The box says, “Become a princess in this jewelry dress-up game!”
I wonder if Kate Middleton knew that that’s all it takes.
In early elementary, the board game to have was “Pretty Pretty Princess.”
For 2-4 players, ages five and older, the game made little girls imagine they were the perfect Disney princesses - a great marketing plan.
Matching beaded bracelets, necklaces, oversized plastic rings (think rings pops) and stylish clip-on earrings made a first-grader feel like a glamour girl.
My sisters and I understood that to be truly beautiful, your jewelry should all match, and you needed to win that symbol of true royalty: the silver crown.
Raising a generation of material girls, this game encouraged us to collect jewelry, even tearing the coveted crown from a rival’s brow.
The game taught us that bling was necessary for beauty and worth- not the greatest message for young, impressionable girls. Ladies, diamonds (or cheap, plastic replicas) are NOT a girl’s best friend. But “Pretty Pretty Princess” accurately omitted something that wasn’t necessary.
The box shows a pretty girl in a dress and crown modeling the same jewelry found inside. She is pictured in front of a majestic castle atop rolling hills.
There is no sign of a prince.
I like this. Boys are nice, but sometimes little girls (and older girls) think their happiness depends on having a boy around.
The box says that girls can be pretty princesses, get fantastic jewelry and have castles all by themselves.
Expecting someone else to fulfill your needs- whether to validate you emotionally- telling you you’re beautiful, a “pretty pretty princess”; to buy you jewelry, dresses or silver crowns, or to provide security- that great castle on the hill- is never a good idea.
A significant other, spouse or handsome prince can’t be everything you’ll ever need. Oh, we love to say, “You complete me,” “You’re my everything,” etc. but that’s a whole lot of pressure to put on one person, especially a frail human being.
So maybe Kate wasn’t going to get to be a princess without Wills. That’s cool. He seems like a nice guy, they look happy and she’s not a “princess” anyway. (Their actual titles are Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.)
But I think she’d be happy and successful just being Kate.
The handsome prince is just a perk.
