These are a few of my least favorite things

I think language is so interesting to examine (which people don't do nearly enough) because it says so much about the society we live in. There are several--well, probably countless--words and phrases that exist in our culture that I am completely sick of. One that I've been bombarded with a lot lately is "princess." As in "You look like a princess" or "I feel like a princess"--spoken to or by a grown woman.

First of all, what does this even mean? I feel like people think this is what you're supposed to say or think when a woman is looking attractive or celebrating a special occasion, but it irks me to no end, mostly because the ostensible meaning is that the woman looks like she is worthy of praise and worship, because her appearance merits it. How about celebrating a woman's athletic or academic or artistic accomplishments? How about a woman not caring how others perceive her? (And don't even get me started on people who say they get dressed up or get plastic surgery "for myself." I get that we don't live in a vacuum and others are part of our lives, but that kind of faux empowerment rhetoric is so infuriating and insidious, co-opted from feminism by forces that make money off anti-feminism.) If you want to feel like royalty (which is outdated enough), why not a queen, who actually probably has power? It's because a princess is young and pretty, and a queen is old and thus not valued, right? Interesting, too, that some gay men like to be jokingly called "queen" rather than "princess" . . .

All this to say that I may need to add an addendum to my post about Princess Tiana--because I don't necessarily think it's much better that little black girls are being targeted with all this princess stuff, either. From the incessant marketing of the Disney machine to the well-meaning hairdresser at SuperCuts last week who I heard telling a little girl getting a pageboy that she was getting "a princess haircut," princess speak is everywhere. Can't we give our girls another role model in 2009? Especially since being a "princess" seems to involve looking pretty (for others--little girls are taught very early that society's gaze is focused upon their gender) and acquiring more material things. Can we mix in astronaut and cowgirl and doctor and teacher and other labels in there, as we do for boys? Actually, if we say anything to the boys, it's very rarely about how they look like someone or something, but how they are acting like it. And isn't that we're always trying to teach all kids--that it's what's on the inside that counts, that all your dreams can come true if you work hard?

I promise I can tie this in to children's lit . . . and this is how: Even though, as I've said, I'm generally against message-y books done just for the sake of message, I do think we send strong messages through our art/media and we should take advantage of this. Why not tell a great story that inspires with a non-conventional main character, rather than continuing to publish the same old books that teach girls that they should like pink and fanciness and boys should like getting dirty and playing sports? Isn't there room for both genders to do both? That's not to say that there isn't room for all of the books on the spectrum--the sugar & spice books, the sensitive-boy books, the who-cares-if-you're-a-boy-or-a-girl books. And not to say that there aren't already great books that break the mold and defy the stereotypes. But I wish that the bestsellers--and what publishers publish, thus repeating the cycle over and over again--weren't just these traditional-role/pro-materialist books. I feel strongly that in our society today, life imitates art because our "art" is so powerful and pervasive, and sometimes it scares me how much it can shape our society for the worse.

This of course applies to YA-writing as well, if not more so. I think that especially on a topic that just hasn't been discussed enough, getting in-your-face with a message is sometimes the only way to go, particularly at the beginning of its introduction to the canon. For example, Neesha Meminger's Shine, Coconut Moon, is wonderfully written, with an authentic teen voice and story, but it's clear what the author's opinion is. And I loved that about it. This may make me rare among editors, but with my background in political science and sociology, I'm already a rare one.

Now it's your turn: Are there any topics or cultural ideas you think need to be addressed in kids' or YA literature? Any overused phrases or words that bug you to no end? Please share!

- L'Editrice

P.S. Apparently I can't help but be political, so why should I even try to keep myself from it?

P.P.S. Two other phrases that annoy me, and that are often used to describe women on the dating scene: "Down-to-earth" and "She doesn't take herself too seriously." The first I feel has lost all meaning in its overuse. And maybe it's just because I'm pretty sure no one would describe me as those things, at least not the latter, but I just feel like people know these are things you're supposed to want in mate, and so they spout them out. On the latter, though, why shouldn't we take ourselves seriously? To me that's about self-respect.