I recommend you Dragon´s Crown

[shoju]

This is entirely related to Bolty's Merida post. Skip if you don't care.

You know that Disney effed up, when Kids revolt.

I have 3 children. 16, 11, and 9. The oldest two are boys. My youngest, a girl. My daughter is not into girly things. She doesn't like Disney Princesses normally. For Christmas this year, her list was simple.

Nerf Guns
Spy Stuff
Remote Control Cars
iPod Nano

My daughter did however, LOVE Merida. LOVE doesn't quite encompass it thought. It was as if she had finally found a female character that Disney put out, that was like her. My daughter FINALLY had found a "Disney Princess" that she could emulate with some of her more girly friends, who liked to play "princeses" and that sort of thing.

We were cruising through Target one day, picking up a Birthday Present for one of her friends, and we came across the "revamp" (post uproar, changeover, whatever). This was the revamp of the revamp. She stared at Merida, and she was puzzled. And then she turned and looked at me, and said "Why did they change her?" I was curious what she meant, so I prodded her for details.

My daughter, who is too young to follow, or care, about the uproar online, was still able to tell that Merida was different. She was softer, prettier, she didn't look like the girl from the movies. And, the package didn't come with a bow and arrow.



It was just that doll, in a box. And my 9 year old daughter could tell that they had changed her. And she was certainly unhappy about it. While I don't think it's been a conscious decision, my daughter hasn't been as "in to" Merida since that day in Target, right after Christmas. The champion that she had found in this character, seemingly lost.

The problem with the sexualization of these characters, is a lot deeper than just stereotypes, and pushing negative body image. In some cases, it can alienate the very people you were trying to entice, or the demographic of people that you had already enticed.

For me? I'm pissed. I want my daughter to find who she is, and who she wants to be. Not was Disney wants her to be. Not was anyone else wants her to be. If my daughter wants run around the house setting up "spy stuff", and surprise ambushing me with her new fully automatic nerf gun (that kind of hurts to get shot with), because she is fascinated by spies, and the like, then that's fine. If she wants to be a "Merida" (movie) type nature girl, who doesn't want to get married, or have kids, or be what people want her to be, I'm (within reason) on board with that. I say within reason, because there are obviously some boundries involved.

And if she doesn't want to be a princess, or a girly girl, or a dress wearing girl, I'm ok with that too. I don't want her to be unhappy, and miserable with her life, purely because there is some unrealistic expectation of what she is supposed to be, because she has a vagina. And at this point, the very problem with marketing, is that companies haven't realized that not all girls want to be that girly girl, even in the not girly girl stuff. Have you seen the Lego sets for Girls? Have you seen the "nerf guns for girls?"

I guess I missed the point where a girl needed a Nerf Gun that was hot pink and purple, because that's for a girl. Why don't the normal nerf commercials show girls playing with their product? Why did Lego feel the need to market a way to "play house" with their lego sets, purely with girls in the ads? Why can't my daughter enjoy building the lego architecture collection (she loves it)?

Anyway, rant off.