Princesses Puppies And Pageants

The idea of dressing dogs as princesses is pretty silly.
But it is still done.

But these pageants for little girls, who are often tarted up to look like mini Pam Andersons, is even more so.

And it's even more funny when one sees their (usually, somewhat homely) mothers trying to live vicariously through their daughters in stressing a "beauty first" mentality.

But brohammas (asks in response to an earlier post about Disney's new Black princess);

"As the father of a biracial girl...

An even bigger fear for us is what should we think if this (Black Princess) does not become her favorite?

What if she still insists on being Cinderella... and the already spoken question of 'Why can't I have white skin and yellow hair? I want to be like Cinderella'."

Sorry bro, but chances are that she will not pick the new Black princess as her favorite. Not that she won't see herself as Black - racially speaking. But that she won't see herself as "Black" - culturally speaking. The fact the the Disney character speaks in Ebonics will be an early signal to your daughter that "She is not like me". Much like the Cosby Show being seen by many as "too white".

The problem won't lie in the parenting, but in society's opinion of "Normal (average) Black people". Her opinion can't change until the definition changes and expands to include all social and economic levels as being truly Black - not just the victim/ghetto/poverty explanation.

Kids are strange creatures. She may like Cinderella better because she has mice that can turn into horses or a pumpkin that can turn into a carriage. Not everything involving one's race is racial or Racist. But the fact that she now has a choice in how to see herself is what really matters, not the color of the doll.