Imperfection is the New Pink: A Post in Princess Appreciation

Earlier this week, as I was skimming the 1000+ unread posts in my Google Reader, I came across this post by my one of my favorite authors, and potential bff, Meg Cabot alerting the world that April 22-28 is the first ever recognized National Princess Week. Obviously since I refer to my daughter as a princess, I'm a woman who is very believes in the power of a tiara, but I thought since the dudes at Target and Disney were so obliging to set aside a whole week to celebrate princesses, I figured I'd take a minute to tell you why.

As I've mentioned several times before, I was very lonely as a kid. My constant companions other than my siblings, were my books. I used books as an escape from the very turbulent and often unhappy atmosphere I lived in, and would imagine myself in whatever situation I was reading about whether it was Laura Ingalls living on the prairie, Anne Shirley chit-chatting her way through Avonlea, or those gold lavaliere wearing Wakefield twins as they stayed identical, 5'6, gorgeous, and aquamarine eyed, while navigating their way through all those crazy Sweet Valley shenanigans in a Fiat Spyder.

I really loved fairy tales and all of the Disney-fied versions especially held my attention. For what feels like forever, Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney movie of all time, not just because of the beauty of Aurora, but also because Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather were totally the shizz. How awesome would it be to have not just one but THREE fairy godmothers?

As I got older, I found myself leaning more towards Belle from Beauty and the Beast as my princess of choice. I am totally a Belle. I love to read, I'm adorable but slightly odd, I want adventure in the great white somewhere, and frankly...I think the Beast is kind of hot. I mean let's be honest, he had me at the library.

I never actually thought I could be a princess myself. It was very rare to see a Black girls depicted as princesses so I guess in my mind it was always something of a fantasy. I was forever changed when I watched the movie Coming to America, and saw this (ok, spoiler alert...Eddie Murphy totes ends up marrying the girl from Queens)

Look at her! She's gorgeous AND she's in PINK! My 8 year old brain practically exploded at the idea of an ordinary girl from America becoming an African princess. I think it's also the first time I ever thought I could marry a prince. It's what also spiked my love of royalty, which manifested itself into a deep and abiding love for all things British, since the UK was the closest place I could think of that still had actual princes and princesses.

Since you brought up the UK...can you believe that Wills and Katie, or as their non close personal friends refer to them, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be married for one year on Sunday? That wedding was amazing. Sorry Kim Kardashian, your expensive sham publicity stunt of a wedding did not even compare.

I hope they are still in love and happy together one year later. <3

I still have an obsession with all things princess related. I realize that recently there has been a backlash against the entire princess culture because of the commercialism and negative messages it allegedly sends. I don't agree that the princess culture is damaging to young girls, especially not if they understand from the very beginning that it's a fantasy. A beautifully dressed, fun, sparkly fantasy, but still make believe at the end of the day.

If I were able to implement some of the best characteristics of a princess in mine and my daughter's life, such as inner and outer beauty, elegance, kindness, grace, courage, and dignity, then I would consider myself to be very lucky.

Speaking of princesses...three cheers for mine! Still the best girl I know, without a doubt!