Defending Disney Princesses III--Cinderella, the working girl!

Well, it turns out I got a little out of order on this--before Sleeping Beauty there was Cinderella! Here I am back again on this soapbox to defend this hardworking girl and her story to you, modern women.

Cinderella is born to people of some circumstance, as we see from her grand house and the title her stepmother is addressed by at the ball "Lady Tremaine." Whether the Wicked Stepmother held the title Lady Tremaine before or after her marriage to Cinderella's father is inconsequential. In order for her to be announced as "Lady Tremaine" with no first name, she was at least the wife of a baronet, if not a viscountess. As it would be highly out of character for  Lady Tremaine to remarry much below her station, if at all, we may assume Cinderella's father was a noble of some kind. (Granted, Disney has not always been 100 % on their historical accuracy, but the idea is still there)

We see a picture of the deathbed of Cinderella's father, and she looks to be no more than twelve years old at the time. This was before she would have come out in society officially, and it's doubtful she would have had a coming out party, or debut, paid for by Lady Tremaine after the death of her father. This would explain why nobody knows who Cinderella is at the ball.

Okay, you caught Lindsey-the-history-geek. This is not why I started these things, but there you go, I'm going to interpret it through any lens I dang well please, because it's my blog and I'm allowed.

So she's forced to work as a servant and does the best she can to please her stepmother and stepsisters, who treat her like dirt. But, of course, she dreams of a better life, one where she is loved.

This is where I run into a problem with people complaining about Disney Princesses only looking for love/romance/marriage. Yeah, she hoped to find someone who would love her unconditionally. She has endured, at minimum, six years of neglect and abuse at the hands of those who ought to have been her family, and likely as not she was thrust into dealing with this without any time to deal with grieving for her father. I still have my Dad around, thank Heaven, but I just lost my grandfather, his Dad, and that is taking a heavy enough emotional toll! I can scarcely imagine what it would be like to lose my father now, when I am successfully graduating college with a good, supportive set of friends who refuse to allow me to hold it in. GOSH I'm lucky!

But Cinderella wasn't because she had none of this. Her Dad is freshly buried and the only family she has begin to abuse and neglect her, cast her into the place of do-all-be-all servant (most likely so they don't have to pay any servants), and they are the only people she sees for the next 6+ years.

{Okay, this is too funny and I need to lighten the mood a bit}

Yeah, I'd yearn for love and jump at the chance to go to a royal ball myself after a trauma like that. And nobody would say I was vapid for it.

Then her only friends--because let's not forget, no coming out party=no chance to get in with the human social circle, so her only friends are mice and birds--risk life and limb to make her a stunning custom dress with their own dainty fingers.

And then, just when she thinks she has met the demands of her family and will be allowed to go out for the first time in years, her handmade custom gown is torn to shreds by her only human peers, whose abuse she has taken 24/7 in her formative years. And she is denied her only chance at a good, socially enriching event just when she could taste it.

Yeah, I'd cry too.

Some people have a problem with the Fairy Godmother. While I admit that she is not the most realistic character of the piece, at some time we will need help in our lives. And, at times like that, there are people in our lives who are in a perfect position to help us, and happy to do so. Everyone wants to help Cinderella because she is unfailingly kind despite her hardships.


The positive message I see here for young women? Don't close yourself off or refuse to help anyone ever because people took advantage of you. Cinderella, despite her circumstances, is kind to the mice and birds, accepts help from her fairy godmother, and has a heart open to love when she meets the Prince.

Can I just say I love their meeting? She's not really expecting to run into anyone who wants to pay her attention here, let alone the prince--she's probably just taking in the beauty of the palace, happy to be having her own personal night of fun. And then he greets her like an elegant lady who has, like her peers, been introduced into society (reminder, she hasn't). And she handles it politely, graciously--in short, like a pro.



A quick note on love at first sight in the context of Cinderella: for all we know, they were talking during the whole "So This is Love" montage--that's called movie magic and storytelling convention.

Most tellings of the tale agree with this old Disney storybook--they were dancing together all night. You don't spend all night at a party together without talking. That's just common sense!

And think about it--every other girl there is most likely at the ball to impress the Prince and gain a title, and he probably knows that. Cinderella is neither there to impress him nor to snare him--she's just there for a good time and is smiling from ear to ear just to be having a night of fun out of the house--how endearing must that be?

Two kind, selfless people like that? Of course they fell in love.

And then, when the clock strikes midnight? She has to go, but she's not bitter or upset--although, it is pretty tragic to meet a guy, know you'll probably never see him again, and leave with no hope of getting his, well, calling card in that day, number in ours.

I have been in this sort of situation before, and it sucks. Freaking bad cell reception near the Draper Temple made an AWESOME guy lose my number because his phone didn't save it (Tim, if you're somehow reading this, it's me, Lindsey--um, hi. You look good in a grey suit, really good, and we should go out sometime).

But she's not bitter, and when he comes to her house she manages to bust out of her room. And then asks the Duke (so, likely her future uncle-in-law) politely but urgently if she, to all appearances the scullery maid, can try on the glass slipper.

That's right. She. Makes. The Move. She runs down the stairs and asks to try on the shoe, and is prepared with the other one to prove herself. Cinderella has lived with her step-family's crap for so long that she anticipates it. She's a go-getter who is not about to let a chance at love and happiness slip away.

Cinderella is about keeping your chin up and being ready to go after good things when they come your way, if you look at it. If she had sat passively back, Cinderella would never have got her happily-ever-after. But we're all so very glad she did.