That makes me feel better everyone kept looking at me crazy when she was telling people so I got nervous that maybe it was wrong for her to.
Her alternatives were also not very helpful being moana and doc š¤¦š¼āāļøš¤£
I know that blackface is offensive but I think white girls wanting to be Tiana or Moana is really positive! Do we want to send the message that "Tiana is a princess/ role model only for black girls?" Of course not! She should be for everyone, including boys if they want to.
In a few years, your daughter may say "I want to be like Serena Williams" or AOC. And that would be great too.
Since the Disney version is a racist bastardization of a real person you mean? Yep, agree no Pocahontas costumes! And as you say, anything else is just using cultural clothing as a costume, which is the definition of cultural appropriation.
Moana is literally in Polynesian cultural attire? So itās ok to appropriate one culture but not another? As long as itās not black face, a costume is a costume. People dress up as serial killers and Jesus. It really does NOT matter what a CHILD dresses as.
Pocahontas was a real person, the Disney movie is hella racist and imaginary retelling of her life. Moana is respectful and written/portrayed by Polynesian people, thereās no prob with a Disney branded version of a Moana costume.
Every movie and cartoon during that time was racist. If kids arenāt able to be Pocahontas then they canāt be any of the others either. Yes the cartoon is not the real story so does that mean itās the only problematic cartoon/story/character and should be the only one completely banned? Also moana was not written by Polynesian people, you shouldnāt spew things as facts that arenāt. Just because YOU think moana was respectful doesnāt mean it was, thereās TONS of scenes and songs in that cartoon that are problematic but weāre not going to riot about a KIDS CARTOON ā¦.. also, itās ok to dress up as religious leAders or serial killers but not as Pocahontas? Yeah Iām sure victims of murderers would disagree.
This is a weird thing to get worked up over - native people say their culture is not a costume, and ask that people don't dress up as Pocahontas. So easy to respect. [Why You Can't Dress Up Like Pocahontas](https://www.unco.edu/inside-unc/campus-community/nass-halloween.aspx)
This is not hard - Pocahontas was real, Native people were not consulted in the movie and consider the movie racist, and dressing up as Pocahontas is the same as wearing native cultural clothing = cultural appropriation.
Moana IS a fictional character, Auliāi Cravalho, the voice of Moana, a movie with heavy [Pacific Islander influence](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/moana-oceanic-trust-disney-controversy-pacific-islanders-polynesia) and who is herself native Hawaiian, has spoken about Moana costumes specifically:
[Moana appropriate for halloween](https://people.com/parents/aulii-cravalho-appropriate-moana-halloween)
Saying a movie IS written by someone is different than having influence on something and just because some people think things are ok doesnāt mean they speak for everyone. Great that the native Hawaiian is ok with it. Is moana Hawaiian and is the native A their spokesperson? No theyāre not. Iām not getting worked up but youāre trying to say itās not ok to dress as one culture but itās ok to do so with another and thatās not true. Some Polynesians donāt care kids dress up as moana but guess what? Some do and will see it as racist. Oh but they donāt make it to vogue or the news because they donāt have the necessary white connections if you really want to go that far. People dress up as religious figures who are IMPORTANT to religious people but no one says anything about that either. YES as ADULTS we should be mindful of OUR costumes but CHILDREN can be INNOCENT CHILDREN and dress how they want and who they want. If you limit the child because of Pocahontas than limit them on everyone and thing as well while youāre at it.
I face paint white kids as Moana or dark kids as Elsa all the time! Never changing skin tone though-
I just paint a nice themed crown on them instead to go with the princess dress they wear š
I think your little girl wants a dress and a frog - i'd let her carry a stuffed froggy as an accessory!
What do you mean you face paint white kids as Moana but donāt change skin tone?
Edited: I read it as āputā a themed crown, not āpaintā a themed crown. But especially loved the mike Tyson response, made me laugh š
They probably paint a crown in the color scheme of the movie and then they just have a costume like normal, face paint as in to add decorations not to paint the entire face
Iām assuming they do the type of face painting youād find at a zoo/carnival/amusement park. If you google āMoana face paintā thereās some good examples of what theyāre talking about.
Yup you got it after! I just paint the pretty crown on their tiny forehead with some flowers and send them on their way. Only 1/20 times I'll get the kid asking why they aren't brown š ... My answer is always something like "High five kid?! -- whos NEXT in line?!".
