By Natalia Locatelli - Alpha Female in Training

When I first read this Yahoo! article, my immediate reaction was that this is utterly ridiculous. Of all the things to get parents worried about their young daughters… princesses? Barbie, now somehow considered the root of all evil, appears to have ushered in a new era of control – what can you allow your daughter to play with that won’t one day psychologically scar her for the rest of her life?

 Interestingly, the article only mentions in the last two sentences something that occurred to me early on while reading: princesses, especially Disney princesses, are always portrayed as kind-hearted, compassionate, and often full of life. They are also typically defiant of those who try to stop them from doing good and, while they may wear pretty dresses, never care about material possessions. I find it interesting that the people in this article only seem to see the attached merchandise to the princess fantasy – the toys, castles, make-over booths, etc.

The only way to raise your daughter or your son well, for that matter, is to know them. Talk to them. Teach them what is important – the compassion vs. the glass slipper – and do the best you can. Every person, especially little girls, want to be special. Being a princess is unique and special in their eyes. At the same time, people want to belong. A princess very obviously belongs to a group – the country she rules – so she gets the best of both worlds. She is unique and belongs.

Let’s now look at this issue from the other side – let’s say that these little girls are indeed influenced negatively by Princess Mania: what kind of Princess Behavior could we expect to see in them when they enter the work force? Take the following with a grain of salt – it is meant playfully but there is a little hidden truth in here:

1)   ROYAL PROCLAMATIONS: the princess’s word is law. If she tells her employees that a report has to be done by a specific day, time-stamped, and printed on pink paper, she will expect it to be done. Or throw a royal tantrum. This also means that no matter how outrageous the desire, she will expect her orders to be carried out perfectly.

2)   THE PRINCESS IS ALWAYS RIGHT: this, by extension, means she is never wrong. If she thinks you should put in a few hours of overtime because she didn’t give you enough forewarning before a project was due, then you’d better do it. Or if she hasn’t finished that report for you by noon, why in the world are you still pressuring her? She’ll get it done… eventually.

3)   EVIL STEPMOTHER: well, no need to be so angry. She was only imparting her good advice – you don’t need to hurt her feelings. Since you’re acting like such an evil witch, you’d better know right now that she’s going to take it personally. After all – you’re the one standing between her and happily ever after.

4)   DEADLINES: She only has two days to convince the prince that he’s in love with her; the carriage turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. Let’s face it – deadlines symbolize the end of a good thing; also the beginning of a bad thing. Your Office Princess won’t be pleased that you’re coming around her cubicle demanding why she hasn’t finished her project yet. Refer to Number 3 for the consequences.

5)   HAPPILY EVER AFTER: there is no crisis too great nor blunder too irreparable that won’t smooth itself out in the end. This princess has no problem sitting back and waiting for the prince to save the day. It’s only a matter of time before someone else fixes everything for her. Also, where’s her prince charming? He’s late and she refuses to keep waiting.

Note: replace “princess” with “Alpha Fee Bee” and you’ve gone full circle.