Peggy Orenstein admits that her behavior on the subject of princess culture has been “hypocritical, inconsistent, even reactionary.” But she didn’t take it kindly when her expensive pediatric dentist asked her 3-year-old daughter to “sit in my special princess throne so I can sparkle your teeth.”
Orenstein began to wonder and worry. One of her daughters’ classmates showed up to school every day dressed in a Cinderella gown with a bridal veil. If this was going down in Berkeley, what was happening in the real world? How could imitating The Little Mermaid, who gives up her voice to be with a man, empower her daughter? On the other hand, perhaps girl power is simply girl power, and her little girl would have it all: brains, beauty and the approval of men. What’s a mother to do?
Orenstein, who chronicled her quest to become a mother in the bestseller Waiting for Daisy, wrote up her concerns for The New York Times Magazine, but she couldn’t stop after asking “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” Disney’s Princesses line alone pulls in some $2 billion a year. She saved the sparkles from her daughter’s teeth, and now they’re on the cover of Cinderella Ate My Daughter, a compelling, funny and often frightening look into the transformation of little girls from children on a playground into the targets of high-powered merchandising campaigns.
Orenstein’s frank, hilarious narration functions as a guide to the insidious world of girlie marketing. From “classic board games, each of which appears to have been dipped in Pepto-Bismol” to Miley Cyrus in “booty shorts with a sparkly tank slit up the sides to expose her bra,” Orenstein takes you to the sickly sweet heart of outside-in girlhood. She’s smart, funny and coming to town on March 2. Bring your own sparkles.
PEGGY ORENSTEIN reads from ‘Cinderella Ate My Daughter’ Wednesday, March 2 at 7:30pm at Capitola Book Café, 1475 41st Ave., Capitola. Free.
