Day 2 of my new post series and today’s inspiration is a favorite book of mine growing up, The Two Princesses of Bamarre.
A bit of background here is that I didn’t grow up watching Disney princess movies. We didn’t watch a lot of TV in general, and my parents weren’t fans of the princess thing either. A few of my girlfriends got together in middle school to marathon a few Disney princess movies because they said I “had” to see them, but I think part of the magic is lost when you’re not really a kid anymore!
Anyways, my grandma gave me The Two Princesses of Bamarre when I was 11ish and I absolutely loved it. I was already a Lord of the Rings fan at that point so I loved the fantasy/magic genre. And this one was all about teenage girls and their adventures and romances, rather than adult men.
Premise: there’s a plague in the kingdom that kills everyone who gets it quickly. The main character, Addy, and her older sister, Meryl, are princesses, and Meryl catches the plague. Addy goes on an adventure to find a cure for the plague and bring it to Meryl before she dies. She almost accomplishes this, but ultimately Meryl dies. But Meryl is resurrected by fairies and becomes one of them, so the sisters’ relationship is saved but also changed.
Of course there’s a good deal of romance involved too, and both girls end up in happy relationships (I think one of them is even engaged?) by the end of the story.
Really it’s quite an average princess story, but well-written and a bit more mature than childhood fairytales.
It was feminine inspiration for me because, well firstly, I had never really read a princess story before besides a picture book. I was always taught that they perpetuated bad stereotypes about women and were silly and frivolous. But obviously they aren’t all like that at all. I never had all those daydreams about being a princess growing up, but this book opened my mind to something new, fanciful, self-indulgent and lovely.
I also loved (and still love) that even though the sisters are quite young adults–really on the border between teenagers and young adults–they’re still treated with respect. They make their own decisions about their time, energy, and relationships, and the people in their lives are simply happy for them.
I think teenagers and young adults, especially girls, are infantilized far too much in today’s society. The counterargument is that teens and 20s make “bad” decisions–but of course they will, if you don’t ever let them have the freedom to do so in age-appropriate ways and show that you trust them. Children, teenagers, and 20-somethings whose brains are still developing, internalize the way that we treat them. If they feel like they’re not trustworthy, they won’t make good decisions or make any decisions at all. It’s arrested development in real life, and the only way to overcome it is to let go and let them make mistakes.
I highly value instilling self-respect and trust in one’s own knowledge of their limits and boundaries. I can’t imagine a more feminine trait than having that quiet, modest confidence that just makes someone glow. Many of the chic books I’ve read lately mention je ne sais quoi–that special something that makes someone extremely attractive. Self-respect and quiet confidence definitely confer je ne sais quoi!
xx Claire