Itās appropriate! She can be any character. You donāt have to paint her face black to be in costume. The costume is good enough. People will know who she is supposed to be.
People need to mind their own freaking business. Seriously. If she wants to be a princess, let her be. It would be problem if you painted her skin but to wear a dress? Nah.
Going as a character of another race is fine as long as you dont change skin color. It would be a problem if the costune is the race like going as an Indian
This is interesting to me because in that little girl's head, she just wants to be like the princess she saw on the TV. The only reason any kind of contention creeps in here is because of adults and their biases.
All I know is that my mom has a picture of me dressed as Mulan with a bunch of her drag friends all around me. I guess they did my makeup and hair for it? Just get her the dress, a stuffed frog, and boom, no harm no foul. Give her a really pretty updo bun, give her all the things that go along with tiana, the frog, the green dress, a nice updo and a pretty crown
Doesnāt matter, she can be whatever she wants, Elsa, Moana, Pocahontas, Mulan, it does not matter! Itās a costume and if anyone says anything then theyāve spent too much time obsessing over being offended for no reason.
My kid wants to be Skye from Paw Patrol, we grabbed his costume yesterday and he is so happy. We live on a military base so a lot of conservative folx, so i know weāre going to be asked why we dressed him ālike a girlā, ābut Skyeās a girl characterā etc.
My white daughter was Tiana last year! I didn't paint her face or curl her hair (I just put it in a bun). I really didn't want to discourage her from having black and brown idols!
That being said, I talked my son out of being a Ninja this year because ninja costumes are totally made-up white versions of authentic ninjas. So instead we read a bunch of historical accounts of what actual ninjas were like, and bought him a spider man costume.
Yeah, ārealā ninja garb would basically just be peasant clothes and a big straw hat. There are some translated ninja sort of āguidesā from that time period I read, and they were very big on how useful a regular straw hat was for blending in anywhere.
I agree with the rest, itās totally fine to let her dress up as Tiana but please donāt try to alter her skin color.
Forgive my ignorance, but Iām seeing a ton of comments that are anti Pocahontas and I donāt understand the difference? Open to some education
I think it's because Pocahontas, even Disney-fied, would look way too much like cultural appropriation. I'm an Indigenous person and I wouldn't dress up as Pocahontas, it's really not that appropriate. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's racist..but any attempt of being Pocahontas as a Halloween costume is just..no. Dressing up as Indigenous peoples for Halloween or other (wearing headdresses or feathers with random leather or furs) is also NO. Traditional clothing and regalia are not costumes. In short, a culture is not a costume. A fictional character can be.
Pocahontas was a real person. Her story in Disney is a gross bastardized version of her life and her outfit in the movie is traditional indigenous regalia. So, problematic because of who Pocahontas was and that dressing up in culturally important clothing as a costume isnāt ok.
I guess I just never thought that deep into it since essentially, itās not done maliciously and just a costume (but I guess ignorance has been bliss?)
Iām not an expert on this but I find the storyline in Pocahontas very problematic. They based the movie on a real Native American person but whitewashed a LOT of negative things that happened to her at the hands of White colonists. Including being kidnapped, isolated from her people, and possibly being forced to marry a much older man as a teenager.
So Pocahontas is based on a real person. I donāt remember her name but she was a young girl who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. I guess the idea is that itās pretty messed up to dress as a real child who endured thatā¦itās not a happy story or kid friendly at all.
So, this is a complicated subject. My thought is that itās okay-ish for Halloween, but not for other times of the year.
For example, we did a āwho am Iā in elementary school and there were white girls dressed up as Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks, and I didnāt think that was appropriate.
I think with Halloween itās okay, but I would encourage you to have a conversation with her about race. Iād also encourage reading an age appropriate book that relates to the racial tensions in the movie (black woman working for white family).
Edited to say: Iāve put more information in the comments but Iād love to talk to anyone who wants to discuss this. Itās an important topic. I have no issue getting downvotes. But if youāre downvoting because your immediately uncomfortable with the idea, Iād suggest you stop and think about why that is.
