It’s Good to Be Queen

July 29, 2008

There’s a belief that every little girl is a princess, or should at least be told she is. What does it mean to be a princess? Who knows? Adults think it’s an endearing thing to tell little girls and think it’s just adorable when they act upon it. How? They idolize Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, or whoever else, wear clothes with them on it, and dress up like them, for Halloween or otherwise. I myself was Snow White for Halloween at age five. But what did this princess ideal mean? Really, it comes down to the little girl being an object of affection, particularly from males, usually her father, but in the older form of the princess, this includes boys her own age perhaps, or at least the expectation of such. She was special, to be pampered and showered with gifts, and her only job was to sit there and look pretty and cute.

But when I was little (after the Snow White costume deal), something about the idea of a princess just didn’t appeal to me. I recall thinking about this back then. There had to be more to it. To be a princess, there has to be a dominion of sorts. That’s when it occurred to me. The princess, while revered for whatever reason, is not the highest one. She’s close to the top, but not quite there. She’s still a subordinate, a fact that, upon that realization, is augmented by the adoration and objectification. She’s no ruler. Not yet anyway, but, when it comes to princesses, being a ruler is an afterthought anyway. In none of these Disney princess movies do the princesses ever become the actual rulers. Even after marrying the prince, they still aren’t in charge. They’re still just prince and princess. So, what I decided back then, screw being a princess. I’d rather be a queen!

There we have it. Are you a Queen or are you a Princess? The differences are many.

The Princess is primarily concerned with appearances and pleasing those around her with her good looks and cute demeanor. She expects everything to be done for her, and if she’s ever in a jam, some pleasant good-looking male shall help her. She will change just about anything about herself in order to keep the favor of the people around her.

The Queen is no such way. Just saying the word, there’s a sense of much greater dignity. She really doesn’t care what anybody thinks about how she looks or about anything about her for that matter. If she’s satisfied with how she looks or acts, that is all that matters. She doesn’t give a crap what anyone else thinks of her. If they don’t like her, that’s their loss and she doesn’t need them. Does she look good and have a good demeanor? Sure, but it’s hardly the most important thing in the world. Also, the Queen is far more knowledgeable and in charge of things. She can rely on herself and doesn’t need others to help her all the time. She can think for herself and makes her own decisions.

What else?

The Princess, being so used to relying on others, has a hard time with even the simplest decisions. When things get bad or don’t go her way, she gets whiny, as any person who can’t hold their own well is likely to do. She doesn’t have a very good grip on her emotions, and cries on a lot of shoulders, often about the stupidest crap. She’s prone to jealousy and greed. She doesn’t like that some other Princess was given a fancier dress or lives in a bigger palace or has a nicer diamond necklace, and she’ll scream until she gets the same or better.

The Queen keeps a cool head in the face of adversity. Does she get emotional now and then? Sure, but she’s sure as hell not going to be emotional in front of anyone! When she keeps the emotions out of sight, she can maintain her dignified exterior and continue to command well-earned respect. Not explicitly, but with the way she is, how can you help but respect her? She’s cool and collected. She knows she’s awesome and has no need to flaunt it. Why be jealous or greedy? She doesn’t need a huge palace or a designer dress or a Rolls Royce. As far as she’s concerned, her little basement bedroom is her awesome palace, her tattered necklace she’s worn for many years is great, and she just loves her Hyundai Elantra. :cute:

The Princess cannot take any kind of rejection. Was somebody rude to her? She’d scream and cry about it and hope to send a loyal subject to cause bodily harm to the “assailant”. Did a Prince reject her for another Princess? Oh, that is just the end of the world. After all, the whole raison d’être of the Princess is to bag herself a Prince. How does she do that? Well, she doesn’t really do anything. She sits there at the royal ball and looks pretty and waits for a Prince to come to her. Then she will take him. After all, she must be the center of the universe to everyone.

The Queen isn’t worried about rejection because dwelling on it is a waste of time that could be used for something cool. Nobody who’d reject her awesomeness is worth a moment of thought. Is she the center of the universe? Sure. To herself! In that she is going to worry about what she wants and what she needs and what she believes before anything else, while not expecting to be the center of anyone else’s universe. After all, she knows what is best for her own self. If someone is rude to her? Well, she can be rude right back! Or ignore them. It’s all good. If some guy rejects her for someone else, let him go. Anyone who can be pulled away that easily is sure as hell not worth keeping. She doesn’t tend to bother looking for a King anyway. Such is a desperate act which she, a respectable Queen, does not require. Of course, she feels free to keep or reject any potential King as she pleases. Either way, having a King is a bonus, not a requirement, and she always keeps that in mind. If the King proves to be a detriment to her in anyway, she can send him away without another thought.

The Princess enjoys fashion, gossip, celebrity news, and whatever other super vacuous subject. While she is likely to have a job, she will not value it, and figures she can lose it once she has a suitable Prince. With the money from it, she may be too busy buying things without realizing she’s racking up a massive credit card bill she may not care about paying. After all, she’s always had things done for her, so she has not learned much responsibility.

The Queen will most definitely have a job and be somewhat good at it. After all, there is an agreement there and she knows the importance thereof. She must do her job, thus keeping up her end of the bargain in which she gets money. Money means she pays for her own things and calls her own shots. She always spends moderately and keeps good records of it, as well as always paying bills on time. She has no interest in superficial topics like celebrities and fashion because, well, what respectable person would? She has a nice collection of back issues of National Geographic and The Economist. She’s into much deeper and more various things.

The Princess has little to no control over her own life, or at least cedes control wherever she can. She’s no ruler.

The Queen controls everything possible about herself and wouldn’t want it any other way. She’s the ruler!

So, yeah, who the hell would want to be the Princess? She’s pure fail in a frilly pink dress and a plastic tiara. The Queen is pure win in whatever the hell she feels like wearing. This isn’t an age thing, mind you. Plenty a 15-year-old Queen and a 50-year-old Princess. Maturity thing perhaps, though.

Am I a Queen? I wish! It’s the goal anyway but I’m far from perfect there. Hehe. Some day! 🙂

Oh, and while we were sort of on the subject of Disney princesses earlier, I have to say that Cinderella could probably be a Queen after that act of pure pwnage at the end, where the stepmother tripped the royal servant guy as he was about to take the glass slipper to her to try on, and he dropped it and it shattered. He was all crying about it and Cinderella casually was like “it’s okay, I still have the other one” as she pulls it out, and the stepmother has this facial expression of “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!?!” Super sweet.

This has been Day 67 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 8.

One thought on “It’s Good to Be Queen”

  1. “Also, the Queen is far more knowledgeable and in charge of things. She can rely on herself and doesn’t need others to help her all the time. She can think for herself and makes her own decisions.”

    Although, of course, it’s sort of the other way ’round, too. The princess, once she gets an idea (usually along the lines of “TAKE ME TO THE MALL!”) will not be swayed from it. The queen will accept the advise of others (for example “Ma’am, there is a shooting going on at the mall, and it is much cheaper to make online purchases”) and make a better decision (“STOP THE SHOOTING, THEN!”). Mind, the queen probably wouldn’t be asking to go to the mall anyway, but whatever.

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