Princess paraphernalia is even being carried

Disney is smart. In 2001, when they realized the gold mine or should I say, the royal treasury? inherent in their princesses, they started marketing the whole tribe, from the original Snow White on down. The result? Whereas the Disney Consumer Products division brought in $300 million in 2001, by 2012, that number had ballooned to $3 billion.Disney is known for saturating the market with princess items, and consequently, the Disney princess is ubiquitous. We're not just talking about dolls. I have a house full of Disney princesses. There are princesses stamped on everything: bed sheets, pillowcases, towels, underwear, socks, backpacks, Band-Aids, and crayons. There are princess costumes to wear, princess appliques waiting to be applied, and princess coloring books to fill in.

Princess paraphernalia is even being carried in places like Home Depot HD +0.72% … not traditionally a store that caters to little girls!As a marketing professional, I have to applaud the Disney princess marketing machine. Kudos: your product is everywhere, front and center in our line of sight. But as a mother, I do have some concerns … and they tie in directly to each of the points above:Snow White was young and helpless. Cinderella allowed herself to be victimized by a cruel stepfamily. Sleeping Beauty was essentially a non-entity in her own movie. All had to be rescued by handsome princes. Ariel, however, is the one I dislike the most. As Peggy Orenstein grumbles so aptly in "Cinderella Ate My Daughter," Ariel "gives up her voice to get a guy."

Not just her voice, I would add. It was her family, her identity, and her entire way of life, too.On the other hand, Tiana is a hard-working girl saving up toward her dream of opening a restaurant. Rapunzel is resourceful and adventurous. And with Merida, we finally get a princess story that doesn't revolve around love and marriage.Thank you, Disney, for giving us princesses who have evolved with the times. But I wish you wouldn't throw them all in a pot and dish them out as princess-stew. I wish you would market only the ones who are role model-worthy and leave the rest behind.