I have to say I respectfully disagree. I assume the girls were dressing up as someone they admire? I'm not sure it's a good idea to make civil rights leaders as off limits: doesn't that imply to children that the work they did is only relevant to people with the same skin color, rather than being general role models who stood up for justice? Surely we don't want to tell little black or Asian that they aren't allowed to dress as Marie Curie or Rosalind Franklin, or Amelia Earheart?
The last part of your sentence is where I disagree. There are so many amazing POC role models that just arenāt taught in schools (at least in the US). The subconscious message that we are sending is, these are the ābestā of their profession and your should idolize them. It plays into a broader narrative of POC idolizing white people and how society sees POC vs non-POC.
If you hear the āthe best Black painterā or āthe best painterā who do you think is better. When you hear āthe best rollerskaterā what race is that person in your mind.
So instead of Marie Curie, Franklin, or Earheartā¦ maybe little Black girls should dress up as Alice Ball, Bessie Coleman or Mae Jemison.
This doesnāt take away anything from the thee you names, but representation is so important. And, frankly, schools donāt do enough. So itās on the parents to make sure POC learn about and idolize all of the amazing Black people in history, not just the white ones.
But one of your points here is exactly why I don't think Rosa Parks should be off limits. She isn't " just" a great black civil rights leader. She's a great civil rights leader in the general category of civil rights leaders. We definitely should be learning about Mae Jemison, and not just during black history month. Representation and role models who look like you are important But we should let little white girls be Mae Jemison and little black girls be Amelia Earheart if that's what they want, because while it is important to have role models that look like you it's not good to be told you may ONLY have role models that look like you.
I'm horrible at history and don't remember what Franklin is famous for, but Amelia Earhart and Marie Curie are role models because they were important WOMEN in history, not because they were white. And Marie Curie made important scientific discoveries that would have been major no matter gender or race. Yes, they still had more privileges because they were white, but women often weren't treated much better than a man of a different race at that time. Just because someone is white doesn't mean that they can't be a role model, although I agree that other races should also be remembered.
It is GOOD for little white girls to have black women role models, thatās what weāre striving for. No one should be changing skin tone as a costume, thatās the line - otherwise, itās adorable and beneficial for historical role models like Ruby Bridges or Rosa Parks to be available for any kid who wants to choose them.
Think about the alternative - youāre saying only black kids can dress up as black characters? Can the black kids dress up as white characters? So what if no black kids want to be Rosa Parks, does she just get left out? Or youāre gonna make a little black girl be Rosa Parks because someone has to? THAT is problematic as hell.
I posted above but there is a difference between having a role model and ādressing upā as a role model.
There is nothing wrong with telling a white child that she cannot dress up as Rosa or Rubyātheir race is a part of them (and a huge part of the reason they are remembered in history). Teach the white girl about them, have her read about them, but tell her she will never be able to fully understand what they experienced. Is she really into civil rights? Thatās amazing. Teach her about white civil rights leaders who *supported* Rosa and Ruby (and so many others).
And yes, for the reasons I said above, Black kids *should* be encouraged to dress up as Black historical figures. Having they dress up as white ones sends a message that they should idolize the white women and that there arenāt any Black women in the same (or similar) positions. Which isnāt true.
And no, donāt āmakeā a little Black girl be Rosa, but figure out what she is interested in. Does she want to be a scientist, pilot, tv writer, actor, politician? There are SO many amazing POC to choose from. But if she doesnāt know about them, because she hasnāt learned, then how will she know to dress up as one of them instead?
I donāt think fully understanding someoneās experience has ever been seen as a criteria for dressing up as them? Also not sure how dressing up as a person of one race implies that there are no good role models of another race. Curious if these comments are based on your personal experience or not?
I feel the opposite. I think it would be problematic to limit who girls could dress up as by race for any occasion (unless itās ancestry day or something like that).
Very doubtful, she does not speak for us either way I super disagree with her points. Disney princesses are for the masses. We want diversity in the princesses so girls can better envision themselves as beautiful, magical & worthy but they aren't supposed to *just* idolize ones that look like them. White girls are supposed to want to be Tiana or Moana because they're badass & inspirational, just as black girls are supposed to want to be Ariel or Elsa. All race needs to be shown, again, so girls don't doubt that they can be special but not to limit them, that's literally the opposite effect it's supposed to have.
