Princess Tea party tickets!

[FrannyR 10]

Hi! I run a reputable Princess Children's entertainment business in Sheffield. For the very first time we are hosting a Princess Tea party! It is hosted at a beautiful Tea room just outside sheffield! The princess host will sing songs, read stories, give etiquette lessons with a certificate for each Prince/Princess, there will be cakes and tea.juice served in real china! Here are the selection of tickets we are selling, and our facebook for more pictures looking at the princesses and customer testimonials! We would love to see lots of little Prince's and Princesses there!

It is on April the 13th

Location: S26 1JH

 

https://www.facebook.com/Disneyesque

 

Tickets:

 

BRONZE : This is a 25 minute slot. A cup of juice or tea served in fine china. A question and answer session with the princess as well as a song with the Princess. £9.99

 

 

SILVER:This is a 45 minute slot. A cup of juice or tea served in fine china and a small cake. A question and answer session with the princess, a story as well as a song with the Princess .£14.99

 

 

GOLD:This is a 1 hour slot. Includes a cup of juice or tea served in fine china and a selection of finger sandwiches and buns. A question and answer session with the princess, a story as well as a song with the Princess .Etiquette lessons and a certificate,and a photograph with the princess emailed to a parents address! £19.99

[Bumps+births 10]

I have to say this sounds pretty gross. Nothing personal to you, I just object to the Disney-fication of our children and the misogynistic princessy-ing of our girls. I like to think my daughter can aspire to more than eating off fine china and finding her prince. Sorry! Just gets on my wick. Nothing against you x

[FrannyR 10]

Unfortunately i do find this offensive. We as company work to promote that children can be whatever they aspire to be. We promote diversity in many forms, including our " action" princess, and the many boys who also attend our parties. I find your view to be very narrow minded and that you have completely missed the point of many beloved Princess films. These films are there to inspire children, particularly girls, to fight for what they believe in, follow whatever they aspire to do and most importantly be a good kind moral person. Just because some of them happen to do this in a fluffy Princess dress, and find a prince at the end, doesn't make them any less of a roll Model. There are many Princesses who defy stereotypes, and some who don't even have a prince for example:

Jasmine defies a arranged marriage, Tiana works 3 jobs to achieve her dream ( a cafe not a prince) , Merida refuses marriage and goes on adventures herself, Elsa is a strong independent woman with no love interest present, Mulan saves china (better than any of the men). You suggest that because a little girl wants to dress up and eat off fine china means she is filling a misogynistic stereotype that is pressed upon her. But in fact little Princesses and Princes should be aloud to do whatever they feel comfortable, being themselves. If that is dancing at a ball, firing arrows, using fine china or all of the above. You are the one impressing your social beliefs on them.

 

We hope you have a magical day!

x

[sasha81 10]

whether boys come to the party or not (there are no pictures of boys or indeed princes on your website yet) it still sends a dangerous message to our children

 

http://laurengissell.weebly.com/the-disney-princess-impact.html

 

This research dissertation sums it up for me

 

I agree children should be able to choose....but you yourself refer to children as princesses and princes, is that a choice for them or you putting your social beliefs on them? How do you ensure free choice for children when the options are historical princess or modern princess or a debatable 'action princess' which is in fact Lara Croft??

 

I would also hazard a guess that the baby dressed as snow white on your fb page or whatever your equivalent is did not have a free choice about whether to dress that way or not. Is this baby choosing to dress this way or is it the parent fulfilling childhood dreams? What message does this send to the child about freedom of choice and fulfilling their own personal desires? We have to be so careful as parents to open our eyes to the subtle and not so subtle messages we send our children all the time.

Edited March 30, 2014 by sasha81

[bigsteve 10]

As a parent of both 2 girls and 1 boy I find it more disturbing that there are parents that follow the 'trendy' thinking that kids can do what they like.

It's our jobs as parents to do all we can to guide children 'boys and girls' in a path where they know right from wrong and have good body image and a belief that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.

