Princess tales matter, too

Seerat Kaur Gill

Enough of the princesses!’ I admonish my kids, gesticulating with one hand and flicking off the television with the other. I fail to understand why girls eulogise other girls with crowns. As I go about tut-tutting, picking plastic princesses off the floor and shutting them in the closet, I lament how Disney continues to exploit the ‘princess fetish’ among little girls the world over. Our house of two daughters is brimming with tiaras, pink dolls, glittery shoes and makeup. Alas! Even the cutlery has faces of demure princesses all over. The humble parantha leaves the otherwise spotless royalty a tad greasy.

Despite my attempts at making their playtime gender neutral, the princesses manifest an indomitable presence in the house, with even more ‘boyish’ pursuits, such as football and cycle, bearing a stamp of frozen princesses.

It is not easy being a thinker’s daughter, and princesses’ mother at the same time, which is why I am mostly precariously striking a balance between indulging my little ones — aged six and two — and giving them a lecture on feminism. Princesses don’t have a real job, they don’t rescue themselves, they don’t get real education — ‘but mama, they ride horses into the sunset, throw down their golden hair from the top of a tower, create snow in deserts!’ How does one refute that?

Hence, like a good millennial mother, I turn to Google for answers, and the reliable algorithm rakes up several perspectives. This ‘princess’ culture is a global endemic. However, it’s not all dreary. On the bright side, princess tales inadvertently have a young girl with a tough life, who thinks for herself and overcomes life’s hardships. Majestic castles, shining knights, glorious stallions, are embellishments in their story! Therefore, the trick lies in letting children watch and read a range of books and movies, and inferring important life lessons themselves — much like princesses who navigate magical spells, evil witches in the garb of innocent women and domestic drudgery in the form of household responsibilities, quite by themselves. It even promotes role-play, better understanding of relationships, instils confidence and sparks creativity.

Feeling better about all the ‘pink’ strewn over the house, I settle myself into watching my current favourite show — The Crown, which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth. How does one justify the irony of the princess culture which has followed me right into my thirties!

Maybe, there is something empowering about the journey — from being just a pretty face with a sparkly tiara, she can metamorphose to a woman with key diplomatic role in global affairs. She can charter an off-beaten path and reach out to the underprivileged and downtrodden with her magic wand. And if the curtsies and tiaras become burdensome, she can forgo them, for she knows that she will still remain the princess of her story.