So I decided that I would like to share something with you… I absolutely do not want anyone calling my future daughter “princess”. I don’t like the clothes with the word “princess” on it and the HUGE amount of baby/girl paraphernalia with the word “princess” on it.
“OH NO”, you say, “Not another feminist rant!”
I don’t know if it’s a “feminist rant” or not, all I know that I would rather people say to my future daughter – what a cute little astrophysicist vs. what a cute little princess. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with princesses but do I want her to admire Ariel from the Little Mermaid or Cinderella or Snow White? Not really. The new Disney princesses are portrayed as much stronger and more independent women but still I cannot help but see “princesses” as being a little bit entitled and a little bit spoiled but mostly not independent strong women.
I can’t predict the future and I don’t know how I will raise my future daughter. I can speculate that I won’t spoil her (probably will), that I won’t make mistakes with her (definitely will) but I know I will teach her about feminism and what it is. I don’t want her to think it’s a ‘dirty’ word. I don’t want her to be scared to say loud and proud, “I am a feminist”. I want to teach her about all the strong women who push boundaries daily for equal rights. I want to teach her about how women have suffered. AND I want to teach her that unfortunately, still, to this day, women aren’t treated equally but maybe in her day they will be.
I want to teach her that if she wants to be a scientist – she can be – because women have paved the way for her to do so. If she wants to work in IT that’s ok, and if she wants to be CEO, doctor, nurse, plumber or a hairdresser – That’s all ok – as long as at the end of the day she’s happy.
Will calling her a ‘princess’ teach her to be entitled – OF COURSE not – her feeling entitled will be a product of how she is raised. BUT I think it’s odd that we don’t call boys “prince”… does this give an advantage to boys over girls… maybe, maybe not.
Do I get mad at people calling their little girls “princess”? – NO! – I’m not a “Judgemental Judy” and as a feminist I believe that it’s ok if a girl wants to be called ‘Princess’ she can be. 🙂 You can call your child anything you want (as long as it’s not derogatory or cruel or anything like that). It’s just my own personal preference that people call her a scientist, engineer, dreamer, artist, for example.
Are there any pet names that you don’t like for girls or boys? Do you think I’m out of line? Let me know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you!
Just Tyna 