The Future

I've seen a change in the Disney Princesses over time. The princesses that I grew up with were very dependent on men and were very "girly" or feminine. The new age princesses are steering away from that portrayal and role. The newest princesses are excellent examples of this theory. For example, Tiana from The Princess and The Frog is not what you would call a typical princess. First off, lets state the obvious, she's African American which is the first time we've ever seen one as a princess. Second, her main focus in the film was to work hard, not depending on magic or wishes and to open up her own restaurant. That in itself is like nothing we've ever seen before in the Disney Princesses. She does end up getting married and living happily ever after but, she just happened to run into love, she did not seek it out like the originals. 
The film Brave is another example of the change in Disney's princesses. The main character Merida, is a tom boy princess who loves to ride her horse, archery and going on adventures. This film had nothing to do with finding love, in fact she was fighting to NOT have to get married. The classic princesses would be so shocked at that. Merida does not end up getting married or finding a guy that she loves after all but, she remained a princess and still had a happy ending.
And finally, the newest princesses from Disney are found in the movie Frozen. I only just recently watched this movie and I only saw it once so I'm not too keen on the character names. Any way the story is about two sisters and their relationship. The youngest sister does end up finding love but that wasn't her main focus, it was to reunite with and aid her sister. The oldest sister becomes queen and doesn't even marry in the end. But again, they still lived happily ever after. 
Disney is modernizing their princess as the world begins to change and head into a new era. I honestly think this is a great move for Disney to make because these new princesses offer more useful life lessons than the classic princesses did. I still love them nonetheless! 

It's Not Real

What I've realized while growing up is that the Princess stories and lifestyles are not real. The world just doesn't function that way. Prince Charming and all of his perfection does not exist. I do believe that there's a prince charming for every girl out there but each one is different and fits that girl for certain reasons, they all vary. It all depends on who your prince charming is to you and what your definition of prince charming is. Not everything is going to go your way and end happily ever after because this is the real world. I wouldn't say that I learned that the hard way but I have definitely learned it throughout time, and I'm still learning. It's not only negative that the princess fairy tales aren't real, positive things can and do come too. The fact that I earned my Bachelor's degree and will soon have my Master's degree is a positive outcome of me not living the life of the Disney Princesses. None of the princesses went to school and were educated. They relied on men to save them and stayed in the "female" role. The only princess that seemed as though she was educated was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, just because she loved to read. I am very proud of myself and I consider myself to be a more modern day realistic version of a somewhat princess with an education and independence. 

Disney Cleaned Up

As I read more and more of the Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales I'm becoming more and more shocked at what I found out about my precious Disney Princesses. For instance, Rapunzel is a princess in the Disney movie Tangled, but in this version, she isn't a princess at all. Her parents were not a king and queen and they willingly gave her up to the evil woman. Another example is the story of Sleeping Beauty in this book, first off, her name is Briar Rose not Aurora like in Disney. The biggest upset in this version to me, however, is the fact that the prince did not have to fight to win or save her at all. He just got lucky and arrived the day that the curse ended. Disney probably took these tales and moved them to the brighter side of life. Had I grown up reading these tales instead of watching the Disney ones, I would MOST DEFINITELY not be the woman that I am today. 

Topic

After speaking with some of my colleagues and classmates who are around my same age, I have discovered that there are many other young women who base their future love off of what they saw in the Disney Princess love stories. I used to want to be a wedding planner and I interned with a wedding planner for half of a summer. During that time I would watch the show "Say Yes to the Dress" A LOT. There were quite a few brides who wanted a princess like theme or who wanted a "princess dress" and I wonder if they got these impressions from the Disney Princesses or just princesses in general. I hope to discover the answers to these questions in my research for my thesis by interviewing women instead of little girls. I chose to switch to young women instead of little girls because I think it would be way more difficult to gather accurate and helpful information from the children and many more steps would have to be taken in order to even be able to interview them. The IRB would be really involved because children would be involved, as well as obtaining permission from parents and the school staff to even interview them. I believe my research will be more influential and interesting if I stick with young women aged 20-25 years old.

