Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared on Sesame Street and explained that being a princess is not a career. She described a career to the adorable Abby Cadabby as a job you train for and plan to do for a long time. Justice Sotomayor told Abby that she could have a career as a teacher, lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a scientist...pretty much anything she wanted. In an age where women are finally allowed to wear pants and vote, it is a pity that media companies like Disney shove the concept of being a princess down the throats of young girls. SBW is still upset that Disney lumps Mulan into the Disney Princess category; she is a warrior! But Justice Sotomayor stepped up to the plate and defined a career as something more than passively waiting for your Prince Charming to arrive. This Sesame Street clip is particularly important since Harvard Law School and Princeton University graduate Michelle Obama would like to trade places with Beyonce. The Sotomayor clip is pretty darn cute too! (We'd like to see Justice Thomas acting with a puppet instead of acting as one.)
Sofia, Disney's first Latina princess debuted last night in 'Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess' on the Disney Channel. More specifically, she is "half-Enchancian and half-Galdizian," fictional ethnicities. Little Sofia is aimed at younger viewers between age 2 and 7.
We all know that Latinas come in different hues, like all people of color. When Disney created its first Black princess, Tiana, in The Princess and the Frog, producers went out of their way to draw her "to bear the traits of African American women."
But with Sofia, Disney producers purposefully ignored mention of her Latina heritage. "We never actually call it out," said Vice President of Disney Junior original programming Joe D' Ambrosia.
It kind of seems like Disney just threw this Latina feature in to market the movie to complete its multi-culti princess line but dropped it from the film's actual storyline.
Among the critics of Disney's Sofia is Alex Nogales, President and CEO for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "We need more heroes right now that are very identifiable. If you're going to promote this to the public, and Latinos in particular, do us a favor and make it a real Latina. Are they afraid that some people are not going to accept this princess because she is Latina? The more I think about it, the more bothered I get. I really would like to hear what the execs have to say. What are they afraid of?"
Yes. They're afraid. D'Ambrosia said one of the reasons the filmmakers did not draw attention to Sofia's ethnicity because they wanted all little girls to be able to identify with her. Apparently, Disney was afraid that little girls across America would be unable to identify with a Latina princess with a little more melanin. So they made little Sofia as Anglo as possible. While it's nice to see a more
diverse group of women in one of the most popular movie franchises, SBW
objects to these being the only images of women Disney promotes as
worthwhile.
The
official princesses include (in order) Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora
(Sleeping Beauty), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the
Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas, Fa Mulan (Mulan), Tiana (The
Princess and the Frog), and Rapunzel (Tangled).
Also, here's our general objection to the princesses:
Most of these princesses are
passive. Now, we understand that's how princesses have been
traditionally viewed. Sitting there and looking pretty. But why are all
of the female characters from Disney movies lumped into the princess
category? Some of them are strong, independent women who did more than
sit there and look attractive. Come on - Pocahontas saved John Smith!
And Fa Mulan saved China! China! That's why Mulan is our favorite Disney
character.
Most
of these other female characters did a whole lot of sleeping, hoping, and
waiting for men to come and save them. Cinderella got new shoes. Sleeping Beauty took a nap. Rapunzel grew long blonde hair. Jasmine hung out with
her pet tiger. And now Sofia learned how to be a lady-like princess, which is perfectly in line with the other passive princess Disney themes.
Not that we have high expectations from Disney but a woman can hope, right?
