Cher and Disney Princess Syndrome—What to Expect from Motherless Girls
Motherless girls, the princess archetype in classic fairytales, are forgotten—if not hated—by a fatherless world.
I didn’t realize this until very recently: Disney princesses are all motherless.
Our culture, once shaped by princesses, now promotes “independent” women.
Disney princess movies are classics for a reason. Only things that withstand time are worthy. The truth cannot be found in ephemerality.
Cinderella is by no means a damsel in distress waiting helplessly for a prince to save her. She’s stronger than any women who (claim they) don’t need a man can be.
Belle doesn’t fall in love with the beast through a dance and a few dates. The beast must first overcome his selfish desire and let her go. She must return for him, and he must die to be born again to be with her. (Did I just twist Beauty and the Beast to be biblical)
How much bitterness it must take for one to hate Disney princesses—for one to think that Frozen, a feminist trash, has more depth than Cinderella, an epitome of feminine strength.
Seriously—do you all still remember what Taylor Swift used to be like?
She was the country sweetheart our fathers secretly adored. She used to sing something like this—
“I hate that stupid old pick-up truck you never let me drive
you’re a red-neck heartbreaker really bad at lying”
If you come around saying you’re sorry to me
my daddy’s gonna show you how sorry you’ll be
Taylor used to be a daddy’s girl. She doesn’t dare to be one anymore—these days, nothing offends like a daddy’s girl, even if this girl is motherless. No one feels sorry for Cinderella anymore—sure, her father died, but at least she knew he loved her.
Cher in Clueless (1995) is a perfect example of motherless girls.
I am also motherless, though I have a mother in the house.
Combining Cher, Disney princesses, and my self-reflection, I want to delve into motherless women—a forgotten group in modern society—and explore their common strengths and problems.
In this article:
3 Major traits
5 Problems to conquer
3 Major traits—they are fairytale-level feminine👰🏻♀️
🦋First and foremost
They want a fairy godmother more than any other girls. They lack female role models and don’t know what it means to be a woman. And this alone leads to a series of issues, including:
Self-idolatry (the counterfeit, which I will discuss in the next section)
Self-nurturing (the merit)
Motherless girls nurture everything that moves and breathes.
Cinderella and Snow White pour their spirits over animals—you may think that’s just an old-fashioned way to portray fairy tales, but the truth is, motherless girls in real life are literally like that. They dance with butterflies and pamper a special leaf on the tree. They make peacocks spread their tails. They talk with lions across mesh and observe the wind. They love homemaking—sewing, baking, cooking, cleaning, steaming clothes, etc.
Yes, they are exactly like how Disney portrays them to be.
When the movie Barbie came out in 2023, for the first time I learned that Barbie can make women feel insecure.
I mean, how is that even a thing.
Aren’t you supposed to nurture her? Have tea? Brush her hair? Dress her up? Buy her more dresses? Put her to bed? Why would any girl even think of body shape, beauty standards, and all these added agendas?
Hello? That’s not supposed to be in any child’s mind.
👨👧Second
They could be awkward in an environment full of women.
They are not natural in talking about feelings, and they often are quite insensitive (like guys) and have no idea that they hurt others’ feelings.
Yet secretly, they desire female companionship and female activities—tea parties, makeovers, sleepovers, baking and sewing, etc. They can certainly do these things with girlfriends, but female friendships never seem to be enough to fill the absence of a mother.
They often wonder how girls can gather twenty other girls to take a group selfie when they can’t even find the fourth bridesmaid.
👧🏽Third
The merit is innocence. The counterfeit—well, it’s just naiveness or rather, stupidity.
“The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps.”
Proverbs 14:15
On the contrary to man-haters, these girls are man-lovers due to wonderful experiences with their fathers.
That could be their undoing.
Motherless girls can easily build friendships with men and are experts at maintaining boundaries.
BUT—and this is a big but—when it comes to men they develop a romantic interest in, they often trust them too easily. And if they keep this a secret from their fathers—very likely they do because their fathers don’t want to hear them talking about other men—they are putting themselves in danger. On the contrary, women who have mothers are actually more protected in this respect.
Look at how swiftly the Little Mermaid trusts the prince.
Now the good thing is—when motherless women become daughters of God, they are the type who have childlike faith.
🤦🏻♂️5 Problems to conquer—they are like dudes