There are way too many outside influences that offer negative enforcement in regard to this also by trying to make them grow up way to quickly.

E.g padded bra's for 8 yr olds, selfies with provocative poses, computer games with unsuitable subject matter

Watching a Disney film and'pretending' to be a princess is a far better pastime for a child, what's so wrong about a bit of fantasy? Surely role play is an integral part of growing up.

Pretending to be a princess ( or superhero) is surely one of the remaining parts of childhood that is unsullied by modern life?

As for the 'dissertation, that the above poster refers too, that is just an opinion of that particular student in America and holds as much relavence as joe blogs, as the writer isn't a psychologist or even in this field.

Let children be children, they grow up way to damn quick as it is!

[sasha81 10]

Watching a Disney film and'pretending' to be a princess is a far better pastime for a child, what's so wrong about a bit of fantasy? Surely role play is an integral part of growing up.

Pretending to be a princess ( or superhero) is surely one of the remaining parts of childhood that is unsullied by modern life?

 

From The Every Day Sexism Project:

"This often translates into a single, all-encompassing quest for thinness. A 2012 report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Body Image revealed that girls as young as five are worrying about their size and looks, and that one in four seven-year-old girls has tried to lose weight. The Representation Project, a US-based campaign working to reveal gender inequality and shift public perceptions, has revealed that the number one "magic wish" for young girls aged 11 to 17 is to be thinner. It takes a while for that last figure to sink in. Just think of all the other things in the world that teenage girls could wish for."

 

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/29/everyday-sexism-women-encounter-laura-bates

 

Tell me again how stick thin princesses aren't damaging our childrens self esteem.

[bigsteve 10]

Unfortunately the media in all it's forms portrays being thin (for girls) and having a six pack (for boys) as being the normal shape for kids to aspire too.

But the original poster was mentioning a 'tea party' for kids as princes and princesses, including eating cake I would think lol

It seems to have been hijacked and turned into a debate on body dismorphia in the media?

At the end of the day We are on the same side with regards to this stupid media induced image of the perfect size.

But letting kids pretend to be princess or prince's isn't going to scar them, but then what do I know I've only raised 3 happy well adjusted, intelligent kids with no body image problems..........

[sasha81 10]

not knocking anyone's parenting ability or style, apologies if this seems the case. We all do the best we can with the information we have.

 

For me it is all linked, the idolisation of the 'princess' leading to low self esteem when the actuality of life that doesn't match up, leading to body dysmorphia and a more insidious implication of having to look a certain way to please others before yourself.

 

I am passionate about it, I certainly didn't mean to hijack the thread, as I say, it's one and the same for me! It's an interesting debate, I know from experience I probably won't change anyone's mind but that's OK, I appreciate hearing other views and hope that maybe I can provide a little food for thought for some people

[bigsteve 10]

Hi Sasha

 

Yes it is nice to see people with actual strong view who can put there argument forward in a reasonable way ( unlike some on SF )

I do see where your comming from but in this day and age there are far far worse influences on children than wanting to be a princess.

I understand what your saying about life not living up to fantasy but life never does otherwise I would be married to Olivier Newton John lol

shouldn't we be encouraging children to aim high and possibly fail rather than aim low and not be dissaponted?

I wanted to be an archeologist and ended up owning a removal company not quite the same but not a disappointment .

[sasha81 10]

Hi Steve

 

nice to be debating with you!

 

I just don't know at what point in a young childs life you say, 'right, I know that princess was beautiful and thin and happily married to the first prince she met with no hitch but actually that's not how you achieve happiness or self fulfilment.' How does the message balance out if you see what I mean.

 

What are the aims for a young child in pretending to be a princess? And if they aim so high can they truly be happy unless they ever achieve this lofty goal?

 

You are right there are a lot worse influences that can happen to a child.....and I know I'd like my daughter to know her own mind and body in those situations and not think well perhaps this is my prince...if that makes sense.

