Oh hey everybody. This week on Ask Cristen I'm talking about princesses which means I'm
also going to give you some alternative uses for tiaras like an exercise headband, a cool
choker to accessorize your ball gowns and some sweet summer sunglasses which will probably
block out no sun but block out all the potential for strangers talking to you because you'll
look like this.
Stuff Mom Never Told You fan Joe emailed with a simple question. 'Why do girls like being
princesses?' Joe this is when I have to confess to you and everyone watching and to frankly
everyone who hasn't watched and maybe will never watch that my princess expertise only
goes so far because I've never seen 'Frozen'. I realize this might be arousing a mix of
emotions, maybe some betrayal, confusion, inexplicable hunger. My hope is that together
we can all just learn to let it go. Since I do have firsthand experience being a little
girl Joe's question got me thinking about whether I went through a princess phase. I
don't think it was so much a princess phase as a professional woman phase cause I was
really into playing teacher, nurse, not kidding at all, I really loved making fake checks
that I would painstakingly make and then go fake grocery shopping so that I could then
fill out my fake check. I can only imagine friends coming over for a sleepover and me
being like who wants to balance a checkbook?! Researching a more academic answer to Joe's
question was really fascinating because at least in western culture this association
between little girls and pink princesses is not just an empty stereotype. Sociologists
refer to this princess phase that many many many young girls go through and also some
boys as well. To the point, and I'm sure influenced by the Disney Princess franchise, it's almost
a given that at some point when a girl hits 4, 5, 6 she's going to become consumed by
all things princess. There was even a recent study out of Montana State University which
analyzed what Disney Princesses do all day in their respective storylines and found that
their most common daily activities are talking to animals, singing and dancing. Considering
how much I talk to my dog and break out in spontaneous song, I'm kind of living the princess
life apparently. Another study out of the University of Connecticut because seriously
there have been so many studies done on Disney Princesses, found certainty, assertiveness
and affectionate behavior to be the three most common characteristics. Interestingly
even though princesses were likelier to tend to their physical appearance while princes
were likelier to get a little more just physical, both did an equal amount of rescuing. While
these fantasy worlds are cis centric, heteronormative and do toe the lines of traditional gender
roles it's not all bad. Seriously I personally don't think that Disney Princesses are the
enemy. Which actually leads us back around to 'Frozen' because it was so phenomenally
successful it lead people past the typical line of questioning of what do about my daughter's
loving princesses so much to why do they love princesses so much? Over at the Washington
Post a pair of psychologists wrote about why Elsa and Ana are so captivating to little
girls and they think that it has to do with how the 'Frozen' universe can mirror little
girls' individual universes. Due to our young developing brains we are largely driven by
emotion. In a lot of ways because we're young, we're helpless. You have that combination
of helplessness and high intensity emotion and you kind of get like a Disney plotline
in a way. Add to the fact that the real romance in 'Frozen' is a familial one and it becomes
even more relateable to kids. But in another study that I found looking at the more generic
appeal of princesses it also identified the social power inherent in the princess role
as being part of her charm. When little girls get to play princess, that is basically the
kid version of getting to play boss. You get to wear a fancy dress, you tell people what
to do, if you want to spend all day talking to animals and singing and dancing, fine that's
your prerogative, you're a princess. Which the more I think about it does seem like a
socially sanitized way to allow girls to play around with power and influence and even yes,
bossiness. According to the study author's interviews with little girls about why they
enjoy playing princess, they write quote, 'Princesses are empty vessels awaiting the
little girl imagination to activate their near absolute abstract virtues. Beauty, social
status, wealth, glamor, mobility, freedom of choice and the seemingly inalienable right
to be the center of attention. Now I want to know what you think the princess appeal
is and if this study is correct why it takes pretending to be beautiful, glamorous and
wealthy for little girls to feel like the special center of attention and is that problematic?
Let me know in the comments below and as always be sure to ask me your questions so I can
give you some answers. Thanks everybody who watched and commented on last week's Ask Cristen
video 'Is Disability a Dating Dealbreaker?' There were so many great insights and experiences
being shared that I'm actually going to make an entire video reading a lot of your comments
because reading like one or two isn't enough so keep an eye out for that coming to a screen
soon near you. And you. And you.