Your Daily Dish

Feeding Outrageous to you Daily

Hide Advertisement
  • Animals
    • Farm
    • Pets
    • Zoo
    • Wildlife
  • Family
    • Grandparents
    • Kids
    • Parents
  • Health
    • Exercise
    • Food
    • Medical
  • Humor
  • Lifestyle
    • News
    • Science & Tech
    • Travel
  • Videos
Site logo
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Lifestyle

This Mom Tweaked a Disney Princess Book for an Empowering Femininity Twist

By YDD Contributor 3 min read
  • # arielle
  • # boys and girls
  • # Cinderella
Advertisement - Continue reading below
Source: Danielle Lindemann
Source: Danielle Lindemann

Another inspiring mother’s story has gone viral for teaching young women about femininity.

Danielle Lindemann, mother to a girl who is nearly 3 years old, taught her daughter to defy ever-looming gender roles and to be anything she wants with some edits to her What Is A Princess? book.

Advertisement

Because, “Why wouldn’t Cinderella have sparkly shoes and be a neurosurgeon?”

Lindemann told the Huffington Post that most “princess stuff” in the world doesn’t leave many options for femininity, and she wants her daughter to understand that she can be kind, pretty, love to dance and wear sparkly tutus yet speak her own mind and be a doctor or senator if she chooses.

Her young daughter obviously doesn’t quite understand this message yet, but she hopes her daughter gets the meaning.

“Just the other day she was rocking her Belle dress from Beauty and the Beast while checking Elmo’s heart with a toy stethoscope,” she wrote to Your Daily Dish. “She thought his heart was in his neck, but hey: baby steps!”

Source: Danielle Lindemann
Source: Danielle Lindemann

Lindemann believes as a parent to show girls and boys that their worth goes beyond their physical appearance.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with girls (or boys!) wanting to put on something sparkly and feel pretty. I have some pretty dresses myself. But when the dominant idea is that girls ― and women ― are judged mainly on their physical appearance in a way that boys and men are not, I think it’s important to model some other values for these girls as well,” she told the Huffington Post.

Her story, which went viral after she posted on Sociological Images, received positive feedback, but of course, some criticism too.

“If there were a multiplicity of children’s books out there in which little girls were shown playing with trucks and trains and learning to be engineers and surgeons, and if there were books out there in which boys were shown getting a kick out of dressing up in fabulous clothes…well, it would be a different world,” Lindemann explained to the Huffington Post. “But it’s not that world.”

Source: Danielle Lindemann
Source: Danielle Lindemann

There was no motive behind the edits beyond teaching her daughter a valuable lesson and just being “silly and having fun.”

The mother, an assistant professor of sociology at Lehigh University, told Your Daily Dish she hasn’t shared this story with her students but tends to use pop culture in her teaching which often leads to meaningful dialogue about the perpetuation of stereotypical gender roles.

“It’s not that I want my students to think exactly the way I do about things (How boring would the world be then?) but to be able to consume media critically and arrive at their own conclusions,” she wrote to Your Daily Dish.

Source: Danielle Lindemann
Source: Danielle Lindemann

We hope Lindemann’s daughter criticizes the media when she is older and becomes that awesome neurosurgeon in a sparkly tutu and glass slippers – if she so chooses, of course!

Advertisement - Continue reading below

Check Out These Unusually Colored Cats and Dogs
Lifestyle
YDD Contributor 2 min read

Check Out These Unusually Colored Cats and Dogs

‘Orange Is the New Black,’ ‘The Danish Girl’ Headline 2016 GLAAD Media Award Nominations
Entertainment
Kenny Servera 2 min read

‘Orange Is the New Black,’ ‘The Danish Girl’ Headline 2016 GLAAD Media Award Nominations

French Montana Dismisses Animal Cruelty Accusations
Entertainment
Sara Wilkins 1 min read

French Montana Dismisses Animal Cruelty Accusations

Watch as Kayaker Falls 60-Feet Over Mexico’s Tomata 2 Waterfall
Entertainment
Kenny Servera 1 min read

Watch as Kayaker Falls 60-Feet Over Mexico’s Tomata 2 Waterfall

BuzzFeed Ends $1.3M Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump Campaign Rhetoric
News
Jason Owen 3 min read

BuzzFeed Ends $1.3M Ad Deal With RNC Over Trump Campaign Rhetoric

Turn Boring Jack-O-Lanterns Into Fiery Demons With This Homemade Recipe
Science & Tech
Margo Gothelf 2 min read

Turn Boring Jack-O-Lanterns Into Fiery Demons With This Homemade Recipe

This Heartwarming Viral Ad For ‘Rogue One’ Is Leaving People in Tears
Entertainment
Margo Gothelf 1 min read

This Heartwarming Viral Ad For ‘Rogue One’ Is Leaving People in Tears

Meet the Kindhearted Little Boy Who Grew Out His Hair for Kids With Cancer
Trending
Margo Gothelf 2 min read

Meet the Kindhearted Little Boy Who Grew Out His Hair for Kids With Cancer

Watch These Researchers Get Blown Through the Air in 109mph Winds at Mount Washington
News
Margo Gothelf 2 min read

Watch These Researchers Get Blown Through the Air in 109mph Winds at Mount Washington

Police Rescue Hungry Child Trying to Sell His Teddy Bear for Food
News
Valerie Cools 3 min read

Police Rescue Hungry Child Trying to Sell His Teddy Bear for Food

Sarah Palin Turns the Tables and Spoofs Tina Fey in ’31 Rock’ Parody Video
Entertainment
Margo Gothelf 2 min read

Sarah Palin Turns the Tables and Spoofs Tina Fey in ’31 Rock’ Parody Video

See Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in Stirring First Trailer for ‘Jackie’
Apple
Jason Owen 1 min read

See Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in Stirring First Trailer for ‘Jackie’

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

sidebar

ADVERTISEMENT
Latest

After Numerous Industry ‘Whitewashing’ Controversies, Disney Wants Chinese Actress for Live-Action ‘Mulan’
Apple
Sara Wilkins 2 min read

After Numerous Industry ‘Whitewashing’ Controversies, Disney Wants Chinese Actress for Live-Action ‘Mulan’

Seven Rare Ty Cobb Cards Found in Dilapidated House Valued at $1 Million
Entertainment
Kenny Servera 2 min read

Seven Rare Ty Cobb Cards Found in Dilapidated House Valued at $1 Million

American Museum Of Natural History Debuts the Largest Dinosaur Known to Man
Lifestyle
Brian Delpozo 1 min read

American Museum Of Natural History Debuts the Largest Dinosaur Known to Man

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required
ADVERTISEMENT

sidebar-alt

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • For Advertisers