Rapunzel- A princess I can love

I would not consider myself a feminist and I don't think that Disney movies are inherently evil and teaching our daughters terrible things.

But after reading a couple of books and having a number of discussions along those lines, some of the arguments against Disney really start to make sense.

As much as I LOVE the Little Mermaid, she sells her voice for a boy. I'm not sure how I feel about that...*

All that to say, tonight I watched Tangled with a friend (not for the first time, just for funsies) and I couldn't help but analyze it for the underlying messages it sends our young girls (I didn't do it on purpose, but sometimes I just can't turn off the UNC mind).

Let me tell you, I love Rapunzel.

I think that she is an awesome princess. She's beautiful, sweet, and totally kicks butt and takes names.

She's the kind of princess I would want a young girl to admire.

She is the balance of innocent and naive, but sassy and observant. She figures out what is going on pretty quickly and stands up for herself. This blonde has some fiest to her.

I love fiest.

And the best thing is, both she and Flynn are great. It seems in these kinds of movies that either the girl is sleeping and the boy saves the day, or the girl is awesome and the boy is a doofus.

Flynn is great. He fights for his girl. And lets be real, no matter how much feminism tells us otherwise, a girl wants a boy who is going to fight for her. A man who is going to defend her. I believe that is what we were created to long for. And in the end, both were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others well-being.

Merida in Brave was hailed as a Disney princess for feminists. She was fierce and a fighter. Like the awesome Katniss Everdeen, she was an amazing archer. And most importantly, she didn't want to get married. I had one problem with Merida...

She was a brat.

I couldn't stand her. The way she treated her family and threw temper tantrums was just annoying. (sorry if you liked the movie- the animation and music was beautiful, but I couldn't stand her).

This is not who I want girls emulating, they get enough brattiness from other TV shows and movies.

Why can't a girl be cute and girly? Why can't she be sweet and naive? Why can't she use a frying pan as a weapon?

Obviously, the person that we want our girls to emulate the most is Jesus first and foremost and then the Bible and Christian history is full of amazing women who gave their lives to God and others.

But when it comes to role models in secular culture, I really like Rapunzel.



*I am all for watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my favorite princess), but I definitely think that those movies need to be watched together and discussed (as most things do). However, the ones where the girl literally just sleeps while the prince slays the dragon (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) nope, just nope. 

I'm not an awesome person

Lately, people have been asking me a lot about my plans after college (almost wrote high school...).

I've been asked a lot if I plan on staying in this area to teach after I graduate and, of course, I say no that I want to teach at an orphanage in India.

And I always get the same response:

"Wow. That is so amazing. That is so great that you want to do that!"

And I never really know how to respond.

Because on the one hand, it is kind of awesome. It is a huge need and I'm so excited to get to be a part of these kids lives and a part of the plan that God has for them.

But on the other hand, its not about me. Not at all.

I had nothing to do with it. I did not choose to do this. I didn't decide to go and do this awesome thing.

God literally reached into my life, lifted me off the path I was headed down and set me on this path instead. It was all his doing. I am simply following his directions. Because I've learned its better not to argue with the creator of the universe. He tends to win those arguments.

And even more importantly, I'm not an awesome person. I'm a sinner. I'm extremely selfish. I have a tendency to be lazy and procrastinate.

There are things about life in India that I dread, to be honest. I am not looking forward to the hot summers. I am not looking forward to be separated from my friends and family. I know that I will be frustrated and short tempered at times. I will not be the teacher that I want to be or imagine myself being.

I don't really know why I am writing this, except to say, I am not awesome.


but GOD is.