Easter

This is what happens when you are two years old, at a huge family gathering, and feeling overwhelmed and tired. There are no cute sibling pictures of Jimmy and Josie on Easter morning. Jimmy had already had too much by that point.

The Easter Bunny brought Josie Tinkerbell fairies, which she loved. It was a very critical decision for me. She had seen a preview to the Tinkerbell movie on a DVD and was interested in it. When it came on Disney channel, I DVR'd it and watched it. I'm usually pretty anti-Disney princess junk but I was surprised to find out that I actually liked it? I liked that it had many female characters working together to make something happen. There was absolutely no romantic plotline (which means, the girls did not just discuss boys, love, and how to win both). The fairies themselves were diverse looking. The one antagonist character was just as beautiful and important as everyone else. (Not haggard, old, and alone-- the true signs of evilness).  I also appreciated that Tinkerbell's talent was building and fixing things, and working with tools. (As opposed to the highly regarded skill of sitting around and looking beautiful, Jasmine!) The overall message is being proud of what you can do/don't change who you are/etc. I can get behind that. My two criticisms are this: I felt the fairies were a little too sexualized, as most Disney female characters are-- tiny waists, curvy breasts, skimpy outfits, sexy hair, etc. Also, though the overall message was fine, it also kind of made me feel like-- what, you can't work and practice to be good at something outside your natural skillset? I mean, obviously THAT is lost on Josie, but something I thought of none the less.

ANYWAY, so naturally after watching Tinkerbell, Josie was interested in the fairy dolls. I was hesitant to buy them for her because to me, they veered a little close to Barbie territory. (In addition to my stance on princess films, I'm also anti-Barbie. I know, I know.) Ultimately I decided the Easter Bunny COULD deliver them because fairies are not representations of actual women the way Barbie is intended to be. Fairies are small and kind of bug-like, so their cartoon-y, unrealistic looks can be explained.

I'm still not comfortable with Josie pursuing the actual princess movies, as she is not able to think critically about the movies at this juncture in her life. 

So check that out-- you think you're getting an Easter update, and instead is a dissertation of my opinion of a straight-to-DVD Disney flick.