Who Wants to Be a Princess Anyway?

Growing up female in today’s society, my feminism tendencies are sometimes magnified by real-life situations that reinforce my beliefs. Recently, the Justice League movie and the hype around the Royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, triggered such thoughts. I can’t help but remember all my childhood years spent running around in a tiara, wondering why little girls were supposed to aspire to be princesses and boys got to be valiant princes and superheroes.

I’m a believer that a woman can do anything that a man can do, and I will always believe that. When I was small and my brother got a Batman mask, I would ask him if I could be Batman. After his long explanation that I was a girl, and thus, could not be Batman, I came to the conclusion that I would be Batwoman. I had all the same powers, except that I was wearing pink pajamas and had longer hair. Luckily, my brother and I were almost always on the same page. But my grandmother’s generation could not come to terms with the fact that I wanted to play with my brothers toys, so as a child I would play with dolls. I also took dance lessons (when my grandmother “strongly suggested” I go into ballet, which I hated). I got away with belly dancing with some negotiating and a very understanding mom. On the other hand, my brother got to play with Nerf guns and skateboards, but that didn’t bother me as much as the role-play of “Superhero Rescues the Princess.” What do we have to be rescued from besides society’s sexism and double standards?

Girls have been raised to be the princess. We’re supposed to be gentle, feminine, and polite. I call BS! Why is it that guys can go save the world and we can’t? Why are we trained to be docile or think that we need rescuing? We can accomplish so much if we are raised believing that we can do anything. Meghan Markle has been the victim of so much judgement just because she doesn’t fit the standard of the typical princess who lounges around and waits for the man to do the work. She’s a working woman, and she has fought hard battles to get where she is.

Change doesn’t come easy, but it’s coming!  The norm of the passive, silent woman is slowly fading and now, future generations of little girls have real live-action superheroes to look up to like Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. So why don’t we strive to prove that women can be super at anything we do as well? We don’t need a long pink gown and a crown to rule the world.  What’s the use of dreaming of becoming a princess, when we’re already queens? 

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