Why I Will raise my daughter to be a princess

I have waited 20 years to have a daughter. My first 3 children are boys. I never wanted a boy. I love my boys, but they over cooked and came out all boyish.  I always wanted to have a girl to dress all pretty and play tea parties and dance and sing with. I dreamed of calling her princess and making her into the girlyest girly girl you could imagine!

You can imagine my dismay as I FINALLY get my daughter to find out that it is uncool, shunned and generally looked down on to make your daughters think they are princesses. Things like "unhealthy body image" and "unrealistic  expectations" are phrases that are thrown around.

I don't buy in. Let me tell you why I WILL raise my daughter to think she is a princess.

Princesses are great role models. That's it, that's why.

Whoa! Before you get all up in my grill about how these girls are all unrealistically proportioned, living in a fairyland, and real life has no happy ending,  let me explain.

These girls are healthy. They all work hard, sometimes even slave labor. (Well ok not Jasmine) They dance constantly even when they are being forced to wash the floors with a scrub brush on their hands and knees or they are sweeping or even when they are cleaning someone else's house with just a bunch of woodland creatures to help. And I don't recall seeing a McD's anywhere in those woods.  They ride horses, all very well I might add. And walk great distances, running from huntsmen or to find their fathers in creepy dark castles. Some of them even know some form of martial arts and walked a great distance to see her prince.

Now, if my fluffy butt had to work like that, walk so far and eat nothing but apples, I wouldn't be fluffy either. What is wrong with a healthy diet and exercise? Just because most of North America cant seem to fit it in does it mean we should be ostracizing these princesses?  Isn't this discrimination against skinny twig bitches? Honestly, I WANT to teach my daughter to work hard, do a good job, get plenty of exercise and eat lots of apples (of course, not poisoned ones)(In snow white's defense, I am sure she wouldn't have eaten THAT apple if she KNEW it was poisoned, so another lesson on choosing healthy food options, maybe not evil GMO?.)

And what about Fiona? Didn't she finally embrace her larger self? She still got a great husband who thought she was beautiful because of her "imperfection".

They have many other great traits that I want to teach my daughter. They may be skinny twig bitches but they have fat hearts and that is what really matters.
 
Cinderella was an animal activist. She saved helpless mice to escape certain death. I can't think of one princess that didn't have some form of a pet.  Who doesn't want their daughter to be kind and gentle to animals? To take care of the less fortunate, not matter how unfortunate their own situation?

Belle stood up to a mob for the Beast.  How many girls these days would stand up for someone being bullied for their looks?
 
Jasmine  disregarded her "class" and helped a poor homeless boy discover his true potential.
 
Snow White loved the dwarfs regardless of their size and funny noses. She looked past the physical imperfections and never once used derogatory slang.
Tiana  was not racist even though according to today's standards she had every right to be, as a minority.

Each of these princesses are brave. They don't let others walk all over them, they stand up to oppressors. And they all pick the prince who treats them with respect and love, even if that means going against societal norms, or their own parents.

None of them are perfect, they all make life changing mistakes but learn from their mistakes and make it right.

They are dreamers, and they go after their dreams with full gusto. They educate themselves and use their skills  to help themselves and others. They don't rely on others to make their choices, or take care of them, but they all let love in and find happiness there.

And are the real life princesses any different?

Princess Kate is a loving, kind generous person  from what I can see. She is a loving mother, a supportive wife. She is educated and healthy and dresses AWESOME. Her Mother in law was no different. Princess Diana used her influence for good, helping where ever she could. I could only dream that my daughter does so much good in the world.

Sure the princesses are all thin and dress in skin tight clothes, bestowed all these riches and get these perfect men, but the only misconception my step daughter, who is 8, has had about princesses is that they all don't have to listen to their dads cause they are princesses. I simply reminded her that their Dads are Kings and they sure as heck had to listen to them! And that put an end to the Diva.

I asked her to think about the princesses and tell me what she remembers about them as people, not what they did, this is the list she came up with:
Danced lots
Liked to sing
Loved animals
Kind
Helped others
Smart
Had dreams

Uhmm ok, I didn't see "pretty" "skinny" "rich" or "spoiled" on that list.

And what about the happily ever after? Why is that so hard to imagine? Why does that have to be unrealistic? You make your own happiness. Happiness is a CHOICE. If they have all these great qualities, and a guy who respects them and loves them, then why can't they be happy the rest of their lives? Happiness doesn't mean the absence of trials and hard times. It means you rise above those trials and are happy anyways. And don't we see them doing just that BEFORE the end of the story? So why would it be realistic for them to stop after the end of just one of their stories?

So yeah, I am going to raise my daughter to be a princess. To be smart and strong and loving and kind and healthy and hard working and a dreamer. To never be walked on or let others be walked on. To achieve everything she wants to achieve.  And yeah, to live Happily Ever After.