"They may begin once upon a time, but they don't always end happily ever after."
The real world is not a fairy tale. Real princesses didn't always get the happily ever afters. Born a princess can meant a lot, but it is not to be pretty and dressed beautifully all the time.
"Every girl pretends she is a princess at one point." However, I was in the not quite group with Linda Rodriguez McRobbie at this point. I've never been a big fan of Disney Princesses franchise. Growing up in a family with seven male cousins, I was more attached with things which were a hit back then; tamiya, playstation, gameboy, digifest.
History class, is another story. I'm crazy about my history class. I learned some princesses that actually is a badass there. The infamous Cleopatra, or Princess Tribhwuana Wijayatunggadewi from The Majapahit. But that's it, I don't have a broad knowledge about women of the history, especially princesses. Because let's face it; they're less famous than Alexander The Great and Hayam Wuruk (alert, feminists). This book clearly unveils everything for a hungry mind like mine; thumbs up for the research!
The book is divided into seven chapters: Warriors, Usurpers, Schemers, Survivors, Partiers, Floozies, and Madwomen. Each contains some stories about Princesses around the history. Even reading the contents page made me excited; it has the list of the princesses with short explanation about what they did. Neverthelessly, the book is definitely worth your time.
I especially love the tale of Pauline Bonaparte: The Exhibitionist Princess. Yeah, I have an unrequited crush for his emperor brother. She had a storybook beauty and though virtue is not exactly her traits, she loved her brother truly and deeply. She might be a given spender and party lovers with strange sexual life orientation, but this book covers more. By the end of the chapter, she is still Napoleon's sister, but I like her for her devotion for her family and some of the most daring qualities of bravery when her loved ones were in danger. You know, you don't have to be really smart, really strong or anything to stand up for your dearests.
The tale of Wu Zetian: The Princess Who Became Emperor of China is a story that worth repeated through generation. She was not kind hearted nor extremely beautiful. She used to be a royal concubine of the Tang Dynasty. But she did what no other women did in the 3000 year history of imperial China: rule. Her way to the throne was not clean, but under Wu, taxes decreased, financial waste and military expenditure were reduced, retirees got pensions, and salaries of deserving officials rose. Now it's badass.
I have grown my abundance towards many other princesses in the book: Princess Who Nearly Wrecked The Roman Empire, Princess Who Kept Male Concubines in Drag, Princess Who Partied for Hitler; but I don't want to spoil your excitement.
Princesses Behaving Badly offers a different perspective of princesses' true tales in a one fascinating read experience. Bed-time story now can do badass-ly, but maybe for older girls only.
Behaving good so far,
Michelle
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