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The Princess Problem
By Amanda Steinberg on Monday September 14, 2009
Concerned about your daughter's obsession with princesses? You should be, but not for the reasons you may think. Laura Vanderkam's recent op-ed in USA Today titled “The Princess Problem” suggests that your girl's fondness for princesses is more damaging to her self worth than her self image.
Some moms worry that princesses make girls obsessed with beauty. But I think the problem is that the popular princesses lack what psychologists call an "internal locus of control." This is the belief that you are responsible for making your way in the world.Vanderkam suggests that this lack of "internal locus of control" is holding girls back. She notes, according to Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever's 2003 book Women Don't Ask, "young men are four times more likely to negotiate their first salary than young women, resulting in $500,000 more in earnings by age 60." Ouch.
We're not slamming princess dresses — they're super cute and our daughters love them. Just make sure that earning the "keys to the Queendom" is part of her storyline. She'll thank you later. Read Laura's editorial on USAToday.com.
Thanks Manisha Thakor, Harvard MBA and co-author of "On My Own Two Feet," for turning us on to this article via her Money Musings blog.
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written by Kirsten Osolind , January 12, 2010
written by Kirsten Osolind , January 12, 2010
Excellent post. "The Keys to Queendom" - great soundbyte. What you can do for yourself is always the most important. You can't help others - you can't effectively lead - you can't do good - until you are truly able to take care of yourself.
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written by Dianna Sandora , February 16, 2010
written by Dianna Sandora , February 16, 2010
There is nothing wrong with the love of princesses! I do not think that it is fair to put them all together in one group. Yes there are princess stories that do not take an important role in their lives and than there are the ones who do. The best example is Cinderella, she kept ion believing that things would be better even when she had no reason to think that it should or even could happen. Her faith is what allowed her dreams to come true! Remember that the next time you doubt the power of a princess story. All of their dreams do come true and isn't that what we all want for our little girls????????
