After
strolling through the unrelenting pink princess aisles for girls at Toys R Us,
seeing toy after toy with images of skinny, impossibly pretty royalty and the
overwhelming emphasis on “prettiness,” I’ve come up with a new toy mirror for
girls. Princess Lily’s Enchanted Mirror™ is a
plastic hand mirror, large but light to hold. When a young girl lifts the
mirror, the technology is activated: soft music plays, clouds swirl and in a
moment the child sees, as if arriving from faraway, a 3-dimensional fairy
godmother type figure coming closer.
This is Princess Lily. The music stops and Princess Lily’s face now
fills nearly the whole mirror surface. She speaks to the girl from the world of
the mirror. She tells the child, a fun bit of poetry, sings a short song,
provides an affirmation or empowering suggestion. What Princess Lily says is
unpredictable: sometimes playful, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but
always supportive. After she speaks
her words to the child, she vanishes within clouds so the mirror becomes once
again simply a mirror in which the child sees herself, but perhaps in a
different, more positive way because of the reassuring words just imparted to
her.
I
posted the idea on a site called JazWings
and if I can get 100 people to vote for it--- which means they like the
idea-no money involved, then the parent toy company, JazWares will consider it. I’m
asking everyone concerned about empowering girls from an early age to please
vote and to provide feedback for improvement. This is very important but it’s easy. Here’s
how:
Otherwise Go
to Community
Sign up (register) (takes no more than a minute)
and no, you won’t be spammed.
Click
on Discover and scroll down to Princess Lily's Enchanted Mirror.
Give
it one to five stars then press the Vote button. If you do it right, you'll get a message
"Thanks for voting."
If
it's confusing or difficult, I'm happy to call you and walk you through it. It
should take just a minute or two at the most! My email is maxineschur@yahoo.com.
There
is no money or any kind of obligation with it, it's just a vote.
Thank
you in advance for your support and feedback. I very much
appreciate it.
To
understand why I’ve created this toy
idea, read on:
Since the 1995 publication of the landmark book Reviving
Ophelia* there has been greater awareness of the importance of a strong
self-image for young girls to counter the “beauty-perfect” images that pervade
the media through television, movies, video games, toys and advertising. The book and subsequent research have brought
to light the insidious impact the popular media and societal pressure have on
the self-image of young girls who learn at a very early age that being pretty
and attractive to boys is a measure of self-worth and social success. The research revealed that even the
self-esteem of strong, confident girls diminishes dramatically from the age of
seven as they become more exposed to mass culture.
Because children are learning new
behaviors and “wiring their brain,” affirmations can be particularly effective
with them. Research shows that positive self-belief developed in childhood
stays throughout life. When children hear words of praise and
encouragement, they learn to praise, and respect themselves. Once affirmations are learned, they work by coming to
mind when that belief is challenged. Also, the more an affirmation is repeated, the stronger it becomes.
Also of importance, affirmations are
believed to be the most powerful when said or heard while looking into a mirror. Young girls introduced to this concept
may feel more comfortable and self-assured looking at themselves in the mirror
as they mature.
Because the mirror is programmed with hundreds of
words of encouragement and because they take a varied form: rhymes, riddles,
charming, unexpected thoughts, serious affirmations and questions, the toy does
not present as didactic, nor can it quickly become predictable as are the
current crop of toy mirrors. Rather Princess Lily’s Enchanted Mirror continues
with each use to be unpredictable—surprising, fresh and above all, more fun.
Princess
Lily’s Enchanted Mirror is accompanied by a
small storybook that tells the story of Princess Lily and her three empowering
sisters, the enchanted land in which they live and how the mirror came to be
“enchanted.” It also includes a guide for
parents in giving positive affirmations and modeling and encouraging the
self-awareness of feelings.
Princess
Lily’s Enchanted Mirror reflects to the child
not merely her external appearance, but her inner
strength and beauty. The mirror
anticipates the child’s age-appropriate anxieties, concerns and doubts and
gently and creatively suggests behaviors and thoughts to challenge them. In
this way, Princess Lily’s Enchanted
Mirror functions as both a toy and
a psychological tool.
