There’s been a lot on social media lately about “disrupting the pink aisle” by encouraging us to re-define how we think about and encourage girls’ creativity, ambitions and idol worship. The old princess icon of someone in need of saving has morphed into a new type of princess. A princess who is not only kind, but who is also brave and fierce. A heroine who is strong enough to actually “save” herself if need be.
The evolution of our princess characters also brings new examples of what it means to have a “princess moment.” I was reminded of this a few weeks ago by my friend Katie, who competed – along with her husband, my husband and 3,000+ other athletes – in the Arizona Ironman (consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and ending with full 26.2 marathon).
Katie is my age, a mom of twin tween girls, lives in CA and, oh yeah, happens to kick some serious butt in the sport of Ironman. I actually had no idea this was the case until Katie flew by me while I was at the Ironman finish line, waiting for my husband, who later told me Katie ran by him at mile 17 of the run like he was literally standing still. Turns out she came in 4th in her age group out of hundreds of women – and don’t even get her started on the fact that she was only 50 seconds behind the third place finisher!
When Katie was interviewed on why she would put herself through such a grueling competition, she explained because her “Princess Moment” is hearing Mike Riley (the Ironman announcer) announce her name at the end of this 140.6 mile, 10+ hour race.
Now that’s my type of princess.
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