Disney, Target, And Julie Andrews Team Up To Sell Your Daughter Stuff With National Princess Week

Don’t let those demure big eyes of Disney Princesses fool you. Princess culture is a business through and through, with bottom lines that are far more pronounced than any glittery tiara. The highly lucrative business of shilling polyester gowns along with story lines of complacent female protagonists shows no signs of slowing down, as problematic depictions of women and beauty are aimed squarely at your toddler from the cradle to her wedding day. But whether you’re actively breaking those princess myths in your own home, Disney and Target are teaming up to sell your kid an array of princess merchandise with their first annual National Princess Week.

So get those credit cards ready, pack the Belle costume in the car, and head to the nearest Target to pay homage at the altar of commercialized princess worship.

Julie Andrews has been selected as the Princess Week spokesperson to simultaneously plug her new book “The Very Fairy Princess: Here Comes the Flower Girl!” And naturally, it wouldn’t be an appropriate Disney-sanctioned Princess Week without plenty of product to push which the company outlines as “Blu-rays, books, toys, bedroom decor, games and more, inspired by Disney’s classic animated films.” In true Disney fashion, the Princess Conglomerate has slapped together a 10th anniversary edition of The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, along with exclusive Target deals on products and books like “What is a Princess?”

To Julie Andrew’s credit, she has gone on record attempting to veer away from the two central issues that have often concerned parents when their daughter first takes to princess culture: a premature preoccupation with physical beauty and materialism. With regards to National Princess Week, Julie told CBS News:

“Being a princess is not about looking beautiful, being elegant or anything surface-oriented,” she explains. “It’s what you feel inside, and about being generous and helpful and adventurous and creative.”

Yet with tag lines such as “celebrate your inner princess” displayed prominently above a collection of themed products, it’s clear that girls are only supposed to do so with their parents’ wallets.

(photo: target.com)