There has been plenty of talk of avoiding princesses and creating "strong women" (which sometimes I take to mean "women who act like men, not women who are celebrated for being actual women.")
I understand wanting to empower all children to be who they are, whether it is a little girl who wants to be in a traditionally male-dominated field, or a little boy who wants to paint his toenails pink (J Crew, I love you.) But I don't think it is worth pushing kids towards something that they are not in the name of "strength."
Growing up I tried to take the "empowered woman" approach, which really meant I was denying my desires to be a little bit girly. I had a single Barbie who was going to be an attorney or something, and my mom made it clear that cheerleading was for stupid girls even though I really wanted to audition. (And everyone expected me to try out given my dance background. I did try out and made the finals, but didn't get on the squad. A story for another time...)
I wanted to be "practical" and quit dance before college so I could focus on "real studies." Instead of taking creative writing or photography like I would have wanted, I took science courses. I went to one meeting of the women in science club and died of boredom. And yet I have two science degrees. I did everything "right" to be a so-called "strong woman" but my heart didn't agree.
Once I got older, I decided to embrace the pink. No, you probably won't find me wearing any pink on a day-to-day basis aside from my toenails, but I love my tiara for New Year's and for things like the Princess Half-Marathon. I'll take a little pink and a little sparkle as accents whenever appropriate now.
But of course the sparkle and pink is mainly metaphorical.
I allow myself to be a little "girly" now. And I adore fairy tales. Oh, how I adore fairy tales! I'm serious and uptight enough when doing "real work" or behaving in my role as "Mom" that I truly enjoy the so-called-escapism of a well-told fairy tale.
Sure, it isn't likely that a fairy godmother will wave a magic wand and my problems will disappear, but I appreciate the availability of fantasy. Plus, really take a look at some of those stories and discover the women aren't helpless at all.
Yup. I have two Ivy-league science degrees. I was the Teacher's Pet. I did everything "right" but I'm a fairy tale addict.
And so, I am looking forward to this:
I know essentially no more than what you see in this trailer. I am definitely intrigued.
Not that I want next autumn to arrive too fast, what with my kids going back to school with grade numbers that belong to older people, but at least the debut of this drama (by Lost's Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz) will ease the sting of that traditionally chaotic time. From a psychological perspective, Once Upon a Time will arrive just in time.
And yeah, maybe I'll run the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon for good measure, too.
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I am an Amazon affiliate. The Barbie I hold in the photo above right is my son's. Yes, my son's. He has an impressive collection of sparkles and princesses. He also has an impressive collection of Star Wars figurines and ninjas.
