I don't have children of my own. But I'm an aunt to nieces who are 24, 21, 21, 15, 12, and 9, and to nephews who are 20, 18, 15, 12, 8 and 1. It's been fascinating to watch them grow up (and yes, there are a lot of them! They are spread between several families).
The girls have gone through stages where everything is Power Puff girls, or Barbies, or Bratz; the boys went through Ninja turtles and PokeMon and all the regular superheroes. And they all grew out of it all.
I suppose my two most "princessy" nieces are the ones who are now 15 and 9 (two different families). They gravitated to the purple-pink aisles at the toy store early on, and couldn't get enough. Everything was sparkle and glittery, pink and pinker, castles and pet shops and every accessory you could imagine. There are Polly Pockets and My Little Ponys and tons and tons of Barbies. There are massive amounts of the Disney Princesses line, with all their Cinderellas and Snow Whites and Belles.
I think a girl who has a healthy upbringing can change between fantasy and reality without difficulty. My nieces who were the most princessy are not anymore; one is a math nerd (another fun stereotype) and the other is a very competitive little athlete. I expect they'll grow into and out of more stages as they get even closer to being adults.
I'm not sure that girls who play with princess paraphernalia are convinced they're princesses any more than girls who play with baby dolls believe they're truly mothers. And I'm also not sure it matters which toys a kid is exposed to. My nephew who is 8 is in a family full of girls, and he gravitated to "boy games" even before he was old enough to know what they were. (They always had something to do with sticks, or running, or noisy trucks and cars. Sigh.)
If the toys lead to greater manifestations of the theme -- such as parents who call their daughter a princess and teach her to want to be treated like one, or a parent who brings up a boy to be a jock regardless of what he wants -- that's when the problems begin, I believe.
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I don't have children of my own. But I'm an aunt to nieces who are 24, 21, 21, 15, 12, and 9, and to nephews who are 20, 18, 15, 12, 8 and 1. It's been fascinating to watch them grow up (and yes, there are a lot of them! They are spread between several families).
The girls have gone through stages where everything is Power Puff girls, or Barbies, or Bratz; the boys went through Ninja turtles and PokeMon and all the regular superheroes. And they all grew out of it all.
I suppose my two most "princessy" nieces are the ones who are now 15 and 9 (two different families). They gravitated to the purple-pink aisles at the toy store early on, and couldn't get enough. Everything was sparkle and glittery, pink and pinker, castles and pet shops and every accessory you could imagine. There are Polly Pockets and My Little Ponys and tons and tons of Barbies. There are massive amounts of the Disney Princesses line, with all their Cinderellas and Snow Whites and Belles.
I think a girl who has a healthy upbringing can change between fantasy and reality without difficulty. My nieces who were the most princessy are not anymore; one is a math nerd (another fun stereotype) and the other is a very competitive little athlete. I expect they'll grow into and out of more stages as they get even closer to being adults.
I'm not sure that girls who play with princess paraphernalia are convinced they're princesses any more than girls who play with baby dolls believe they're truly mothers. And I'm also not sure it matters which toys a kid is exposed to. My nephew who is 8 is in a family full of girls, and he gravitated to "boy games" even before he was old enough to know what they were. (They always had something to do with sticks, or running, or noisy trucks and cars. Sigh.)
If the toys lead to greater manifestations of the theme -- such as parents who call their daughter a princess and teach her to want to be treated like one, or a parent who brings up a boy to be a jock regardless of what he wants -- that's when the problems begin, I believe.
May 27, 2009 - 9:50amThis Comment
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