It?s indisputable that gender roles begin to be defined very early in our lives. It?s also indisputable that cultural influences have always played a significant role in how we define ourselves at every stage of our development, whether it be as preschoolers, teenagers, or adults. However, with the increased forums for corporations to reach populations they didn?t have access to before, how much of our development is now being shaped by market forces?
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Peggy Orenstein, in her new book Cinderella Ate My Daughter, examines the development of the ?princess? phenomenon and the extreme measures corporations have taken to instill the idea that a hyper-sexualized, hyper-feminine persona is the ideal for girls as young as two and three years old. When this phenomenon is examined in the context of those who don?t fit the stereotypical ?blonde-haired, blue-eyed? princess ideal, the potential damage to our young minority girls is compounded.?
Read more at The New York Times
