Is Disney Princess Culture Bad for Our Daughters?

[kygman]

Originally Posted by DewDropInn

I'd recommend Lion King, Snow White, Mary Poppins and Pollyanna to anyone who wants to be loose themselves in magic for a few hours. .

DewDrop, I have a good one for you. I was a youngster living at home when Mary Poppins came out. My dad let us keep a stray dog that decided to hang around our house. When we were deciding what to name him my dad told us he had already named him. Our dog's name?
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! We called him Super to save time and energy.
Several years later when I moved away to college ( an entire 20 miles from home! lol) I got a package from my parents. On top of all the food they sent, I got a framed autograph picture of Super! My dad stuck him paw to one of those rubber stamp ink pads and pressed it on the lower right of the picture. I'm 55 now and still have the picture!

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

There is nothing wrong with a little fantasy and pretend whether that be Spiderman, princesses or Power Rangers. I doubt my daughter is going to have her moral values shaped by the Pink Ranger anymore than she is going to have them shaped by Ariel. However, she is going to be greatly influenced by what she sees happening around her with her family.

I think people who are afraid of the negative influence of pop culture and mass media are afraid because the example they set in their actual life is lacking and the example they set and the values they instill are not strong enough to overcome the influence. So, set a good example for kids and don't worry about the possibility of them being negatively influenced by a story to be an abandoned princess shacking up with seven midgets until a man comes and sweeps them away or selling their soul and giving up everything they know for a chance to be with a man they can't have.

I suppose now you're going to tell me the kid who amused herself with the medical dictionary at five won't grow up to be a doctor, either. Way to burst my bubble, Goat! Sheesh.

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by kygman

Are you serious? Don't know if you have heard of the author Jesse Stuart. He was a great Kentucky author who wrote about life around Kentucky. My mother went to a workshop he taught in many years ago. He said all this about the meanings of what was written is stupid. Somebody asked him what was the meaning behind "the boy walked down the shady lane to visit his grandmother". He said the meaning was simply that the boy was walking down the shady lane to visit his grandmother. Nothing else!

I'm guessing the response of the human psyche to literature lies somewhere between Mr. Stuart and Joseph Campbell, with a lot of individual variation.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by kygman

On top of all the food they sent, I got a framed autograph picture of Super! My dad stuck him paw to one of those rubber stamp ink pads and pressed it on the lower right of the picture. I'm 55 now and still have the picture!

I love that. I think Walt would have loved it too! Those are exactly the family bonds he wanted his films to build and nurture.