Not a Princess

On display at Warner Brothers; Photo Credit Doree Weller

I never aspired to be a princess.  I never wanted to sit around waiting to be rescued.  I’d probably get impatient with Prince Charming and start helping him with the rescue.

When I was growing up, I loved Snow White and Cinderella, but I never identified with them.  I identified with Pete from Pete’s Dragon.  I would have been okay being Princess Leia, but I’d rather have been Luke Skywalker.  Come to think of it, I identified more with the boys.  Maybe because in the stuff I watched, boys got to have all the fun, and the girls always got rescued.  Think Mario and Princess Peach.  Though I loved how Fiona in Shrek broke the princess mold.

If I had been a kid when the Harry Potter series came out, I would have totally wanted to be Hermione.  In fact, I kind of want to be Hermione now.  She’s smart, she’s strong, and she doesn’t take anyone’s crap.  She may not be the “hero” of the series, but Harry couldn’t have been the “hero” without her.

I don’t think that girls in fiction have to or even should always be in the lead.  Sometimes the female lead will be stronger, and sometimes the male lead will be stronger.  That’s life.  While I like the idea of girls having strong role models, the fact is that we’re all different, and should celebrate our differences.  There’s nothing wrong with some girls wanting to be a princess and waiting for Prince Charming.  As long as she knows that if Prince Charming turns out to be a dud, she can always throw him back.

Weekly Writing Challenge: A Few of my Favorite Things

The weekly writing challenge asked us to come up with *meaningful* things, not things like my laptop, etc.  Although my laptop really is one of my favorite things, this was a pretty easy writing challenge.  I have a few things that are really meaningful to me.

1.  My grandmother’s necklace.  It’s a plain gold chain, probably not worth much in money.  But, she always wore it, every single day, and it was something my grandfather gave her.  My grandparents didn’t have much, and I feel very lucky to have this.

2.  A pie cabinet from my grandfather.  My grandparents were in the antique business, and I love old furniture, especially if it’s wood and is well-made.  It’s got a piece broken off the top from sitting too much in their damp house, and it’s my favorite piece of furniture.  I wouldn’t trade if for a $10,000 shopping spree at Raymour and Flanigan.

3.  My lead Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.  When I was little, my grandmother told me all kinds of fairy tales, which is probably why I love them so much now.  They got these lead sets of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.  I don’t know who painted these, but they’re super cool.

4.  My autographed 1st Edition Watchers.  My husband got this for me on the first Christmas we were together.  That’s when I knew I had to marry him.

5.  Photo albums.  I have a ton of them, both digital and paper.  I love pictures.

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list; I could go on and on.  The most imporant thing about this list is this: “The best things in life aren’t things.” -Art Buchwald

‘Nuff said.