Lynda Boothroyd 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.

This month we are joined by Dr Lynda Boothroyd. Lynda is an Associate Professor of Psychology and does research on how biology and culture both shape our ideas about what is attractive. Lately, this has included work on the impacts of TV and dolls on body size ideals. In her free time, she’s a lover of fantasy and historical fiction and occasionally still plays medieval dress-up. She wanted very much to be a princess when she was a child.

Lynda Boothroyd

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

Brains, lots and lots of brains. Not the kind you keep in a jar (although I’m all for princesses being scientists) but the broad knowledge and sharp wits that are essential to navigate the political realities of life as a royal - whether it’s in a medieval court or just knowing how to do Good Stuff while not causing a constitutional crisis.

Hair. Don’t ask me why, it’s probably some kind of egocentric thing, but all princesses in my head have lots of long thick hair.

Patience. Because doing Good Stuff and wielding soft power (and hard power) are often dependant on playing the long game. And putting up with a lot of silliness.

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

My biggest pet hate is love-at-first/nearly-first-sight. I have watched so many films and mentally worked out how little time the princess and her love interest spend together before they fall in love and, reader, it’s never anywhere near long enough. The best part of “Frozen” was the deliberate inversion of that trope (caveat: Anna and Kristoff then spend 36 hours together apparently without sleeping at any point before deciding they love each other, so they manage to undermine themselves a bit).

And I feel bad for saying it but princesses who don’t act like princesses are also a bit over used. As if the only way to be a strong female role model is to do karate kicks in your dress, climb trees, or be terrible at embroidery. It was something I loved when I first came across it in “The Ordinary Princess” (and later with Cimorene in “Dragonsbane”) but now it seems like every princess character has to prove that she isn’t just a passive Disney trope - only they all prove it in more or less the same way. What I loved about “Moana” was seeing a so-called princess (“Daughter of the chief!”) where she didn’t try to be anything but herself: a resourceful, caring, brave, island-loving girl on a mission.

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

Well, Moana obviously! But (and you know I can never give a simple answer) I have enormous soft spots for the Arendelle sisters too: Anna because she is clumsy and idealistic, and can’t kick arse to save her life but will throw herself in front of a sword for her sister; and Elsa because she is bruised and damaged, but can still be strong, controlled and own her power. From a professional perspective however, those princesses still embody hideously unrealistic beauty standards (including faces which are so “neotenous” that their eyes are the size of salad plates) and I can’t approve of that. So it has to be Moana.

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?

I could have a very long rant about the way both the Snow White and Cinderella films portray abuse victims (not to mention falling in love after one duet/dance). But Aurora and her godmothers are a lovely example of how a secure, loving environment can help a child thrive even when that environment is neither materially rich nor socially conventional.

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

Princesses have to hobnob, so a smart dress is needed. But if it has hidden slits up the sides and pockets, then all the better. An often overlooked accessory is a notebook and pen. Because princesses have a lot to do and lists are very important for people with lots to do.

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?

In real life, I’ve always like Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II of England, because she very much took charge of her life at a time when such a thing was almost unthinkable. Except, of course, that she was eventually shut up in a tower by her husband when they fell out and she didn’t knuckle down.

In adult fiction, Ysandre de la Courcel in Jaqueline Carey’s “Kushiel” books is intelligent, brave, pragmatic and manages to balance a dual-career marriage (her husband is ruler of another country across the sea) with providing a stable, loving home for her daughters.

Lynda Boothroyd Princess Questions

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