All young girls dream of being royalty. Kindergarten fantasies consist of glitter, tiaras, and undoubtedly a handsome prince. “Cinderella and Princess Culture” written by Peggy Orenstein and “The Princess Paradox” written by James Poniewozik are two articles that compare fairytale life to the real world, analyzing the purpose of princesses in today’s society. While both authors use feministic points of view to convey how being exposed to princesses impacts a child’s future, Peggy Orenstein believes marketing strategies and princess trends set unrealistic goals for young girls and James Poniewozik believes modern princesses teach girls how to control their own destiny.
One main focal point of both articles was how modern princess trends relate …show more content…
Both Poniewozik and Orenstein recognize the immense amount of money Hollywood makes from selling princess merchandise. While the authors make points regarding the market surrounding the trend, Poniewozik discusses the profits made from parodies of classic fairytales and Orenstein largely focuses her article on why princesses are a money-making machine. In the beginning of “The Princess Paradox”, Poniewozik gives statistics about the movie The Princess Diaries, which grossed $108 million in 2001 (Poniewozik 323). This profit is significant because The Princess Diaries is essentially mocking the stereotypical storyline of princess movies. Hollywood realized that it pays to differ from the path of what society is used to. On the other hand, Orenstein believes that the princess industry attempts to show young girls what they should strive to be, a beautiful princess dressed in all pink, for the sake of a profit. Writing “pink, it seems, is the new gold” (Orenstein 327), Orenstein makes the point that corporations make billions of dollars a year off of girls and their love for princesses. With thousands of princess related items at every store, parents have no excuse as to why their child cannot have the fairytale life they see on TV. She focuses a majority of her article on the market side of princess culture to show that businesses see children as merely a way to make more …show more content…
While Poniewozik argues that modern princess movies teach children how to be strong and independent and are ultimately good role models, Orenstein expresses her opinion on non-princess characters becoming more feminine and why it is teaching girls the wrong ideals. Poniewozik spends a majority of his article portraying recent princess stories as a perfect contrast between fantasy and feminism, in hopes of showing other feminists why they do not need to be cautious when it comes to modern princesses influencing their children in today’s society. Poniewozik writes “it’s not the girl who must prove herself worthy of princesshood; princesshood must prove itself worthy of the girl” (Poniewozik 325). To Poniewozik, this depicts how modern princesses have transformed into role models for girls, teaching them that they can choose to be whatever they set their minds to. When comparing the two authors, Orenstein takes a very different approach to princesses and role models. She believes that taking non-girly characters that kids may look up to and molding them into princesses is not only a marketing ploy, but an insult to feminism. Even Dora, she says, has turned from a tomboy adventurer into a princess wannabe. Orenstein includes this to show that society is almost uncomfortable with young girls looking up to women who are not traditionally feminine, like
One main focal point of both articles was how modern princess trends relate …show more content…
Both Poniewozik and Orenstein recognize the immense amount of money Hollywood makes from selling princess merchandise. While the authors make points regarding the market surrounding the trend, Poniewozik discusses the profits made from parodies of classic fairytales and Orenstein largely focuses her article on why princesses are a money-making machine. In the beginning of “The Princess Paradox”, Poniewozik gives statistics about the movie The Princess Diaries, which grossed $108 million in 2001 (Poniewozik 323). This profit is significant because The Princess Diaries is essentially mocking the stereotypical storyline of princess movies. Hollywood realized that it pays to differ from the path of what society is used to. On the other hand, Orenstein believes that the princess industry attempts to show young girls what they should strive to be, a beautiful princess dressed in all pink, for the sake of a profit. Writing “pink, it seems, is the new gold” (Orenstein 327), Orenstein makes the point that corporations make billions of dollars a year off of girls and their love for princesses. With thousands of princess related items at every store, parents have no excuse as to why their child cannot have the fairytale life they see on TV. She focuses a majority of her article on the market side of princess culture to show that businesses see children as merely a way to make more …show more content…
While Poniewozik argues that modern princess movies teach children how to be strong and independent and are ultimately good role models, Orenstein expresses her opinion on non-princess characters becoming more feminine and why it is teaching girls the wrong ideals. Poniewozik spends a majority of his article portraying recent princess stories as a perfect contrast between fantasy and feminism, in hopes of showing other feminists why they do not need to be cautious when it comes to modern princesses influencing their children in today’s society. Poniewozik writes “it’s not the girl who must prove herself worthy of princesshood; princesshood must prove itself worthy of the girl” (Poniewozik 325). To Poniewozik, this depicts how modern princesses have transformed into role models for girls, teaching them that they can choose to be whatever they set their minds to. When comparing the two authors, Orenstein takes a very different approach to princesses and role models. She believes that taking non-girly characters that kids may look up to and molding them into princesses is not only a marketing ploy, but an insult to feminism. Even Dora, she says, has turned from a tomboy adventurer into a princess wannabe. Orenstein includes this to show that society is almost uncomfortable with young girls looking up to women who are not traditionally feminine, like