When it comes to disturbing toddler trends, timing is everything.
The New York Times, November 3, 2005, Love the Riches, Lose the Rags:
...More than a millennium after her creation and 55 years after her Disneyization, Cinderella has gone from a stalwart to a phenomenon with the kind of hypnotic effect exerted by only a few characters per generation. "It's everywhere I turn, and she's obsessed with it," said Suzanne Brady of Wantagh, N.Y., of her 2-year old daughter, Reilly....In fact, Cinderella lust causes some young devotees to behave more like her wicked stepsisters. "Literally, the dresses get fought over by the little girls," said Elaine Harrop of Farmingdale, N.Y., as her 3-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, repeatedly flung herself at a Cinderella statue in the World of Disney Store in Manhattan on Saturday, clutching at the stiff skirt.
Salon, Nov. 24, 2004, A nation of little princesses:
...It started with some dress-up costumes sold at the Disney Store, and after those initial test products vanished from the shelves faster than Cinderella's coach at midnight, Disney knew it had a major hit on its satin-gloved hands. Sales of the Princess line were an astounding $2.5 billion last year, up from $300 million in 2001....The ease and rapidity with which a princess obsession can take hold of a young girl's psyche is mind-blowing. Josh Levine, a Brooklyn, N.Y., writer/photographer, says he and his wife made a decisive effort to keep their daughter, Sasha, away from anything Disney. But when she was a little over 2 she watched a video of "Sleeping Beauty" at a friend's house and was immediately hooked. Soon the accoutrements of princess-hood started to fill the Levine home and Sasha began to insist upon wearing ball gowns as her everyday wardrobe. While decked out in her full Snow White regalia in early October, a woman on the street asked the 3-year-old if she was going to dress as a princess for Halloween, to which Sasha responded, "No, I am a princess."
But whenever it's reported--this shit just freaks me out. If there really has to be a toddler-driven consumer frenzy, couldn't it be for something better than this?
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In my observations of young girls, they seem to fall into two categories: the girls who adore the lace and satin and the girls who find that stuff laughable. Even girls in the same family will go completely directions, casting doubt on the idea that it's caused by their environment. The little princesses in my homeschooling group, however, are perfectly willing to run around, roughhouse, and wallow in the sandbox in their ball gowns.
I don't have a problem with it unless the girl is so choosy that she demands brand-name stuff and won't accept items from the thrift store.
We begin teaching children from an early age the rules of power and control. It is not surprising that three year olds opt for princess rags to riches. Bit of a shock when they find out the best they can do is prom queen.