Princess of Controversy
You may have missed the headlines – there is big news in the princess kingdom:
Pocahontas is no longer Native American.
Tiana is no longer African American.
And Mulan is no longer Asian.
At least that must be the case after the debacle over race Disney finds itself right in the middle of. It is a debate that touches many families – including mine – whether we like it or not. I now face the unenviable and incredibly stupid task of trying to tell my girls that I THOUGHT Disney’s new princess Sofia was Latina, but I must have been wrong.
When she was first introduced, the headlines hailed her arrival:
“Meet Sofia, Disney’s First Latina Princess.”
But quickly, the reports changed:
“Disney’s Princess Sofia Not Latin Enough.”
And now, the final absurdity:
“Disney: Princess Sofia Isn’t Latina.”
Sorry girls, dad was wrong. I know a Disney executive producer was quoted online as saying Sofia was Latina. I believed Sofia was Latina. And since you are half Latina, and I am so proud of your mixed heritage, I thought it would be an incredible opportunity for you to have a princess like Sofia.
Well, apparently I was wrong.
What’s that? Why the confusion? Well, I need to refer to Disney itself, which has now put this gem on its Facebook page for millions of little kids and their parents to decipher:
“Sofia is a fairytale girl who lives in a fairytale world. All our characters come from fantasy lands and may reflect elements of various cultures and ethnicities but none are meant to specifically represent those real world cultures.” (Nancy Kanter, Disney)
Translation:
Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, and any other princess who has been part of Disney’s colorful melting pot of characters over the decades must not be who we thought they were. Even fans on Disney’s own Facebook page are confused. Jenny wrote, “Yay, finally a princess with Hispanic roots.” Risa wrote, “I look forward to watching the first Latina princess with my grandchildren.”
This smells of a boardroom full of people bowing to the pressure of focus groups and research; worried that the color and ethnicity of a princess might affect their bottom line at the cash register.
Let me tell you a story.
I know a little princess named Alicia Sofia who is seven. She has a mom who is Latina and a dad who isn’t, and she and her four year-old sister both are already starting to see the color lines in society. So we teach them that people come in all shapes and sizes and shades of skin color. No one is better than anyone else, and we can take pride in celebrating everyone’s culture.
Alicia Sofia already understands race on a level that not many of us ever will. Not too long ago, she told us, “Mommy is brown, Daddy is white, and I’m pink.”
I guess Princess Sofia wasn’t the royalty we thought, after all.
Pete Wilgoren is outnumbered by a wife, two little girls, and a dog named Cupcake. Guess who named the dog? Find him on Facebook at Dadmissions – The Book.