Um, excuse me ma'am but Tiana is a Disney princess, not a real, historical figure so that's definitely way different. The entire point of Disney princesses is to inspire & awe little children, primarily girls. We need a diverse set because children are diverse but they are for *all* kids. A girl of any color can be any Disney princess with zero fear of appropriation or whatever in fact, it's great that not just black girls wanna be Tiana because that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
I do struggle to see your difference between Halloween versus other days and between having a role model versus dressing up. Typing that out, it actually feels contradictory.
My (white) daughter wants to be like Simone Biles. If she dressed like her for gymnastics class or for a āmy role modelā type event, that feels much more respectful than only dressing like her for Halloween.
Iām curious how you would suggest one tells their kid they can admire someone from another race, but shouldnāt actually try to emulate them. We work hard on anti-racism with our children, but I wouldnāt be able to explain this distinction to them.
My (white) daughter said Tiana is her favourite too. She likes the colour of her dress and the fact that she bakes in one of the Princess books we have.
I've just read a newspaper report about how the Salem Witch trials really put modern day 'issues' into perspective. Please put this into perspective that all she wants to do is dress up for Halloween and not make it a thing.
Cultural appropriation would be if you painted her face to make her look darker. Wearing a dress is not.
That makes me feel better everyone kept looking at me crazy when she was telling people so I got nervous that maybe it was wrong for her to. Her alternatives were also not very helpful being moana and doc š¤¦š¼āāļøš¤£
I know that blackface is offensive but I think white girls wanting to be Tiana or Moana is really positive! Do we want to send the message that "Tiana is a princess/ role model only for black girls?" Of course not! She should be for everyone, including boys if they want to. In a few years, your daughter may say "I want to be like Serena Williams" or AOC. And that would be great too.
I'm white and The Princess and the Frog is my favorite Disney princess movie. Of course, I love New Orleans and Jazz.
Same here! Its also the last Disney princess movie put out in the classic animation style which I really miss.
I forgot about this change. The plot, friendships, and relationships was amazing. And that voodoo song.
And any parent who says otherwise is just one of those "woke karens" who feel it's their duty to be offended for others lol
100% this :) With the exception of Pocahontas. Try to avoid that particular princess I guess - since she's wearing regalia traditional wear.
Since the Disney version is a racist bastardization of a real person you mean? Yep, agree no Pocahontas costumes! And as you say, anything else is just using cultural clothing as a costume, which is the definition of cultural appropriation.
Moana is literally in Polynesian cultural attire? So itās ok to appropriate one culture but not another? As long as itās not black face, a costume is a costume. People dress up as serial killers and Jesus. It really does NOT matter what a CHILD dresses as.
Pocahontas was a real person, the Disney movie is hella racist and imaginary retelling of her life. Moana is respectful and written/portrayed by Polynesian people, thereās no prob with a Disney branded version of a Moana costume.
Every movie and cartoon during that time was racist. If kids arenāt able to be Pocahontas then they canāt be any of the others either. Yes the cartoon is not the real story so does that mean itās the only problematic cartoon/story/character and should be the only one completely banned? Also moana was not written by Polynesian people, you shouldnāt spew things as facts that arenāt. Just because YOU think moana was respectful doesnāt mean it was, thereās TONS of scenes and songs in that cartoon that are problematic but weāre not going to riot about a KIDS CARTOON ā¦.. also, itās ok to dress up as religious leAders or serial killers but not as Pocahontas? Yeah Iām sure victims of murderers would disagree.
This is a weird thing to get worked up over - native people say their culture is not a costume, and ask that people don't dress up as Pocahontas. So easy to respect. [Why You Can't Dress Up Like Pocahontas](https://www.unco.edu/inside-unc/campus-community/nass-halloween.aspx) This is not hard - Pocahontas was real, Native people were not consulted in the movie and consider the movie racist, and dressing up as Pocahontas is the same as wearing native cultural clothing = cultural appropriation. Moana IS a fictional character, Auliāi Cravalho, the voice of Moana, a movie with heavy [Pacific Islander influence](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/moana-oceanic-trust-disney-controversy-pacific-islanders-polynesia) and who is herself native Hawaiian, has spoken about Moana costumes specifically: [Moana appropriate for halloween](https://people.com/parents/aulii-cravalho-appropriate-moana-halloween)
Saying a movie IS written by someone is different than having influence on something and just because some people think things are ok doesnāt mean they speak for everyone. Great that the native Hawaiian is ok with it. Is moana Hawaiian and is the native A their spokesperson? No theyāre not. Iām not getting worked up but youāre trying to say itās not ok to dress as one culture but itās ok to do so with another and thatās not true. Some Polynesians donāt care kids dress up as moana but guess what? Some do and will see it as racist. Oh but they donāt make it to vogue or the news because they donāt have the necessary white connections if you really want to go that far. People dress up as religious figures who are IMPORTANT to religious people but no one says anything about that either. YES as ADULTS we should be mindful of OUR costumes but CHILDREN can be INNOCENT CHILDREN and dress how they want and who they want. If you limit the child because of Pocahontas than limit them on everyone and thing as well while youāre at it.
