I'm so very anti the anti princess movement.

Didn't you know?  Princesses can't be presidents!  That's pretty anti feminist.  Last I checked, a girl can be whatever she wants... even a princess....

We all know someone like this.  Someone who bashes Disney's princesses.  I know a few, and frankly, I think they're dumb.  Their arguments?  "It's giving young girls unrealistic ideas about love and life."  "Disney's saying all you have to do is be pretty and you'll land a rich husband, and you'll live happily ever after."  Wow.  Bitter, much?  Here's the lame reasons I hear about how Disney princesses are brainwashing girls today.

Snow White.  The very first Disney princess.  Let's see, she had a narcissistic step mother who was trying to murder her.  Snow White was a servant who worked her as$ off.  All her life, AFTER losing a father she loved dearly.  She runs away, then has to take care of seven mentally challenged men.  Sounds like the good life, right?  No, she wasn't pretty, and her voice is bone chillingly shrill.  Then she marries a good guy.  The end.  What did you get from that?  It's unrealistic?  That a step mom is trying to have her daughter killed?  He he.  So she marries a prince.  She doesn't deserve a prince after all that?  What's more unrealistic?  A woman staying sane with seven men, or the fact that she marries a prince?  I dunno, people focus an awful lot on the prince part.  The lady endures hell, and she can still stay positive during it all.  That's what I got from it.

These people also can't get over the fact that Disney princesses were (a lot of them) sixteen years old.  None older than twenty one.  "What is Disney trying to promote here?  Child brides?"  You're just a stupid head.  Let's get one thing straight.  These are fairy tales.  Fairy tales Disney did not write.  Most are hundreds of years old.  It's common knowledge that women were married off in earlier times when they began menstruating.  I started my period at eleven years old.  Once you were a "woman," you were married off.  So all these medieval stories of sixteen year old girls getting married?  Sounds historically accurate to me.

Unrealistic idea of love?  Um, the first Disney princess movie, Snow White, was released in 1937.  Until recently, divorce was unheard of.  People who married during this time had/have long lasting marriages. You don't hear of a lot of baby boomers complaining about unrealistic marital expectations based off of a Disney movie they saw.  Ya just don't.  People today wanna blame Disney, though.  Is it Disney, or watching stupid tv shows like Jersey Shore?  Desperate House Wives?  Yeah, I can see how those could be misleading.  Disney?  Really? The number one reason marriages fail today is over financial stresses.  Even in the top ten reason marriages fail, I didn't see "had unrealistic ideas about marriage due to Disney movies."  If your marriage sucks, if you're unhappy, that's your fault, not Disney's.  Take responsibility.  No one is responsible for your failures.  You are.  Own up to it.

It's degrading to women.  Feminists are so funny.  If you're not doing a man's job, it's degrading towards women.  Dreaming about falling in love, wanting to be loved by another human being, overcoming obstacles is soooo degrading towards women.  "No, it's not that at all.  It's that all these princesses do is wait to be saved by a man.  They're not even doing anything for themselves."  Let's look at every scenario here.  Who did that?  None of them.  No one was waiting to "be saved by a man."  Being abused and hoping for a better life, wanting to be loved, not abused, makes you waiting to be saved by a man?  Don't we all do that?  When life sucks, don't we all dream of a better life?  That's not Disney princesses, that's life.  Pretty realistic to me.

All it's focusing on is pretty girls, like all their value lies in being pretty.  "The message they're sending here, is 'all you need is to be pretty, then you too can have all this.'"  Eh heh.  Okay, let's do a little test here.
Which bouquet of flowers would you rather have?

These?

   

Or these?

Which baby is prettier?

This one?

Or this one?

Which would you prefer in your living room?

Pretty, right?

Or this?  This one's a little better.

This may come as a shock, but human beings are aesthetically swayed.  Flowers, babies, furniture?  We're gonna go with the prettier choice.  Makeup has been around for thousands of years.  Beauty, in all things, is pleasing.  I don't enjoy dead, ugly flowers.  I enjoy beautiful flowers.  It's not a crime to enjoy and pursue the beautiful things in life.  This may come as an even bigger shock, but it is not a crime to be beautiful.  Being beautiful does not make you shallow.  Crazy, right?  People who are anti princess think it's all about being beautiful.

We should have had more princesses like this.  This way, you too, no matter how ugly you are, can feel good about yourself.  I'm sure this idea would sell like hot cakes.

We've got this whole, "big is beautiful" stuff going on today.  Yes, big is beautiful, just like beautiful is beautiful, too.  Skinny or fat, ugly or beautiful, beautiful is just beautiful, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Kourtney Kardashian.  Smokin' hot.  Extremely beautiful woman.  Has a bachelor's degree.  As you sit there criticizing beautiful women, tell me, what do you have a degree in?  Bit$hing?

Laila Ali.  Working woman, mother, bachelor's degree in business.  Smokin' hot.

Natalie Portman.  She graduated from Harvard University with a 4.0 GPA in psychology.  Beautiful.  Woman.

The point I am making here is that it's okay to be beautiful!  You can be smart AND beautiful!  Disney princesses can be smart AND beautiful.  They can deal with the crap life has dealt them and still come out on top.  As an abused child with a horrific past, I totally understand how big of a deal this is.  Snow White didn't turn to sex, alcohol or drugs to deal with her crappy childhood.  She put on her big girl panties and lived her life.  She dreamed big.  She stayed a happy person throughout it all.  Heaven forbid I should let my two daughters learn to be tough!  Mercy, I would not want that!  

I grew up obsessed with Disney movies, and yeah, I loved my Disney princesses.  I have a loving, healthy marriage.  No, I don't feel like Disney gave me any false expectations.  I love that my daughters want to be Disney princesses for Halloween.  I'd rather them want to be Disney princesses than Snooki.  I'd rather them watch Disney love stories than the Twilight love story.  I'd rather them watch Disney than Teen Mom.  I mean really, in the world we're living in, you wanna pick on Disney?  Okay, but I think you need to be medicated.  Seriously.  

It is your responsibility as a parent to teach your children.  Not Disney's, not MTV's.  If they have unrealistic ideas, maybe it's you who didn't teach them right.  Stop blaming everybody else.  On the flip side, children will be children.  They have their personalities.  They will still choose their paths, no matter what you teach them.  They didn't turn out the way you wanted them to?  Not your fault.  Not Disney's fault.  Let's be responsible for our own lives, our own choices, our own children.  Yes, your children will be exposed to things.  Disney or Snooki.  How you handle yourself, that's how your children will learn.  If Disney princesses bother you, talk to your kids about it.  Don't teach them hate.  Hating princesses for whatever reasons isn't healthy for you or your kids.  Yeah, little Suzy CAN be a astronaut when she grows up.  She can also like to play dress up and feel pretty, too.  With all things in life, we must learn moderation and balance.  Don't make your daughters feel guilty for wanting to dress up and feel beautiful.  That is human nature, we all want to feel appreciated and beautiful.  All ya gotta do is show them the healthy balance.  That's it.  It's not rocket science.