Janine Ashbless Princess Questions

2018 is the year of the princess!

Throughout the year, I will be asking authors from a variety of genres as well as a host of others from editors to academics, what they think makes a definitive princess.

Janine Ashbless is an award-winning author of hot romance and erotica, mostly with paranormal or dark fantasy themes. She has had 11 books published by Black Lace, Samhain and others. Her short stories have appeared in many anthologies including Best Women’s Erotica (three times) and Best Bondage Erotica. She has most recently completed The Book of Watchers, an erotic thriller trilogy about fallen angels, with The Prison of the Angels published by Sinful Press in 2017.

She lives in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and dogs. She blogs at http://www.janineashbless.blogspot.com.

Janine is the first guest to provide us with an introduction!

Thanks for having me, but fair warning that I don’t find the word “princess” a particularly positive one. I find the way little girls are encouraged by movies and fiction to fixate on them actually sort of creepy and unhealthy. As an adult (and a writer of romantic and erotic fantasy) I can certainly see the dramatic attraction of a beautiful young woman thrust into a perilous situation and robbed of her accustomed dignity and complacency – I am, however, not sure that’s a particularly good role model for kids to aspire to ;-) Personally I’d rather see more non-princess heroines in fiction aimed at children.

1. What three attributes do you think a princess ought to have?

Class privilege Come on, admit it - this is inescapable! A princess has to be from an elite social class. If she wasn’t, she’d be called a “heroine” instead. Princesses don’t have to be heroic, or indeed do anything at all; the story automatically revolves around them because of their status at birth. In the more old-fashioned fairy tales, like Sleeping Beauty, she literally doesn’t even have to be conscious. NB: She doesn’t have to have the little “princess” - Pocahontas is a chieftain’s daughter, Jasmine is a sultan’s daughter. Belle isn’t a princess at first (she’s overtly middle-class), but she becomes one by her marriage - same goes for Cinderella. Esmerelda doesn’t get to be called a princess at all because she’s WAY too lower class… and sexy.

Naivety This follows from the privileged and sheltered upbringing above. In the course of the story the princess generally finds herself forced out into the wider world and has to interact with people who don’t automatically serve her or have her interests at heart. Some may be enemies. This is an awakening for the princess, both a step into a more adult understanding of the world and a broadening of her social class/horizons. She has to learn to negotiate, and to create allies from strangers. This makes psychological sense to a very young reader/viewer, who has to go through a similar journey from a relatively sheltered childhood (one hopes) to adult agency in an indifferent world.

Great hair

2. What characteristics do you think are so overused that they’ve become tropes?

The hair thing, honestly. And I wish princesses weren’t all beautiful, but I know I’m on a hiding to nothing with that one. Little girls (and adults) like beautiful women.

3. If I forced you to choose, which would be your favourite Disney princess?

Those that begin with an “M” it seems. I like Moana best of all, and Merida too, because they’re not passive and they’re physically competent and courageous. I don’t count Mulan as a princess – she’s military class – but she’s a cool heroine.

4. A lot of people look down on the older Disney princesses, such as Snow White and Aurora, as being too passive and subservient. Do you think there are good qualities in these outdated princesses that modern girls and boys can aspire to?

They’re unfailingly kind, especially to animals, which is a good thing in my middle-aged opinion. It’s an undervalued virtue these days. And this kindness wins them friends, which allows them to survive and succeed in life. Social networking is one of the strong points of an old-fashioned princess, and that’s a good lesson. No man (or princess) is an island, complete of themselves…

5. What’s the ideal outfit for a princess, including a can’t-do-without accessory?

She’s got to have a great dress (even if only for one scene) that can be used for marketing purposes. MAKE THOSE GIRLS BUY THE OFFICIAL PRODUCTS! And her must-have accessory is a comedic animal sidekick.

6. Although it’s rarely written about, princesses eventually turn into queens. Which fictional (or real) queen do you consider to be a particularly inspiring character?

Princess Leia got to be a general, not a queen, but she’s still got to have the most inspiring fictional princess career. I’ve a fondness for Margaery from Game of Thrones – sexually broad-minded, ambitious, clever, yet imaginative enough to realise that there are other ways to win loyalty apart from oppressing the hell out of people I think she’d have made a really good queen if it hadn’t been for her mother-in-law…

As for real history, there are many to pick from. Boudicca, who rebelled against the Roman occupation in 61AD. Amanirenas, warrior-queen of Kush (60BC-10AD). Or how about Tamar of Georgia (1160-1213).

Rejected Princesses is an awesome site to discover some more!

Janine Ashbless Princess Questions

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