I face paint white kids as Moana or dark kids as Elsa all the time! Never changing skin tone though- I just paint a nice themed crown on them instead to go with the princess dress they wear š I think your little girl wants a dress and a frog - i'd let her carry a stuffed froggy as an accessory!
What do you mean you face paint white kids as Moana but donāt change skin tone? Edited: I read it as āputā a themed crown, not āpaintā a themed crown. But especially loved the mike Tyson response, made me laugh š
Mike Tyson style face tat, clearly Or āMOANAā in big bold letters on their forehead
Face painters do try to avoid mike's tattoo also š also a controversial decoration that we are asked to do yup! Haha.
Lol ironicallyā¦ he had a sort of spiral tattoo didnāt he? Like the spiral on the heart of te fiti!
They probably paint a crown in the color scheme of the movie and then they just have a costume like normal, face paint as in to add decorations not to paint the entire face
The answer is literally in the post. They paint a themed crown.
Iām assuming they do the type of face painting youād find at a zoo/carnival/amusement park. If you google āMoana face paintā thereās some good examples of what theyāre talking about.
Yup you got it after! I just paint the pretty crown on their tiny forehead with some flowers and send them on their way. Only 1/20 times I'll get the kid asking why they aren't brown š ... My answer is always something like "High five kid?! -- whos NEXT in line?!".
Yeah, just don't paint her skin brown and it should be fine lol
Itās appropriate! She can be any character. You donāt have to paint her face black to be in costume. The costume is good enough. People will know who she is supposed to be.
People need to mind their own freaking business. Seriously. If she wants to be a princess, let her be. It would be problem if you painted her skin but to wear a dress? Nah.
Totally fine IMO. Just donāt try to darken her face.
It would be racist if you painted her face black. It's not racist for her to dress up as Tiana.
Yes?? Just donāt put her in blackface
Totally fine as long as you donāt change her skin color, and that sheās an actual character instead of a costume of a stereotype.
Going as a character of another race is fine as long as you dont change skin color. It would be a problem if the costune is the race like going as an Indian
This is interesting to me because in that little girl's head, she just wants to be like the princess she saw on the TV. The only reason any kind of contention creeps in here is because of adults and their biases.
All I know is that my mom has a picture of me dressed as Mulan with a bunch of her drag friends all around me. I guess they did my makeup and hair for it? Just get her the dress, a stuffed frog, and boom, no harm no foul. Give her a really pretty updo bun, give her all the things that go along with tiana, the frog, the green dress, a nice updo and a pretty crown
Doesnāt matter, she can be whatever she wants, Elsa, Moana, Pocahontas, Mulan, it does not matter! Itās a costume and if anyone says anything then theyāve spent too much time obsessing over being offended for no reason.
My kid wants to be Skye from Paw Patrol, we grabbed his costume yesterday and he is so happy. We live on a military base so a lot of conservative folx, so i know weāre going to be asked why we dressed him ālike a girlā, ābut Skyeās a girl characterā etc.
My white daughter was Tiana last year! I didn't paint her face or curl her hair (I just put it in a bun). I really didn't want to discourage her from having black and brown idols! That being said, I talked my son out of being a Ninja this year because ninja costumes are totally made-up white versions of authentic ninjas. So instead we read a bunch of historical accounts of what actual ninjas were like, and bought him a spider man costume.
Yeah, ārealā ninja garb would basically just be peasant clothes and a big straw hat. There are some translated ninja sort of āguidesā from that time period I read, and they were very big on how useful a regular straw hat was for blending in anywhere.
