With the popularity of princesses in various media, especially Disney movies, and the degree to which princess media is pushed on children, I think it’s worth taking a moment to critically examine the concept of the “princess”. We need to determine what this idea actually means in a social and political sense, so we can make an informed judgement about whether this media is appropriate to expose to the most vulnerable members of our society.
Historically, a princess is the daughter of a monarch. Thanks, Oxford Dictionary! Very simple and straightforward definition. Monarchy is a system of government in which absolute power is concentrated in the hands of a single person, justified by a “divine right to rule”, and power passes between heads of state according to family succession.
Needless to say, monarchy is an oppressive right-wing ideology. And I mean that quite literally, as the terms left and right wing originated in revolutionary France. The politicians on the right side of parliament wanted to preserve the monarchy. Edmund Burke, widely regarded as the philosophical father of conservativism, was a staunch monarchist who believed in the totally unrestrained power of the monarchy. Modern conservativism, from Trump to Putin to Netanyahu, traces its roots back to monarchy. Indeed, conservative capitalism is an attempt to recreate the monarchy using wealth instead of law as the power of the dictator.
The traditional elements of a monarchical royal family are king, queen, prince, and princess. Given the historic dominance of male primogeniture (In which elder sons succeed before younger sons, who succeed before daughters), heads of state were most likely to be kings. And princes were groomed for leadership.
In contrast, while queens may serve as heads of state (and princesses may as well until coronation, which usually happens before long), queens and princesses’ primary function is reproductive. To give birth to the next generation of princes to become the next generation of kings. A patriarchal system of misogynist dictatorships.
Under this system, princesses were often bartered by royal families in order to reinforce international ties and build empires. Marriages would be arranged, often with the princess as a small child, to be married off to a foreign prince in order to appease his family or to game succession laws.
Make no mistake, this is a system of sex slavery and sex trafficking.
The point of the princess was her vagina and uterus. She would be taught from childhood the duties of a queen (that is to say, making babies), and groomed to be a loyal companion to the chosen prince. In medieval Europe, girls could be married at age 12, according to canon law. Consummation was expected. And nonconsensual sex between husband and wife was not considered rape. 12 year old marriages were not common among most people, but they were frighteningly normalised among royalty.
All of this is to say, a princess is a tyrant sex slave. A groomed and abused child expected to produce babies in order to secure political alliances, as part of upholding a cruel and oppressive system of dictatorships.
The popularity of princess media with children in the modern day, therefore, must be critically examined.
The idea of the “Disney Princess” comes from the fact that early Disney movies were largely based on old fairy tales. Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast. A fascination with upper class lifestyles lead to the fantasy of a woman being whisked off by a charming prince to a perfect life free from poverty or abuse. However, this is a view from rose-tinted lenses.
Teaching little girls that they should pine to be a member of an oppressive ruling class is not the best lesson, sex slavery aside. It’s easy to see how this idea could be encouraged in a society where hierarchical power systems are so normalised that people cannot imagine a different form of government. Medieval peasants were lied to, and told that they were ruled by monarchs for their own good. That to live without a king was anarchy, and that anarchy is lawless violent chaos.
Of course, we know better now. And many feminist scholars have pointed out that absurdity of teaching girls that the best they can hope for is to play second fiddle to a man. Modern Disney “Princesses”, like Moana, move out of the medieval european norm and into something approaching feminism. However, it’s tainted. It will always be tainted.
Frozen deconstructs the traditional princess idea rather handily. Anna, the more normal of the two Arendelle princesses, is given a traditional princess upbringing, and promptly falls in love with the first evil and abusive prince she comes across. The movie’s message is that the traditional image of the princess romance isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
However, we must ask if all that Frozen has done is polish up the image of princesses for a new age, and teach a new generation of girls to love Disney Princesses. Children don’t have the experience required to critically engage with media on the level that Frozen demands. The deconstruction of princess traditions in the movie is not simple enough to reach its target audience. And thus, another cohort of girls discover the old Disney movies their parents loved, and dress up as a tyrannical sex slave for Halloween.
Princesses should be for adults only.