Review - Cinderella Ate my Daughter by Peggy Orenstein

Book Summary from Amazon

The acclaimed author of the groundbreaking bestseller Schoolgirls reveals the dark side of pink and pretty: the rise of the girlie-girl, she warns, is not that innocent.

Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source—the source—of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages.


Cinderella Ate My Daughter is a must-read for anyone who cares about girls, and for parents helping their daughters navigate the rocky road to adulthood.

My Review - 3 1/2 More Sugar Please (in this case, More Pink Please)


I thought this was an interesting read. I have a 4 year old daughter that is all about pink. At night after I read a story to her I pull out my Kindle and read with the kindle light, well the ironic funniest comment she made while reading this book was.  "Mommy when I get older I am going to get a Kindle too but mine is going to be pink with a pink light."  It took everything in me to not laugh.  I think PeggyO may have been appalled, lol.

This book was much more than the pink phase girls go through.  It was the pink vs blue, the girl toys vs boy toys, female celebrities, girly girl vs tomboy, the Princesses of course and the dolls, American Girl, Barbie, Bratz, Spice Girls etc., sexy in young girls, toddler pageants and Facebook, the overall social media which was my favourite chapter.

Social media scares me for sure and I agree young children are techie so they are on it at young ages.  I can let my 4 year old be on the computer alone, nickjr.com owns her and 'gives me quiet time' ;-)  The thought of texting, online associates that she will call friends, all the life that I will no nothing about scares me.
As Parents we make decisions every day that will affect our children, that is our responsibility as a parent.  Even though the Princess movies and others are for children, we should still be watching them to see if we agree with the morals, every one's values are different.  I believe we have to respond to questions, there is the style - "no they don't watch or do it home so they don't know" but as Peggy found out, that is the biggest myth or thought. 

I remember once, my daughter was pretending and said 'is my butt big' if I hadn't watched Chipmunks with her I would have gasped and thought what the hell.  Oh ya, Chipmunks are funny but they can be rude but they are also irresistible.  Peggy discussed the uproar over Beyonce's song, Single Ladies, put a ring on it, lol, but guess what, it is right out of the Chipmunks movie, hahahahaha.
Did you know pink and blue is a 'new' concept?  A favourite quote When nursery colors were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine hue, a pastel version of red, which was associate with strength.  Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy, and faithfulness, symbolized femininity.  Peggy makes the conclusion that maybe that is why Cinderella is in Blue.

A few quotes I loved, made me think and want to share:

I thought, maybe I should see princess mania as a sign of progress, an indication that girls could celebrate their predilection for pink without compromising strength or ambition; that at long last they could "have it all":  be feminist and feminine, pretty and powerful; earn independence and male approval. Then again, maybe I should just lighten up and not read so much into it - to mangel Freud, maybe sometimes a princess is just a princess.

It tells girls that how you look is more important than how you feel. More than that, it tells them that how you look is how you feel, as well as who you are.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.  I would recommend to moms and women that consider themselves girly girls.  I am a girly girl and my daughter is fully into the pink phase, wants to wear a skirt but I have to put leggings or shorts under because she will be climbing, jumping in the sand right with the boys.

The main thing missing for me was Peggy giving examples specific to her daughter, I did wish it could have been more memoir than just non fiction.  This would have made it more real in a sense.  I think everyone that reads this will choose a different favourite chapter, they were pretty good.


I added this to my TBR List after reading over at Christa's blog Mental Foodie.