Barbie. She rode around in the back of the Tonka dump truck and got buried naked in the dirt. I didn’t get her until I was 5 and it was a gift I never asked for. I did eventually get a couple more that I played with as they were intended but I never really figured out why all the other girls liked them so much…
Well, Olivia does have ONE Barbie. It was a gift from my aunt. She used to play with it a lot more, but now no one’s sure where it is. She much prefers toy animals and little things she makes herself out of clay these days.
A friend of the family when she was younger used to use her Barbies as squirt guns. She would fill their heads with water then squeeze them. Water would shoot out the barbies ears to great comic effect.
