As a preteen I wanted nothing to do with the princess obsession. I absolutely did not want to be a princess....
...because what's the future in it?
Ok, imagine you are a princess or Cinderella or the virtuous poor virgin girl recognized as pure and perfect by some prince. The two of you fight the dragon or authorities or parental disapproval or whatever. You are either charming or a good worker or both and birds and animals adore you. You get in trouble and have to be rescued... poisoned apples, glass slippers, whatever.
The prince wins you and now what? Your big day comes, the most important day of your life, white dress and marriage (and why, I wonder, is having sex for the first time supposed to be the most important day of one's life? Really?) and now...
Uh. Well. Now you are Queen. The King rules the kingdom. You can clean the castle and you are a sperm catcher incubator. You get to have babies. Disney Queens do not co-rule. They are housewives with a crown.
I wanted nothing to do with being a princess. Queen was not my ambition, unless I got to be Elizabeth III. I wanted to be an astronaut, a brilliant scientist, win the Nobel prize, write the Great American Novel, explore Mars, design and build giant bridges. In Kindergarten I thought "girl on a float" would be a great thing to be. You dress up, wave and people like you. No prince required. Hand me that sword, I'll rescue myself, swords are fun.
I saw no glory in vacuuming, in housecleaning, in sewing or knitting (I learned both), in laundry. I could be a famous and sought after chef, that would be ok. Rich woman, poor woman, beggarwoman, thief. Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.....
BQ 299