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Monday, November 12, 2012

Politics / The Ladies I Am Really Digging This Anti-Princess Vibe We've Got Going On Right Now

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 12:53 PM

Have you seen Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's appearance on Sesame Street yet?

Between this and a popular movie still in theaters right now*, popular culture seems to be fighting back against this "princess" thing that has consumed kid culture over the last decade or so. This is very exciting stuff, and it reminds me of this awesome Coup song:

(In other, way shittier Sesame Street news, there's this.)

* SPOILER ALERT: The movie in question is Wreck-It Ralph, which was way better than I expect non-Pixar animated movies to be, thanks mostly to John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman's outstanding voice work. If Silverman's character had decided to be a princess over being a race car driver, I would've burned the fucking movie theater to the ground.

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Comments (19) RSS

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Last decade or so? The princess thing has been around a bit longer than that.

Posted by Rotten666 on November 12, 2012 at 1:03 PM

Well, crap, they only just passed R-74 making it legal for me to marry a princess, and now princesses are passé?

Posted by originalcinner on November 12, 2012 at 1:13 PM

Thanks for sharing the song- can't believe I've missed out on this one! Sharing that one with my girls---

Posted by Duvall-ite on November 12, 2012 at 1:15 PM

Excuse me,princess!!! Next time,your in another castle,I'll remember that post...burn down a movie theater??? This isn't DOOM and I don't feel like shooting up my school... it's just a video game,get over it...have some "hot coffee" or play second life..your brain has warped to world 6-9 pause your game before it's too late or it is GAME OVER...(Love my video game puns? ;)

Posted by superhyrulean on November 12, 2012 at 1:23 PM

Paul, by saying "decade or so" I assume you are referring to the last several hundred years. (Fairytale princesses didn't suddenly appear in 2002, and girls have been fed the "princess + prince charming" idea since at least Cinderella, which was first published in 1697 but has roots in antiquity.)

And in the story to which you link, Kevin Clash says he's never tried to hide his homosexuality or been ashamed of it, but I recall Being Elmo seeming to place a weird special emphasis on his heterosexual past. It spent some real time on the development of his relationship with his former wife, and prominently featured his daughter from his heterosexual marriage. I can understand why it might seem safest for someone in Clash's position to stay closeted, but if he really weren't ashamed or trying to hide, as he says today, the movie wouldn't have tried so hard to imply he is straight.

Posted by greendyke on November 12, 2012 at 1:23 PM

The "wise latina" on the same show as big bird?

Republicans are probably shitting themselves right now.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on November 12, 2012 at 1:26 PM

Thank God they took Elmo down a notch or two as well.

Posted by Banna

on November 12, 2012 at 1:36 PM

Elmo was always creepy. Now we know why. And no, I won't tickle you Elmo.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on November 12, 2012 at 1:49 PM

The Paper Bag Princess is awesome, though.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Paper-Bag-Prin…

Posted by StuckInUtah on November 12, 2012 at 2:09 PM

Love Justice Sotomayor. Love her.

May she be a thorn in the side of republicans for decades to come.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on November 12, 2012 at 2:14 PM

I like this from ThinkGeek:

You know what? We don't need no stinkin' knight in shining armor, thankyouverymuch. Yeah, sure there's a dragon, and the villain is over there in the corner explaining his evil plan, but I promise. We've got this entire situation under our tiny control.

Posted by Mr. Happy Sunshine on November 12, 2012 at 2:30 PM

I loved the clip, but her saying "*even* a scientist" hit me funny. I didn't like that because while the main message was that she can be anything she wants, it's implied that being a scientist, for a girl, is a farther reach than all the other options, which is bullshit.

And re: Kevin Clash, I don't buy it.

Posted by mr. herriman on November 12, 2012 at 2:54 PM

From what I've seen with my daughter and her friends, most girls ages 3-6 become obsessed with the princess thing regardless of what mom, dad, or Justice Sotomayor have to say about it.

Somewhere around age 7 or 8, they suddenly want nothing to do with princesses anymore.

Posted by seandr on November 12, 2012 at 3:37 PM

@12: I didn't pick up that implication. Even a scientist is a reach for anyone. It requires years of focus on subjects that a lot of people find difficult. And even after all of that, in this country at least, scientists and their work are often treated with a shocking level of ignorance and disrespect (see some of the yahoos on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, the many school districts that won't teach evolution, or anyone who gets the vapors at the idea of stem cell research).

Posted by quix on November 12, 2012 at 3:41 PM

@14 Maybe so, but girls are discouraged from STEM courses of study and careers in so many subtle ways. It felt like another example of such to me.

Posted by mr. herriman on November 12, 2012 at 4:34 PM

I sure don't know why everyone is picking this clip apart: I think it's freaking awesome!

And Paul is correct! Girls were not consumed by and saturated in pink and princesses until about 2002, when Disney launched its massive princess branding campaign in earnest (as detailed in Cinderella Ate My Daughter and tons and tons of recent articles about the same thing).

Posted by mitten on November 12, 2012 at 5:10 PM