At first I thought this ad (found at Jezebel) creeped me out because of the equation: Disney princess + girl power. But then I remembered that that’s pretty much been the whole Disney princess gimmick since, oh, Sleeping Beauty or so. Then it hit me. It’s the infantilization. Disney princess + adult woman = shivers up my spine. Is it just me?
Text:
I learned a long time ago that a true princess makes her own happy ending. So I train. I sweat. I succeed. That’s my fairytale. A nd with a new Disney half marathon celebrating women, it makes my commitment worth it. It’s not just a race… it’s a reflection of me.
From the Disney Princess Half Marathon website:
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.The Inaugural 2009 Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend will bring women of all ages together to participate in a magical event designed just for them. The Disney Princesses are the inspiration for the weekend’s events and will focus on the attributes every princess possesses: commitment, courage, determination, fantasy, perseverance, and strength. Every woman is a princess, which princess are you?
Comments 13
mordicai — September 21, 2008
I gotta say-- I think this one is just you. Evoking nostalgia does not infantilization make.
Muriel Minnie Mae — September 21, 2008
Women of color need not participate it seems. This event appears to be targeted toward white women. And white women who can afford to fly to Disney to run a 1/2 marathon. Think food and accommodations are included?
eallen — September 21, 2008
So is the event just "celebrating women" in general, or does the money go to a particular philanthropic cause? I wonder too why it's a half marathon, rather than a 5K or 10K. Saying it's "half" of a marathon makes me think that the manly distance of a full marathon was halved because the poor weak women can't handle a full marathon. Calling the race by a length of 5 or 10 or 15K doesn't have the same "less than" association.
lgreen — September 21, 2008
I don't think the Princess brand hasn't been around long enough to evoke nostalgia. Also, is it weird that Disney is re-defining the word "princess"? The attributes they list aren't the attributes of either actual princesses (as in member of a royal family) or people who have been called "princesses", sort of insultingly, in the past (pampered/spoiled girls or women). They're not even the attributes of the girls in the cartoons, who mostly just sat around until stuff happened to them.
MRK — October 26, 2009
A half marathon is a defined race length. Plenty of people race halves in the process of building to a full - or maybe just stick with a half. So, running a half marathon can be a matter of preference, a matter of logistics, or a matter of sexism. But Occam's Razor suggests the last is unlikely.
And unfortunately, it has been my experience that in the United States at least, outside of the most elite races, that running is a relatively wealthy, relatively white sport. Which is too bad - it's the cheapest sport to get into.
DanAfleck — October 28, 2009
I have no problem with Disney celebrating women, or even equating women with princesses. But I do have a bone to pick with the very last line of the website blurb-
"Every woman is a princess. Which princess are you?"
As in, we have to pick one of the pre-made Disney princesses to be? A woman can't keep her own individual attributes and still be a princess? That's not okay with me.
German Frat Sexes Up the Nursery » Sociological Images — November 8, 2009
[...] more infantilization of women, see here, here, here, here, and here, and here. Leave a Comment Tags: children/youth, gender, [...]
Disney Princesses, Deconstructed » Sociological Images — November 29, 2009
[...] most posts on Disney princesses, look here, here, here, here, and here. Two other great posts include this rejection letter (”we don’t hire [...]
Carolyn — August 2, 2010
Fantasy is apparently one of a princess's best traits? Okay then. I'm a princess because I fantasize about winning a race, even if I'm never going to enter. Out of sheer laziness.
Popanator — September 4, 2011
I love to eat disney princess fruit snacks. It makes me feel like a princess!