In Defense of the Princess

April 1, 2016
Fine's 2009 memoir, Someday My Prince Will Come, documented her lifelong quest to become a princess. Now a mother, she returns to not only defend her obsession but to argue for a feminist reconsideration of the entire narrative. Invoking princesses from Cinderella to Wonder Woman to Jacqueline Kennedy to Kate Middleton, Fine argues that feminism and princess culture are not mutually exclusive. Rather than taking away our daughters' plastic tiaras and dismissing femininity in the name of feminism, Fine believes that women of all ages should embrace their inner princesses and channel these qualities into a new kind of leadership. At times, Fine's argument is undermined by her tendency toward sweeping generalizations (such as her assertion that while ultra-ambitious college girls claim women like Sheryl Sandburg as their role models, they unanimously really want to be Kate Middleton ). But the book serves as a reminder that feminism should provide women with the freedom to be anything they wantincluding princesses. Parents on all sides of the princess debate will find food for thought in this entertaining and provocative book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)