Thesis Nightmares

I'm beginning to have some doubts, anxiety and fear about completing my thesis. I'm actually questioning if I should even continue to go forward with it or if I should just switch to capstone in the fall. I saw some thesis examples in Dr. Greenberg's office and I immediately became intimidated. They were all leather-bound and professional. It seems like I'm so far away from the finished product and that I might never reach it. And now, I don't know how I'm going to defend my thesis in front of my professors, I don't think I can. I'm terrible at public speaking and I hear that our arguments will be open for anyone to come and watch. I am very passionate about my topic but I'm not sure it will be enough in the end. I've been trying to think of who I would want on my committee but I haven't met many of the staff because I wasn't a comm major in undergrad. I have only really met Steve, Dr. Greenberg, Perry and Guinn. I only have just recently met Dr. Fitzgerald and I was told that we should choose professors who know us and who care about our topic. I would ideally love to have Steve on my committee because I've had the majority of my classes with him BUT we all know that won't happen as he is on sabbatical leave and all. So I think I would like to have Dr. Greenberg, because she is my advisor and knows me, and Dr. Fitzgerald because in getting to know her so far I really like her and think she might be interested in my topic because of her love of film and because she is a woman. My third choice is stuck between Perry and Guinn. I loved Perry's class that I took with him because I learned so much! I didn't like my class with Guinn but he seems like a cool guy. I guess I'll just have to figure it out and decide some time soon. Until then prayer will be my main focus and strategy on helping through this.

It's More Common Than It Seems I Guess..

I fell in love with Disney and the princesses all over again when I saw this picture. I would have never noticed this had I not seen this. THIS IS AWESOME. This makes me believe that perhaps I'm not the only one who still believes in happily ever after, prince charming and dreams coming true. I mean, it could just be a coincidence that Prince William and Kate are dressed the same as the Disney Prince and Princess because it is tradition that the prince wears that uniform and that the bride wears a white gown... but, it's too much of a coincidence when you add in the sister's outfits. That is just too close! Either way, It just fills me with joy inside to see stuff like this from grown prominent people. Walt Disney has had such an influence in the world and it is amazing. I'm sure he had no way of knowing and never would've guessed just how big of an influence his ideas and dreams would be on the world. His vision just proves that you can follow your dreams and make them come true, and maybe your dreams will ignite other peoples dreams and cause joy and laugher. I feel like I'm ranting now but I guess I just can't put into words what I'm trying to express. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if my wedding turned out to be like one of the happily ever after weddings in one of the Disney Princess weddings hehehehe <3

The Current

Last summer I interned for Fox29 San Antonio because I thought perhaps broadcast journalism was for me. My mom has always said I should be an anchor because I need to be on T.V. ...Boy was she wrong. The first time I was going to be filmed for a mock news story, I froze up and didn't  say a word. Camera shy does not help when trying to become an anchor so I decided that it wasn't for me after all. 

This summer I am interning for the San Antonio Current and I love it! I really feel as if I am in my element there. I love writing, even though I'm not quite writing about what I would like to yet, what I'm doing so far is doing nothing but strengthening my writing and teaching me. I am in charge of the weekly blog "10 free things happening this week", on the current's website so check me out if you get a chance! I'm so very proud of myself and my little, I'm sure very irrelevant, blog:D My goal is to really throw myself into this internship and really prove myself to the editor so that hopefully, by the grace of God, I will get offered a position or apply and am hired. I really do believe that starting my career off at The Current would be very beneficial for my future. If I don't get the job, at least i'm learning so much that I can take with me, add to my resume and create a portfolio with. 

Ideally, I'd like to one day have my own column on something that I like to write about. I know I'm a long way from that but a start is a start.