Comments on: Disney, daddies, and dumb decisions

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:10:50 +0000

Lovely article. I don’t have any children yet, but I’m looking forward to being the best Dad I can be. I don’t have any illusions it’s going to be easy and there will be tantrums and tears but I hope that I’m always the one man my daughter (If that’s what my girlfriend and I have) can always rely on

By: Rebecca @ Playground Confidential

Rebecca @ Playground Confidential — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:18:56 +0000

What a lovely, well thought out and emotionally honest post. I have always resisted the princess impulse — even as a child. (Though I do have a few years on you.) And of all the insidious marketing directed at our children the Disney Princesses irk me more than anything. I can deal with sex and violence. Hell, I can deal with body issues and materialism. But how do you deal with the deep-set message that a knight in shining armour will whisk you away to a happy ending?

“I look at her in Chris’ arms and think, “You are the first man she’s in love with. Don’t break her heart.“”
Amen.

By: cristin

cristin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:38:56 +0000

I love this post… I read it last week but didn’t have a chance to comment (I was reading blogs at work… bad Iknow…)

I too was convinced I needed to find someone to take care of me and protect me… to save me… I didn’t even know I didn’t need saving…

By: Tatiana

Tatiana — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:18:09 +0000

Thank you all for your comments and support. It’s really interesting to me that I’ve tapped into an apparently touchy, but perhaps under-discussed, topic. If you enjoyed this post, you may want to drop by Maria’s post about strong mothers and their presence, or lack thereof, in children’s movies: Courage of the Heart: http://www.mommymelee.com/2009/07/courage-of-heart.html

By: Jen LF

Jen LF — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:00:29 +0000

This is a great post. Many aspects of it resonate with me. I’m terrified of what Disney might do to my daughter – the focus on the princesses has evolved considerably since I was a little girl. Thank you for writing it!

By: Maggie May

Maggie May — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:45:10 +0000

this is a kick ass post that resonates with me.

By: Jinxy

Jinxy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:31:21 +0000

I had a great reply written up but it took 4.5 hours to get Lily down for the night so now my brain is mush, sorry.

This is a wonderfully honest, open, heart wrenching post.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:27:44 +0000

Ohhh Disney. This has been the subject of more than just one essay in my college career. There was a whole course at Eastern taught by one of the best prof’s I had that was entirely surrounding debunking the Disney myths. “The Lion That Roared” even looked into it, and was a fantastic source for the papers that all the students wrote that ripped into a Disney tale and extracted it’s actual being.–The story it was supposed to be, Hansel and Gretle with a mother and father, fewer evil stepmothers, and actual real-life answers. It’s in Maia’s blood to be a reader, and I just hope she’ll be able to easy see the difference that Disney makes between movies, stories, and real life.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:29:42 +0000

Wonderfully, wonderfully written. The things we know now… In fact, I still catch myself dreaming of the fairy tale. *sigh*

By: Gala

Gala — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:44:47 +0000

Having a mom and dad that are still married (50years now), it is impossible to understand what you have gone through, though watching you go through it was the hardest thing that I have ever done. My heart ached so much for you, as I knew you were struggling to be LOVED by a man at a young age. I could love you, your uncle/grandfather, etc. could love you, but it doesn’t replace the dad for some women.
My dad made his share of mistakes while I was growing up, and I ended up in some relationships I never should have been in, just to try to make him happy. I was basically told not to “waste” my time going on to college because I would just end up getting married and having babies anyway. So…that is what I did. Though I don’t regret it simply because the result was three wonderful children, I wish my father hadn’t always put my dreams down.
I wish fathers and fathers-to-be would read post such as this, and realize just how important action and in-action are.