Cinderella Ate My Daughter - Peggy Orenstein



I did not really like reading this article either.  Although I will say it was not as bad as reading the last one, except for the length.

I have to disagree with Orenstein because I grew up with American Girl Dolls, Barbie’s, the Princesses, Polly Pocket, and Sesame Street.  However my favorite color since I was in first grade is blue.  I loved playing with my brother’s Legos in addition to my dolls, if someone gave me the new “girls” Legos, I probably would not play with them since they are pink.  I also disagree because there is more than one ethnicity.  There is Josefina (Hispanic), Addy (African American), Marie-Grace (Hispanic), Cecile (African American), and Ivy (Chinese).

I choose connections for this article because I felt that it connects to Linda Christenson’s article and Lisa Delpit’s article. 

Linda Christenson - Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us

Linda Christenson talks about how children are learning certain rules and views (like Delpit’s “codes of power”) from movies, stories, television shows, and books.  However the things that this article is referring to are not good.  Linda Christenson states, “Our society’s culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream” (126).  Christenson then continues, “The ‘secret education,’  as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children’s books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints.  And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart” (126).  Little girls are learning that in order to be successful they have to marry someone who is rich, and handsome.  Girls are learning that one’s looks means everything, that if you are not pretty than you end up like Cinderella’s evil stepsisters.  Boys learn that they can treat a girl however they want because in the end they will still get the girl.

Lisa Delpit – The Silenced Dialogue

Looking at this concept of a “secret education”, from a Delpit point of view, this does not make sense.  Lisa Delpit talks about how the codes of power influence the way we learn.  Delpit talks about how children do not take direction well if the direction is implied.  So my question is: how would children see the “secret education” that they are getting?  Lisa Delpit states, “Consequently, as Heath suggests, upon entering school the child from such a family may not understand the indirect statement of the teacher as a direct command.  Both white and black working-class children in the communities Heath studied ‘had difficulty interpreting these indirect requests for adherence to an unstated set of rules’ (34).  Children need to be told directly what to do; otherwise they will not follow the directions.  A child needs to be explicitly told what to do, so how can they get a message that is barely implied?

Point to Share:   If a little girl wants to play princess then I think the parents should let her play princess.  I also think that if a boy wants to dress up like a policeman or a fire fighter the parents should let the child dress up that way as well.  But to go with that I think it is the parents’ responsibility to explain that the child can grow up to be anything they want, and the parents should support the child aspirations.  If a boy wants to be a professional dancer when he grows up, then let him, because the truth is it is more likely that he will become a professional than if a girl tried.  A child needs to understand that looks are not everything and intelligence and learning are very important.

 I thought it would be very interesting to see the meaning of some of the princesses’ names.  Some of the names did not have meanings. 

The Meaning Behind the Princesses Names:
Cinderella = Little Ashes            http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Cinderella
Aurora = Dawn                           http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Aurora
Belle = Beautiful                         http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Belle
Ariel = Lion of God                    http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Ariel
Jasmine = Is a type of flower      http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Jasmine
Pocahontas = Playful                  http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Pocahontas