I was visiting family this Labor Day weekend. My 2 1/2 year old niece was coloring a picture, and I started flipping through the coloring book it came from. It was princess-themed, of course, and the more pictures I looked at, the more depressed I got. Here is a sampling of the captions that were at the bottom of each page:
-Pretty as a Picture
-Pretty as a Princess
-Lovely Locks (underneath a picture of a princess brushing her hair)
-Sweet Smile
-Such Poise
-So Graceful
-In love (under a picture of a princess apparently daydreaming about a prince)
-Beautiful new dress
I counted at least 5 different pictures of a hand mirror or a girl looking in the mirror. Not one picture showed a princess or a lady actually DOING anything (unless you count the single picture of a girl dancing with a prince – I don’t). My smart, energetic, very active niece is not yet 3, and already the toys and books we surround her with are giving one clear message: you are here to be looked at.