Becoming Visible

1. 7
   Jan
   

   Princess Tiana and M

   We haven’t seen the movie, but I found myself profoundly moved by Princess Tiana’s performance at Disneyland and my daughter’s response to it and to her overall. M liked the princesses well enough; she never saw the movies, but she liked the music and stuff. She wanted to be Ariel one year for Halloween, but I got her a generic mermaid costume instead. She had a poster of them and talked about which was her favorite, etc., but overall she was much more into other types of toys.

   That’s why it really took me aback when I paid close attention to her response to Tiana at Disneyland. When we first learned of Princess Tiana, M got a little excited. But when we saw the preview for the movie, she was completely turned off. She was not interested AT ALL. Even the fact that she was African American was not enough to get her to see the movie or want any of the assorted Tiana stuff. Seeing her in person, however, watching her sing and dance on the steamboat, changed her mind. Connecting Tiana to a person, a dark skinned brown woman like she will be one day, made something click for her. She talked about wanting the see the movie and get the soundtrack. She also mentioned that now she could finally be a princess for Halloween because there was one that looked like her.

   This point was really potent for me. M has always been aware of race, but I have never heard her articulate how it limits her. (This is the girl who seriously believed she could be a pony when she was 4. So, there is not a lack of believing in oneself there.) It drove home why there is a need for girls of all cultures to see themselves in the characters they love. Because no matter how many times we tell them they can be whoever they want to be and that you don’t have to have X to be Y, it makes it a whole lot sweeter to imagine being a princess when there is one that looks like you.

   (It also opens up a whole new area of employment for my singing, dancing child. I will no longer have to bite my tongue when she says she might want to work at Disney as a character when she grows up, because now she actually can.)