Comments on: Kickass Princesses, Part 1

By: Kickass Princesses, Part 2 | Hannah Chutzpah: Firing from a Double-Barrel

Kickass Princesses, Part 2 | Hannah Chutzpah: Firing from a Double-Barrel — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:09:19 +0000

[…] Welcome to part two of Kickass Princesses – a look at some subversive female protagonists in children’s literature. You can read Part 1 here. […]

By: Kickass Princesses, Part 1 | Hannah Chutzpah: Firing from a Double-Barrel

Kickass Princesses, Part 1 | Hannah Chutzpah: Firing from a Double-Barrel — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:46:23 +0000

[…] article originally appeared in Bad Reputation – a feminist pop-culture adventure on 28 March […]

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:11:35 +0000

In reply to Lizzie. Yay! Hannah liked her too in Part 1, and I think she might be my favourite so far. It sounds like it manages the happy fairytale ending quite deftly.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:47:53 +0000

I had – still have on bookshelf actually – the Wrestling Princess. I absolutely adored her – right down to her white trainers she wore for her wedding. She is a brilliant character and it’s a bit heartbreaking that 25 years have passed and stories like that are stil few and far between.

By: wererogue

wererogue — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:51:21 +0000

I already planned to by The Paper Bag Princess for my son, and some others of these will definitely find their way onto the list, along with Prince Cinders.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:25:33 +0000

I was interested in all of these – I have a particular 7 yr old in mind that I’d like to buy a birthday present for (she’s at a reading age of 5). Her parents have recently gone through a messy divorce and her mum is needing a lot of support. I liked the idea of a book with a strong female lead. But why do they all have to be about marriage? I worry that the stories where the princesses choose not to marry will cause her confusion over her parents divorce, or even worse to blame her father. Are there any princesses that get to wear pretty dresses, slay dragons and aren’t constantly pursued by men (whether the choose to marry or not)?

By: dave

dave — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:31:48 +0000

I would nominate books by Deva Fagan: Fortune’s Folly, The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle, and Circus Galacticus. None are specifically “and then the princess goes forth and does awesome”, but they are very much in that vein. (For instance, in Fortune’s Folly, the protaganist becomes a princess for having gone forth and been awesome in a somewhat subversive manner.)

http://www.devafagan.com

Full disclosure: Deva is a friend.

By: Debi Linton

Debi Linton — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:53:02 +0000

I’d like to nominate Princess Adrienne from the kids comic series Princeless (available in trade form soon!) http://www.actionlabcomics.com/comics/

She is sent to a Dragon guarded tower by her father the king in order to wait out a suitable knight to rescue her, marry her and prove himself worthy of inheriting the Kingdom. When she finds a sword under her bed, she teams up with the dragon and flies off to rescue her sisters.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:06:35 +0000

In reply to Miranda.

PS. I guess I should link these two posts I did a year ago!

http://www.badreputation.org.uk/2011/05/05/fairy-tale-fest-twelve-postmodern-pop-princesses/

http://www.badreputation.org.uk/2011/05/06/fairy-tale-fest-ten-postmodern-pop-fairytales-for-your-ipod-part-two/

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:05:14 +0000

In reply to hebby.

Absolutely – the quick, resourceful, “clever Gretchen” type is a big deal in folk tales throughout Europe (and possibly elsewhere, but that’s what I’ve read). Not many are princesses, though – I think most of the attempts above are trying to subvert the Charles Perrault model.

Hasn’t Cat Valente recently done something on Maria Morevna? I must give it a read…

I think it’s notable that a lot of these picture books are from the 70s and 80s – and I’d be interested to see, in the aftermath of the Disney Princess brand really blowing up in the 90s and 00s, whether the same amount of subversive storytelling is still about. I feel like there are less of these books out there, but I’d need to research it… and of course, we’ve had Shrek, too, where the princess is an ogre, and stays one!