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(11/16/11 11:42pm)
Dear Editor,
As a self-proclaimed “Princess Obsessed Princess” and the director of a Princess/girl power themed summer show, I was immediately drawn to the article entitled “Disney Princess Culture Harmful to Young Girls.” This is not an idea I am unfamiliar with, but one I will always disagree with. As noted in the article, the 90’s and modern princesses (Ariel through Rapunzel) have greatly improved upon the princess model set by the classic princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty). Disney is slow to change, but they have made a dramatic difference in the types of princesses they are presenting to young girls.
When criticizing the Princess line, you really should consider the historical context of the earliest princesses. The movies for Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella were made between the 30’s and 50’s. Therefore these three princesses embody only the virtues valued most in women at that time: grace, beauty, charm, cheer and being an excellent housekeeper. I will grant you, this is not the message we want to give to young girls today: that they are limited to being pretty housewives. Created before the Civil Rights era, they are all also white. But even as products of their time, the characters of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella do have valuable characteristics that should not be dismissed. All three princesses maintain a steadfast hopefulness despite trying circumstances that one may deem a quiet bravery. Sure, I’d rather my (someday/hypothetical) daughter strive for the brains of Belle, the work ethic of Tiana, or the determination of Rapunzel, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want her to also cultivate the charm and cheer of the classic Disney Princesses.
And yet, all of that is beside the point. Disney has begun to develop stronger characters because that is what culture and society have demanded. Nothing is good enough unless it has a strong social message or hidden moral. But who decided a happy ending isn’t good enough? Don’t we want children to believe in the power of dreams and love? Sure, they have to learn as they grow that “wishing on a star will only get you part of the way, you gotta make the rest happen yourself” (Princess and the Frog), but that can and will come with time. Fairytales, even the most simplistic, “happily ever after” fairytales have their place in childhood. And if you think about it, the princesses are actually set up in a beautiful learning curve. With the classics, little girls will learn about the power of love and dreams and basic virtues of grace and kindness. With the 90’s princesses, they’ll begin to understand the power of independence and inner-strength tempered by bravery and a whole lot of heart. Then the modern princesses, Tiana and Rapunzel, and shortly Merida, will teach them self-determination, creativity, and teamwork. Where would Tiana be without Naveen or Rapunzel without Flynn/Eugene?
So should the Disney movies be locked up until kids are older? Heck no! Pessimism may come with time, but that is NOT a virtue to cultivate in a child. Let them dream big and love completely without limiting them to a pessimistic version of “reality.” Little girls in time will realize the value of a woman does not lie in Prince Charming or a tiara, but within herself. The full spectrum of Disney Princesses will show her that message realized in the many shades of woman that the Princesses represent.
Just a general note to the Cluster; I love the paper, but have been pretty frustrated recently by the way titles have been poorly matched to the actual content of articles. For an example, I would have been much more satisfied if this article had lived up to the convictions of its title rather than being so wishy-washy about whether or not the Princess movies were actually a bad influence for young girls.
-Sarah Stitt
Sarah.E.Stitt@live.mercer.edu
(04/13/11 10:40pm)
Look, this pro-life/pro-choice thing is obviously becoming such an issue that it has reached me all the way over here in Ljubljana, Slovenia (ah, the wonders of Facebook). There have been a couple of times throughout my Mercer career that I’ve wanted to throw my two cents in on this issue, but I’ve shied away from it because who really wants to draw a red target on their own forehead? After seeing photos of the chalk war on a friend’s Wall, however, I’ve decided I’d like to throw my opinion out there. Let me begin by saying I am Roman Catholic and I am pro-choice.
Go ahead, freak out. Now let me explain. I find there to be a fundamental problem with the title “pro-choice.”
Pro-choicers tend to throw out this argument that protecting the rights of the unborn strips away the rights of the mothers. Pro-choice claims to stand for the “choice” of the mother, that it is her choice what happens to her body.
