Any way to delay or avoid the Disney princess obsession?

[Anonymous]

I was you OP! Still am. My daughter has little interest in Princesses. I have let her watch Cinderella but she prefers Totoro. She did go through a Sophia phase--Sophia wasn't that insipid. I will say I was kind of surprised at watching Disney as an adult. It isn't that good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was you OP! Still am. My daughter has little interest in Princesses. I have let her watch Cinderella but she prefers Totoro. She did go through a Sophia phase--Sophia wasn't that insipid. I will say I was kind of surprised at watching Disney as an adult. It isn't that good.

Aren’t you special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with the movies, but I'm not buying them an endless supply of the toys or taking them to Disney.

And what’s so bad about going to Disney? When’s the last time you’ve been there?

[Anonymous]

You are all too literal. For instance, your reading of Cinderella as a pretty girl saved by hero prince, is sophomoric. The Cinderella rags to riches story is universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get where you are coming from, OP, and agree it is a bit different since your kid is under 3. No need to let her watch lots of movies if you aren’t into that. The middle ground we found was being deliberate about the Princess movies my 4 year old can watch. We avoid the old Disney movies where the girl exists to get the boy. She loves Frozen. We introduced her to other stories like the Wizard of Oz. We won’t buy character toys because we don’t want toys with a single use. She can make her other dolls into frozen characters and into wizards or a family. Some PP said the bigger deal is what you say to her about them. “Isn’t Ariel so pretty” is going to be damaging long term if you aren’t also saying “I love how curious she is!” It’s a tough balance but ultimately your kid is going to like what they like.

A woman should have the freedom to do that if she wishes. There are plenty of women out there like this. That does not make them bad, or wrong, or less than. Women have choices. And this is one of them.

PP here. Yes, I agree that a WOMAN can make that choice. My kids will have plenty of time to go boy or girl crazy and make choices about relationships. They don’t need to do that when they are 4.

They’re playing PRETEND. It’s all make believe at this age. So you’re ok with make believe doctor or engineer (because that’s an acceptable role to you), but not make believe princess or wife?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are all too literal. For instance, your reading of Cinderella as a pretty girl saved by hero prince, is sophomoric. The Cinderella rags to riches story is universal.

They just want to feel superior. Most of them haven’t watched any of the new movies.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter may or may not get into princesses, regardless of how much you approve. But as long as you are not completely sheltered from all of society, she's going to be exposed to it at school or preschool as she gets older. And, as other PPs have mentioned, some of the princesses are pretty cool and developed characters in their own right.

I recall as a kid I had a friend whose mom wouldn't let her play with Barbies. At her birthday party, she got a bunch of Barbies as gifts (not to mention playing with Barbies at all of our houses) and I watched her mom get tense and quiet as she opened gifts. You got to pick your battles.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP. As a mom of four girls, they all gravitated towards their own things - regardless of how we tried to influence.

This thread makes me sad. The princess phase is really so fleeting. My experience is they move out of it by age 5.

As an “anti Disney” person myself, one of my most magical memories was seeing my daughters experience Disney around the age of four and five.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the PP. As a mom of four girls, they all gravitated towards their own things - regardless of how we tried to influence.

This thread makes me sad. The princess phase is really so fleeting. My experience is they move out of it by age 5.

As an “anti Disney” person myself, one of my most magical memories was seeing my daughters experience Disney around the age of four and five.

So then are you still anti Disney?

[Anonymous]

My 4yr old is obsessed with princesses, and many other girly things despite the fact I’m not a girly girl at all. She also plays dinosaurs, trains, Star Wars, and nerf guns. Who cares?!

[Anonymous]

My daughter loves watching Disney movies but she was never obsessed. They are cute movies; what’s the big deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with the movies, but I'm not buying them an endless supply of the toys or taking them to Disney.

And what’s so bad about going to Disney? When’s the last time you’ve been there?

Nothing is bad about it, but I have very little interest in going.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is 13 and went through a Princess stage. She also went through a super hero stage. She is a big reader, so she pretended to be every book character that she loved dearly. She’s very bright and very creative. She’s also a big time feminist and recognizes the whole damsel in distress thing is part of history, but now the Disney protagonists are strong and don’t rely on a prince for happiness. The Princess stuff didn’t make a dent in her confidence or intelligence...let your kid be a kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of tongue in cheek but also kind of serious, ladies. My DD is 27 months and has only ever watched PBS Kids educational shows or Cocomelon learning song shows (she doesn’t watch every day). My husband has started showing her Disney princess songs while potty training and now she asks for Jasmine and Belle every day. I’d been hoping to delay (and ideally avoid haha) this stage until she was older. I don’t like her watching stuff that’s not educational and def haven’t wanted to get on the Disney train and all that comes with it at such a young age. She doesn’t have character clothing or themed and branded play figures either from other shows or movies. It’s just not my thing He doesn’t think it’s a big deal and that she is learning all the time so can watch fun things too. I get it, let a kid be a kid, and if she likes it she likes it, but I just don’t want her consuming Disney junk until she’s older, like 4 when other kids will be watching it and dressing up and we will get into that stage. Anyone with me? Or am I an outlier?

What does your DH think?

[Anonymous]

They grow out of it by 6. Don't make it a big deal .