I shutter to even write this, but I am about to embark on teaching (shh) PRINCESS CAMP. This goes against a lot of my feminist values, it really does. I understand, however, that this is all part of gender identity, girls exploring the feminine role, etc. An excellent article in the NYT Magazine nails it on the head: this whole ‘princess’ phenomenon is both age/gender appropriate and a big marketing ploy by Disney. Therefore, you can expect me to don a crown tomorrow and encourage the six other little girls to get in their best princess finery. But while we color pictures of our princess selves and travel through the magical obstacle course I will also be reading tough girl books: Princess Smarty-Pants Rules, Cinder-Edna, and Pirate Girl. Sure, sure, we’ll throw in some classics–maybe I’ll have the girls retell them to me and each other. You can’t avoid Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and all the plastic Disney princesses.

It should be noted that while I talk tough I was/am a shameless girly-girl myself. I would have been ALL over the Disney Princess marketing that’s happening these days. Dress-up, ballerinas, dolls, Barbies, you name it, I was INTO it. I remember watching the Little Mermaid and feeling sad that I was just a little too old to get away with buying an Ariel doll–and this is from a gal who played with Barbies until she was 12. I understand that much of this is, again, part of girls identifying themselves. One of my favorite lines in the above article is by Peggy Orenstein is, “According to theories of gender constancy, until they’re about 6 or 7, children don’t realize that the sex they were born with is immutable. They believe that they have a choice: they can grow up to be either a mommy or a daddy. Some psychologists say that until permanency sets in kids embrace whatever stereotypes our culture presents, whether it’s piling on the most spangles or attacking one another with light sabers.”

Sure, there are parents who roll there eyes when I ASSURE them that there will be an element of Girl Power in my Princess Camp. That we aren’t going to spend two hours falling all over each other and swooning–that we can rescue ourselves! Still, I’m totally nervous. Do we color our crowns today or tomorrow? Do I ask them to give me a princess name or do I come up with my own? I had to come face to face with the inherent sexism of Princess Camp when I had a Mom call about her son possibly taking the camp. As much as I desperately want to try and encourage parents to enroll their little boys in dance classes (COME ON, a creative movement class will NOT turn you son gay), I knew it would be really tough to bring a boy into the camp. I warned Mom: “It’s gonna be REALLY girly.” Wisely, she backed off. Because, well, I’m going to rise up to the challenge: It’s gonna be really pink and obnoxious and that’s just fine…

Stay tuned…