Kay:
Hey there Questers and welcome! It’s Wednesday, November 18th and you might be feeling extra royal today because it is also National Princess Day! And here for episode 228 we have such a cool quote for you. But, before we get into it may we just say: Welcome your highness!
Shi:
Ah, yes, welcome all ye kings and queens, princes and princesses of the court we are so glad to welcome you to The Mentorship Quest here on National Princess Day!
Kay:
I love it. Well, we’ve got such a cool quote for you today. I love this author, and absolutely grew up on her books. Frances Hodgson is best known for writing Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden. All of which were books and movies that I totally grew up on. And she says, “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old addicts. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young, they are still princesses.”
Shi:
BOOM! Like, I don’t know about you guys, but that fires me up. I loved the book The Secret Garden, and I loved this movie – it resonated a lot with the story. It’s so funny that she comes right out the gate and says “even if they live in tiny old addicts” because of course we remember that our main character in The Secret Garden does in fact live in the attic. But the point of this quote I think that she’s really bringing forward is about finding that royal thread on the inside that all of us. Opposed against the fact that the old cast systems and the old structure of society used to say that you’ve got this one monarch family and then the rest are nothing. Because we know this is fabricated, right? We know that was just a way to continue the oppression and to try to greedily hoard resources. But we know deep down that we’re ALL resourced and that there’s plenty to go around in this world. And this is helping unleash that feeling – especially after thousands of years of a narrative of saying that women are damsels in distress and that princesses are certainly ones that need the most rescuing.
Kay:
What I love about what began to rise with lots of the late 19th century authors was women taking on the center narrative of the story. You know, we see it in everything from A Little Princess to Little Women, we see it in Pride and Prejudice, and we see women starting to take the front of the initiative when it comes to entertainment in general. And what this does is it paints women in a bit of a new light. I mean in A Little Princess she ends up rallying other girls around her, and finding the power of partnership and friendship. And then, the story of her getting an advantage and turning around and advancing other people who helped her in the process. And so, I think it highlighted that women are so much more than damsels in distress. It showed that we are resilient, that we are kind, that we are strong, and that we remain so even in the face of terrible circumstances.
Shi:
I love that evolution too that has continued and you almost see it in compressed form in newer Disney movies today. Which, if this is our first time meeting, thanks for stumbling on A Mentorship Question!
Kay:
We were actually shocked that we got National Princess Day for you without a Disney princess quest.
Shi:
We kind of debated like can we actually celebrate National Princess Day without a Disney quote? So, naturally we have to talk about Disney here – but you see this kind of compressed reflection I think in the Disney movies and you know you’re starting with those original movies like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella where a woman who is in desperate need who needs saving by a man. Or who is basically helpless to the whims of evil doers or people trying to take advantage. And then, you’ve got this kind of middle period where you’ve got The Little Mermaid, and you’ve got Belle, and Beauty and The Beast, and you’ve got Nala in The Lion King. And so, you’ve got this fair amount of female characters starting to hold their own a little bit, and question some of those structures. And then you really move into this next wave of Disney starting I think with Tangled. And you see Rapunzel come out and she is just resilient and her own person and drives her own story and the love story is secondary. Then we move into Frozen and Moana where the love stories are almost completely non-existent or very side two or at least third story on the roster there. And especially that moment I think it’s best encapsulated in Frozen when you realize that the act of true love is not between the man and the woman but between the sister and the sister that ends up saving the day! Which helps us in realizing that there was so much more to a woman’s value than what she meant to a man. And, of course, to THIS pair of sisters that could not have been more meaningful.
Kay:
I’m not crying, you’re crying! What I love about what the princess narrative has done for women in general (and especially for us girls who grew up with the Disney movies) is that I think that it really helped us to see that sovereignty is not something that is reserved for royal families, and that when we look at the different definition of sovereign it’s like the royal in charge of a country. The third definition of sovereign is a self-governing state. And if women aren’t more self-governed here in 2020 than they have EVER been, I do not know how it would be possible for us to not continue that progress. I mean, it’s amazing to see the progress that has been made – but wherever you are and whatever you’re doing remember that that sovereignty is yours! You are a self-governing person. You might live inside a government, but you have a certain amount of control within you which brings us back to this quote. Just as Francis Hodgson says, we take this idea of sovereignty as, “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old addicts. Even if they dress in rags. Even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young, they are still princesses.”
Shi:
All right, you already know it’s a royalty quest today – whether you are a prince or a princess! Today is your day to treat yourself like royalty! This might mean knocking out some negative self-talk, or it may mean a quiet walk around the block! But, whatever it is, give yourself a little treat today, and recognize that sovereign status inside of you! Are you ready?
Kay and Shi:
Let’s quest!
