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‘Go the F–– to Sleep’ Author Says No Media, No Disney, No Princesses for Daughter
Monday, June 18, 2012 by Kim Shannon from Buzzworthy Bulletins
Yesterday, Speakeasy caught up with Adam Mansbach, bestselling author of “Go the F–– to Sleep,” and asked him to give some advice on parenting.
In this interview, Mansbach says that his four-year-old daughter is having a very media-limited childhood. “My daughter has never watched any TV or movies or anything like that. Skype is the only time she’s in front of a screen. I think that really allows the imagination to flourish,” he said. “You see kids who are really glued to a screen all the time. You go to restaurants and you see kids sitting there with earphones looking at a movie on an iPhone or something. I’m not into all of that … My kid knows nothing about any of these media outlets.”
While I agree too many parents use media to “babysit,” I also think complete isolation from it could be equally damaging. In a world so driven by media and electronics, I wouldn’t want my child to face any learning curves when it’s time for her to be in use of, and knowledgeable about, these things. There should be balance in all things.
What really surprised me was how the interview with Mansbach ended. When asked about Disney films, he said, “The last thing I want is for her to have any conception of what a Disney princess is … I’m much more in line with what folks like Peggy Orenstein, who wrote ‘Cinderella Ate My Daughter,’ have to say about it all, which is that it’s an insidious and multi-billion dollar industry bent on turning your kid into an unrecognizable a–hole.”
I think that’s a little strong. My daughter loves the Disney princesses and will occasionally dress like one; I would never describe her princess behavior as being like “an unrecognizable a–hole.” I see these princesses as an element of her childhood; it’s like part of her rite of passage. Can you imagine being an eight-year-old, or a twelve-year-old, and not knowing who Ariel the mermaid is, or Rapunzel? Yes, I realize there are books about them. But to never see them in action? How does this affect his daughter socially? I’d imagine it affects her in some regards, but who knows; each parent is allowed his or her own parenting philosophy. I’ll agree to disagree on this one’s.
Have you read his book? Do you agree with Mansbach; will Disney's princesses turn your child into an "a–hole"?
Kim Shannon
Kimberly Shannon is a wife, a mother, an editor, a writer, a Pilates instructor, a dance teacher, a choreographer ... She is always working to find the perfect balance¹!
After Kimberly received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism, she worked on two master’s degree...Read More
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