Princessified

I was just browsing the net for some more research materials for cop when I stumbled upon this post: "To Flatten A Heroine: Artist Puts Disney Princess Filter On 10 Real Life Female Role Models". I understand what the cartoonist here is trying to get across with his illustrations and I agree to some extent how "ridiculous it is to paint an entire gender of heroes with one superficial brush". However, I also believe that "if something is visually appealing, kids are at least 10 times more likely to be interested in it", which was a comment made by a fellow reader. She continues explaining her opinion with;

"My 4 year old daughter walked by while I was reading this and she was instantly intrigued. That gave the opportunity to talk to her about who these women are. If they looked non-princessafied she wouldn't have cared. This is the way art works. It has a powerful effect on the senses and strongly influences our opinions. If each of these "princesses got their own little illustrated storybook or movies, suddenly, our little daughters would be interested in finding out who they are."

Another reader replied with;

"I AGREE! I understand that his reasoning was 'this isn't needed' but honestly certain things are more appealing to little girls....princesses are one of them, glitter is another, and happy smiling people is another. These cover all those things. My daughter would LOVE these (she's 4 too). Honestly I can't wait to show her these. I've never thought to talk to her about them, but these images would appeal to your brain right now. I'll also show her their real pictures and explain that the drawings are just princess versions of these important women. There's nothing wrong with that."

I, myself, was brought up watching Disney movies - I still love it to this day! But not once have I thought of wanting to be a princess prancing around in glittery frocks, batting my eyelashes about. I've always been taught to look further than that and its their personalities, characteristics and morals of the story that my parents have always made sure I understood. The style, glitters and magic was just the thing that made me want to watch. So I also agree with both of these women, and now I also feel more enthusiastic about my proposed practical response of retelling the stories of real heroes in a fairy tale kind of fashion because clearly (as evidenced above) there is a want for something like this. (though I wouldn't make them too princessy because I want them to stay as close to their normal selves as possible, but just telling their stories so that it'd be more captivating to children)