 

avoiding disappointment comes with having a strong mind, a clear goal and the hard work to achieve it (did you even ask ONJ out on a date!!. Princess culture has a long way to come before young girls get this as a message from it imho.

 

And you OWN a removals company. Awesome. And if you really want to be an archaeologist you could.

 

[bigsteve 10]

I'm still struggling to see what your saying?

It seems to me ( tell me if I'm wrong) that your overthinking the entire thing.

A child is going to come into contact with a miryad of influences while growing up both good and bad. It's our job as parents to enforce the good and diminish the bad.

You don't have to tell a child at 8 there is no Father Christmas (kids there really is) lol

Or about the tooth fairy (kids still true) as they mature and gather a more rounded view of the world they will work things out for themselves.

Just as if my daughter wanted to be a princess or a superhero or even a dinosaur I would be happy to let them.

Pretending and fantasy is an important part of play and encouraging a good imagination.

Is it actually princess's or the 'Disney' company and americanisation of the stories that you disagree with?

I can remember reading all the fairy tails to my girls (from the original stories) and my girls loving them.

Can't you focus on the good message that they put forward rather than any negative connotations.

Cinderella : always being nice to the ugly sisters and working hard even though she was suffering hardship and they were being mean.

And my favorite Shrek : Princess Fiona falls in love with an ogre rather than the pre arranged handsome prince, kicks some ass, and is happy with the 'real' her as an larger ogre lady rather than being the skinny princess.

 

---------- Post added 31-03-2014 at 20:09 ----------

 

I've just read article you linked to in your above post.

I totally agree that the sexualisation of teen and pre teen girls is totally wrong on every level.

I can't see the link with princess's ?

[sasha81 10]

Well, I suppose you could say I am over thinking it if you view it in simplistic terms (truly hoping I don't sound patronising there!)

 

The thing is it's not just me who thinks it and it's not just me who feels the stereotyping of young children is harmful.

 

What I was hoping to do by linking to the dissertation piece before was to draw attention to the myriad of research which has already been done on this topic which demonstrates how and why this kind of role modelling can be damaging to kids. I agree the piece itself is an opinion piece but the opinion has been influenced by many many research articles.

 

I agree that pretending and fantasy play is important when it is part of a healthy mix of other things. My daughter plays mummies and ballerinas and dinosaurs and pirates and all sorts, I hope I have achieved the balance (Ha, we'll find out in 30 years or so I guess!)

 

What I feel is perhaps more of the problem is when that balance and mix is not respected and kids don't get that mix. What with the constant gender stereotyping which occurs in toys, advertising, media and everyday life this balance gets harder and harder to achieve.

 

The women in these stories are all dependant on men or other people for their happiness, either by fulfilling their destinies to marry other men or by defying father figures and putting themselves in dangerous situations to break free. Most of them look a certain way and are very beautiful and alluring. This is the link to the sexualisation of young girls. In a very brief nutshell!

 

This debate thread was very interesting (incidentally a draw too) https://www.debate.org/debates/Disney-Princesses-Are-Bad-Role-Models-For-Young-Girls/1/ and for me the Pro side made a lot of sense, I expect for you perhaps the Con side might speak more volumes, it might not change your mind but I think it might help explain where I am coming from a bit more

 

I think it is dangerous to assume that a child will grow up to realise that the messages in early years were not always what they seem, by then it is too late and the messages about subservience and body image are ingrained. It may be that a grown up person thinking with their 'rational' brain knows that princesses are unrealistic BUT having not been taught how to achieve happiness for themselves they are left feeling lacking and empty.

 

Perhaps think about it from a different perspective, times gone by and children were taught to finish the food on their plate, food was short, meal times strict and the thinking was you didn't waste what you were given. Fast forward to now and that grown up child has a weight problem....they KNOW they should eat less and that they don't actually have to eat everything in front of them but those early messages mean they just can't bring themselves to leave the food. Does that make sense?

Edited March 31, 2014 by sasha81