The fairest of them all

I was wandering around the public library, and this book caught my eye,  Cinderella Ate My Daughter by journalist Peggy Orenstein, HarperCollins, 2011. As a new mother and firm feminist, the author vowed to raise her daughter to be free from the passive, fairy tale princess stereotype only to discover her 3 year old reenacting the tale of Snow White. Where on earth did she learn this? This led Orenstein on a search to examine the influence of the girlie-girl culture which include:

~ The power of marketing, i.e. the Disney Princess merchandising jackpot - 26,000 Princess items which raked in $4 billion by 2009.
~ The princess meme, a harmless phase or narcissists in training?
~ Gender differences, real or imposed? Real.
~ Beauty pageants and teen idols with feet of clay.
~ Looks versus achievements, which one is more important and which one wins out? Unfortunately, it's still looks.
~ Social media  - virtual friends and intimacy, cyber-bullying, and the loss of real-life relationships.

On the American Girl Collection's historical dolls:

 "[T]hey were more free than they are today: a time when their character mattered more than their clothing, when a girl's actions were more important than how she looked or what she owned - a time before girlhood was consumed and defined by consumerism."

"[T]he books preach against materialism, but you could blow the college fund on the gear. In fact, Kit, Addy, Molly, and their friends could never afford the dolls that represent them - an irony that became particularly piquant in fall 2009 with the introduction of Gwen, a $95 limited-edition doll who was supposed to be homeless."

Comparing a girl's New Year's resolution from the end of the 19th century and the end of the 20th:

"Resolved to think before speaking. To work seriously. To be self-restrained in conversations and actions. Not to let my thoughts wander. To be dignified. Interest myself more in others." vs. "I will try to make myself better in any way I possibly can... I will lose weight, get new lenses, got new haircut, good makeup, new clothes and accessories."  (I think you can guess which is which.)

"Whatever constraints she (the 19th century girl) felt, her femininity was not defined by the pursuit of physical perfection. It was about character. I wonder why we adult women with all our economic, political and personal freedoms have let this happen to our daughters?"

And finally, which I found rather insightful:

"It would be disingenuous to claim that Disney Princess diapers or Ty GIrlz or Hannah Montana or Twilight or the latest Shakira video or a Facebook account is inherently harmful. Each is, however, a cog in a round-the-clock-all-pervasive machine aimed at our daughters - and at us - from womb to tomb, one that, again and again, presents femininity as performance, sexuality as performance, identity as performance, and each of these traits is available for a price. It tells girls that how you look is more important than how you feel. More that that, it tells them that how you look is how you feel as well as who you are."

I enjoyed reading this book although I don't agree with Orenstein's worldview. I think this would be worth reading if you have a daughter/granddaughter or work with young girls to gain insight into the what the culture is purveying. This was helpful for me in getting a better perspective on the current feminist movement as Christians can be just as guilty of creating straw men or, in this case, straw women of those with whom we disagree. It's  fascinating to see the shift in popular feminism away from women aping men to the acceptance of femininity. Also the acknowledgment of gender differences is a victory for plain ol' common sense as it hardly takes a rocket scientist to figure this one out.  It also says volumes when feminists see that in many ways, girls are no better off and perhaps worse off than they were before their mothers burned their bras. Young women are still objectified if not more, and that threshold is becoming younger and younger. To give her credit, Orenstein has admirable goals to protect her daughter's childhood "from becoming a marketer's land grab" because there are problems galore out there. But if your worldview has relegated the God of the Gospel to fairy tales, you are missing the one Person who can bring real change inside. Then and only then is there divine power to reject the pull of the world and it's desire to mold our daughters into its image.