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Damsel in 'Dis Dress
Once upon a time, a group of young maidens existed for the sole purpose of getting married to a handsome, charming, and irresistible Prince of some unknown land. As their creator, Yensid, has tried to reinvent how these damsels are perceived with statements such as: “you can’t marry a man you just met.” Yet, later a character ends up marrying a man after about a year anyways…
These damsels wander around hopelessly for their entire childhood and into their adolescence, until suddenly, some traumatic event occurs (the classic would be one, or even better, both of their parents die!) and a Prince rescues them from an evil being. One knows when these damsels change from a lackluster girl to a sophisticated wife when they pull up to some big event in an elaborate dress. One also knows if the damsels story has influenced the youth when one looks out their window on October 31 and sees dresses in all different colors.
For young people watching these stories, it is no surprise that as they grow up, they are just sitting and waiting for a Prince to sweep them off their feet and make their lives a fairytale. Now, I am not saying that doesn’t happen, but this fascination with expecting fictional things can hurt one's thought-process.
Young children are still watching the old fairy tales. Absorbing the expectation that women have to wait for a man to save them from any inconveniences because they could never think for themselves. With that being said, the maiden’s creator is moving away from the typical story, and adding friendships to the plot instead of a romantic partner as the main focus of the story. This is a step in the right direction as it does not reinforcing heterosexual relationships and reinforce an urge to rush into marriage.
I loved this post Catie! I love how you used the same mocking, satirical tone as “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” and spun it into a story about Disney princesses. It was so entertaining to read and so true! I agree that most Disney Princess stories give young girls a false sense of hope and turn their focuses away from being their own heroes and instead, just waiting for one. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love the points you made in this blog. I really like the memes you used to emphasize your point. I completely agree that fairytale stories reinforce negative stereotypes that make young girls especially grow up rather close minded about what an ideal relationship is. You did a great job utilizing a satirical tone, specifically in the fist paragraph. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Catie! Loved some of the memes, they’re hilarious. Your post makes sense, because movies nowadays totally aren’t moving towards being more inclusive towards all identities (wink). On a serious note though, children’s movies have been a topic of debate now for what they are teaching these children. While I understand the more progressive POV, it doesn’t mean the “damsel in distress” is inherently offensive or wrong. I think it depends how you look at it. Wonder Woman “saving”Superman and batman, along with a lot of other dudes, definitely happened. But you can’t expect me to believe snow white saves the prince and kills the evil queen. The question I’m trying to ask is: doesn’t everything have a place?
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