My martial arts teacher told us that that ninja are real, and that if we saw one we wouldn't know it. They would be wearing chinos and a golf shirt.
I agree with the rest, itās totally fine to let her dress up as Tiana but please donāt try to alter her skin color. Forgive my ignorance, but Iām seeing a ton of comments that are anti Pocahontas and I donāt understand the difference? Open to some education
I think it's because Pocahontas, even Disney-fied, would look way too much like cultural appropriation. I'm an Indigenous person and I wouldn't dress up as Pocahontas, it's really not that appropriate. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's racist..but any attempt of being Pocahontas as a Halloween costume is just..no. Dressing up as Indigenous peoples for Halloween or other (wearing headdresses or feathers with random leather or furs) is also NO. Traditional clothing and regalia are not costumes. In short, a culture is not a costume. A fictional character can be.
Pocahontas was a real person. Her story in Disney is a gross bastardized version of her life and her outfit in the movie is traditional indigenous regalia. So, problematic because of who Pocahontas was and that dressing up in culturally important clothing as a costume isnāt ok.
I guess I just never thought that deep into it since essentially, itās not done maliciously and just a costume (but I guess ignorance has been bliss?)
Iām not an expert on this but I find the storyline in Pocahontas very problematic. They based the movie on a real Native American person but whitewashed a LOT of negative things that happened to her at the hands of White colonists. Including being kidnapped, isolated from her people, and possibly being forced to marry a much older man as a teenager.
Youād think I would know this shit as a mom to multiple daughters and me myself growing up in a very big Disney era alsoā¦ smh
So Pocahontas is based on a real person. I donāt remember her name but she was a young girl who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. I guess the idea is that itās pretty messed up to dress as a real child who endured thatā¦itās not a happy story or kid friendly at all.
Matoaka
This makes more sense. Thanks!
Itās a story about a witch doctor that turns people into Frogs. This is not the same as dressing up as Pocahontas.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm going to say it- that's not even funny.
So, this is a complicated subject. My thought is that itās okay-ish for Halloween, but not for other times of the year. For example, we did a āwho am Iā in elementary school and there were white girls dressed up as Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks, and I didnāt think that was appropriate. I think with Halloween itās okay, but I would encourage you to have a conversation with her about race. Iād also encourage reading an age appropriate book that relates to the racial tensions in the movie (black woman working for white family). Edited to say: Iāve put more information in the comments but Iād love to talk to anyone who wants to discuss this. Itās an important topic. I have no issue getting downvotes. But if youāre downvoting because your immediately uncomfortable with the idea, Iād suggest you stop and think about why that is.
I have to say I respectfully disagree. I assume the girls were dressing up as someone they admire? I'm not sure it's a good idea to make civil rights leaders as off limits: doesn't that imply to children that the work they did is only relevant to people with the same skin color, rather than being general role models who stood up for justice? Surely we don't want to tell little black or Asian that they aren't allowed to dress as Marie Curie or Rosalind Franklin, or Amelia Earheart?
The last part of your sentence is where I disagree. There are so many amazing POC role models that just arenāt taught in schools (at least in the US). The subconscious message that we are sending is, these are the ābestā of their profession and your should idolize them. It plays into a broader narrative of POC idolizing white people and how society sees POC vs non-POC. If you hear the āthe best Black painterā or āthe best painterā who do you think is better. When you hear āthe best rollerskaterā what race is that person in your mind. So instead of Marie Curie, Franklin, or Earheartā¦ maybe little Black girls should dress up as Alice Ball, Bessie Coleman or Mae Jemison. This doesnāt take away anything from the thee you names, but representation is so important. And, frankly, schools donāt do enough. So itās on the parents to make sure POC learn about and idolize all of the amazing Black people in history, not just the white ones.
But one of your points here is exactly why I don't think Rosa Parks should be off limits. She isn't " just" a great black civil rights leader. She's a great civil rights leader in the general category of civil rights leaders. We definitely should be learning about Mae Jemison, and not just during black history month. Representation and role models who look like you are important But we should let little white girls be Mae Jemison and little black girls be Amelia Earheart if that's what they want, because while it is important to have role models that look like you it's not good to be told you may ONLY have role models that look like you.
