Don’t call my granddaughter a princess!

Princess; noun

the daughter of a monarch.

• a close female relative of a monarch, especially a granddaughter.
• the wife or widow of a prince.

At last check, I was not the Queen of England, and my granddaughter was not born in to royal blood. So why then would I call her a princess?

I abhor “princess” for a few reasons. One of them is that I’ve never liked the term myself, even when I was a child. If a stranger or even family member said ‘Hello, little princess’ or suggested in any way I should be treated like one, I would get quite irate. Perhaps it stems from my mother who always believed a woman should be judged only by her intelligence and kindness, and not by her ability to fit into that little princess girl mould.

But some women love saying they’re a princess, and while that’s fine for them, I’ve always believed a man should treat you equally to him and not be your servant, chauffeur or handbag. You give what you get in this world and being a princess is the last thing I’d want my granddaughter to be.

You know the sort of girl I’m talking about: precocious, demanding, expensive.

I should clarify as well – I don’t mind my granddaughter dressing up as a princess, because that’s a costume. But wearing clothing that says ‘Mummy’s little princess’ or the God-awful ‘Diva’ is sending a bad message, in my eyes. Do we want little girls who grow up to demand respect because they’ve earned it, or because they’re a “diva” and they deserve it?

Disguise it whatever way you want… diva, princess, sassy, goddess – they do not carry good connotations and serve only to make someone think of you as spoiled. And a spoiled brat is what I think of when I see little princesses, or big ones for that matter.

And princess movies with the stereotypical damsel-in-distress who can’t do anything for herself and needs saving just perpetuates the idea that a woman is useless and a man needs to be on her beck and call.

I want my granddaughter to accumulate life skills on her own, and to stand tall without a man (or woman). I wonder how many others agree with me?

Tell us, do you call your granddaughter “princess”? Why or why not? Do you agree with the writer?