Well yeah, sure it is…but the only choice this seems to be talking about is the choice she makes after pregnant. Another choice came before that. Sex leads to pregnancy; if a woman has chosen to have sex then she has chosen the risk of pregnancy. Every form of contraception declares a 99.9 or less percent effectiveness.
Which means even if a couple chooses to have sex with protection, they are accepting a .1 percent or higher chance of pregnancy. If a woman willingly chooses to have sex then she has already chosen to accept the risk of pregnancy. That’s the choice that is most important in my eyes.
And that’s the choice that should be emphasized in this issue. By the time a woman is pregnant, she has already made her choice. Why should a child who results from that choice be terminated because the woman regrets the consequences?
As much as I would like to emphasize the choice made before becoming pregnant, I would also like to address the pro-life side by saying it is unrealistic to expect abortions to be made illegal. Prohibiting abortions would only drive women to riskier and often deadly procedures. If you are truly pro-life you cannot promote a decision that would put a life at risk.
Please note that throughout the above I used phrases like “willingly chooses.” Cases of rape or otherwise impaired choice are completely different situations and I would NEVER demand that a raped woman bring a baby to term. I have heard firsthand accounts of raped women who regretted aborting their babies or were even more traumatized by the abortion than the rape as well as those who found therapy in bringing the baby to term and keeping the child or giving him up for adoption. For others, however, having the baby could be more traumatic than abortion and more damaging to their body or psyche.
These are the first stats a Google search gave me (from surveys by the Alan Guttmacher Institute and data from seven state health/statistics agencies that report relevant statistics), so take them for what they’re worth:
“Actual percentage of U.S. abortions in ‘hard cases’ are estimated as follows: in cases of rape or incest, 0.3%; in cases of risk to maternal health or life, 1%; and in cases of fetal abnormality, 0.5%. About 98% of abortions in the United States are elective, including socio-economic reasons or for birth control. This includes perhaps 30% for primarily economic reasons.”
Provided those statistics are at least generally accurate, that means a HUGE majority of abortions are birth control or because the mother could not take care of the baby. Those are two issues I think both sides of the abortion argument should get together to solve. Focusing our efforts on solving those together would be more effective in decreasing the amount of abortions and improving quality of life for women than having more useless chalk arguments.
For the birth control issue I would hope we could all agree that abstinence is the only way to completely remain pregnancy-free. Abstinence-only education, however, is ineffective.
Abstinence-inclusive education is ideal, with accurate information on all forms of birth control. As a Catholic I imagine many of you may be surprised that I would promote birth control. But let’s be real — this is a human world, people are going to choose to have sex. It seems preferable to me to choose to prevent life than to abort it once it’s begun.
As to the economic question, I would hope that comprehensive sex education would knock out a large portion of that problem. If women are thoroughly educated about their options before sex then hopefully more of those who cannot afford to bring children to term would choose to prevent pregnancies before they happen.
However, that means making all birth control options widely available and possibly paid for for those who cannot afford them on their own. It also means improving adoption and foster care systems so that those women who choose to carry the baby to term but cannot keep the child have a safer, better option for their children than those available now.
Improving the system might also make it more attractive for women to at least give birth to the baby. Perhaps some of their expenses could be covered during the pregnancy.
The problem with the abortion argument is that it calls for one to walk an incredibly thin line: retaining the rights of both baby and mother. For me, the ideal would be that no baby would ever be conceived who was not wanted or could not be cared for. For now, though, we should work towards a compromise that may in time lead us to such an ideal.
The arguments that have been flying back and forth from both sides recently have been convincing no one and annoying everyone. I would be more impressed if both Mercer organizations could get together and talk about how we can improve the world together and not whose concept of morality is better.
At the beginning of this article I said I was pro-choice, and I mean that but in a different way than either side uses it right now. The choices I am “pro” on are the choices made before a pregnancy occurs: the choice to engage in sex safely and willing to accept the consequences of that act and the choice of society to inform and protect both women and children.
Comments on this opinion should be sent to sarah.e.stitt@live.mercer.edu