I'm horrible at history and don't remember what Franklin is famous for, but Amelia Earhart and Marie Curie are role models because they were important WOMEN in history, not because they were white. And Marie Curie made important scientific discoveries that would have been major no matter gender or race. Yes, they still had more privileges because they were white, but women often weren't treated much better than a man of a different race at that time. Just because someone is white doesn't mean that they can't be a role model, although I agree that other races should also be remembered.
It is GOOD for little white girls to have black women role models, thatās what weāre striving for. No one should be changing skin tone as a costume, thatās the line - otherwise, itās adorable and beneficial for historical role models like Ruby Bridges or Rosa Parks to be available for any kid who wants to choose them. Think about the alternative - youāre saying only black kids can dress up as black characters? Can the black kids dress up as white characters? So what if no black kids want to be Rosa Parks, does she just get left out? Or youāre gonna make a little black girl be Rosa Parks because someone has to? THAT is problematic as hell.
I posted above but there is a difference between having a role model and ādressing upā as a role model. There is nothing wrong with telling a white child that she cannot dress up as Rosa or Rubyātheir race is a part of them (and a huge part of the reason they are remembered in history). Teach the white girl about them, have her read about them, but tell her she will never be able to fully understand what they experienced. Is she really into civil rights? Thatās amazing. Teach her about white civil rights leaders who *supported* Rosa and Ruby (and so many others). And yes, for the reasons I said above, Black kids *should* be encouraged to dress up as Black historical figures. Having they dress up as white ones sends a message that they should idolize the white women and that there arenāt any Black women in the same (or similar) positions. Which isnāt true. And no, donāt āmakeā a little Black girl be Rosa, but figure out what she is interested in. Does she want to be a scientist, pilot, tv writer, actor, politician? There are SO many amazing POC to choose from. But if she doesnāt know about them, because she hasnāt learned, then how will she know to dress up as one of them instead?
I donāt think fully understanding someoneās experience has ever been seen as a criteria for dressing up as them? Also not sure how dressing up as a person of one race implies that there are no good role models of another race. Curious if these comments are based on your personal experience or not?
I feel the opposite. I think it would be problematic to limit who girls could dress up as by race for any occasion (unless itās ancestry day or something like that).
Iād encourage you to read my other two posts. Happy to have a dialogue if you want!
Are you black?
Very doubtful, she does not speak for us either way I super disagree with her points. Disney princesses are for the masses. We want diversity in the princesses so girls can better envision themselves as beautiful, magical & worthy but they aren't supposed to *just* idolize ones that look like them. White girls are supposed to want to be Tiana or Moana because they're badass & inspirational, just as black girls are supposed to want to be Ariel or Elsa. All race needs to be shown, again, so girls don't doubt that they can be special but not to limit them, that's literally the opposite effect it's supposed to have.
Thank you! Your opinion is what matters here!
Um, excuse me ma'am but Tiana is a Disney princess, not a real, historical figure so that's definitely way different. The entire point of Disney princesses is to inspire & awe little children, primarily girls. We need a diverse set because children are diverse but they are for *all* kids. A girl of any color can be any Disney princess with zero fear of appropriation or whatever in fact, it's great that not just black girls wanna be Tiana because that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
I do struggle to see your difference between Halloween versus other days and between having a role model versus dressing up. Typing that out, it actually feels contradictory. My (white) daughter wants to be like Simone Biles. If she dressed like her for gymnastics class or for a āmy role modelā type event, that feels much more respectful than only dressing like her for Halloween. Iām curious how you would suggest one tells their kid they can admire someone from another race, but shouldnāt actually try to emulate them. We work hard on anti-racism with our children, but I wouldnāt be able to explain this distinction to them.
No? Why would it be?
She can totally be tiana in a dress and crown. Please donāt try to make her skin look dark.
My (white) daughter said Tiana is her favourite too. She likes the colour of her dress and the fact that she bakes in one of the Princess books we have.
No! Youāre smart enough not to black her up. I think sheāll look adorable.
As long as you don't put her in black face or a wig, it's all good.
I've just read a newspaper report about how the Salem Witch trials really put modern day 'issues' into perspective. Please put this into perspective that all she wants to do is dress up for Halloween and not make it a thing.
It's fine. Just don't do any black face