How do you handle 'Sleeping Beauty' and other fairy tales with young girls?

I have 2 young sons and 2 young nieces, and it is something to think about. I think it’s important to balance the vapid princesses with more empowered role models (Beauty from Beauty and The Beast when she’s little, Buffy when she’s older, for example). I also say things like “that’s a good make-believe movie. What do you think a real prince/boyfriend/husband is like?” And then I emphasis that a real, good man loves a woman for her heart, her brains, her laugh, etc – not her looks. I guess point is to talk about with your niece and not worry too much, and feed her a steady diet of Buffy when she’s old enough!

I remember watching “Peter Pan” with my nephew (we are American Indian)when it came out on VHS.
The thing I remember most is the look on his face during the scene where they’re singing “Why is the Red Man Red”. This kid had totally mastered the WTF??? look – and he wasn’t even 2 years old.
He’s in his teens now. He’s turned out mostly ok – and the problems he encountered were caused by poor choices not by some movie he watched when he was a kid.

I grew up on a mix of the old and the new “princess” movies, and I think all told pop culture has a pretty good selection of stronger heroines to be had – especially in newer kids stories (for example the girls in Harry Potter – they’re smart/talented/athletic/powerful with magic, etc. on top of being cute). I agree that buffy is a good selection too, haha. But even the later disney girls like Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Meg, Pocahontas… they were all fairly empowered and not vapid for the most part! (You could even make an argument for Nala being a powerful female character, although it’s a reach because I don’t know that many little girls aspire to be lionesses. lol) She’ll be fine as long as no one treats her like a spoiled, stupid princess and makes the expectations for her to be well-rounded clear. The fact that you’re already thinking through issues like this bodes well for her

I understand your concern. I have a friend whose daughter is four years old and is really into Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and other princess stories. She does worry me just a little bit. Her play focuses on the beauty and romance parts of the the story lines, and she pretends that she is attracting a prince with her beautiful voice. She has already learned exactly how to flirt. However, I do think that all of this has a lot more to do with the way that her family treats her than on just the Disney movies she watches. (She is kind of treated like a princess and I’ve often heard her mother say, “I love you. You are so beautiful.” I’m sure the kid hears it as, “I love you because you are so beautiful.” It is always the first thing people say to her because she has these amazing eyes.
I think you’ve just got to go by your situation. I don’t think that my friend’s daughter should be watching those movies, but I watched them as a kid, with no permanent damage (i think).