My Feminist Rant About My Irrational Anger Towards Disney Princesses

I have put it out to our families, that my daughter does not get any princess toys where the princess needed to be rescued by a man or change herself for a man.  And DO NOT call my daughter a princess.  God, that makes me cringe.  I tarred all the Dinsey princesses, except Belle (she saves the beast and heroically trades herself for her Dad), Elsa and Anna (sisters were true love’s kiss), with the same brush.  Snow White, you are a moron.  Cinderella, you annoy me.  Ariel, YOU CHANGED WHO YOU ARE TO MAKE SOMEONE LOVE YOU, everything you stand for I hate and you make me irrationally angry.  Screw the Disney Princesses!  The Paper Bag Princess will be my daughter’s hero!  While on a rant of how much these Disney princesses make me angry, my Mom pointed out, it’s not a bad thing to be rescued.  Perspective.  Ok, Snow White, it is not your fault that witch poisoned you and you needed to be kissed to wake up, you shall pass, but emphasis on being rescued, not necessarily by a man.  You also get points for your retro aspect.  Cinderella, the more I thought about it, you are rescued by the fairy godmothers, ok, and you too shall pass.  Shame on me for judging.  ARIEL DOES NOT GET A PASS AS YOU ARE A MORON, yeah I know I am judging but too bad, Ariel is a twit. 

I have always been a feminist.  I used to view that word as a dirty word as television always seems to mock it to the point I didn’t want to be called a feminist.  I used to proudly boast I am an equalitist.  The same thing.   Now I proudly boast I am a feminist.  I want my son and daughter to be feminists too, equalitists.  Strong like Belle not morons like Ariel. 

I want to raise my daughter to be a strong woman.  I tell her every day she is so smart, before or after I tell her how beautiful she it.  I had read an article while I was pregnant on how people compliment young girls for their looks.  “Look how cute you are.  What pretty hair you have.  Look at how pretty your dress is.”   Boys get to be told they are smart, but everyone goes straight to a physical attribute to compliment a little girl.  I liked that article.  My second week of motherhood, I caught myself telling my newborn son how smart he is and my newborn daughter how beautiful she is.  The article came to mind as soon as the words left my tongue, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.  I now make a conscience effort to tell my daughter how smart and beautiful she is.  I was torn telling her how beautiful she is, as she shouldn’t find her self worth lies in her looks, but she is so darned beautiful I can’t help but tell her. I also tell my son how handsome and smart he is. 

As I said earlier, I want my son to be a feminist too.  I want my son to grow up to be a strong man.  A man who respects women.  A man who treats everyone, regardless of gender, race, sexual preference, age, religion, appearance, the size of their bank account with the same respect.  I want to raise my daughter to also respect those around her regardless of their gender, race, sexual preference, age, religion, appearance and the size of their bank account.  I want them to walk into work and greet the janitor the same way they greet the CEOs.  I want them to be themselves and not put on a show for anyone.  We in turn will love them for who they are and whatever their life’s choices may be, as long as they aren’t assholes.   I may be idealistic, but too bad, I am going to raise nice kids who treat people equally.  Unless you are moronic mermaid who wants to change yourself to be someone you are not.