http://strangelykatie.com/princessprincess/?pid=206
Princess Princess is a webcomic by Tumblr user strangelykatie that defies constructed gender roles while still playing within traditional fairytale storylines. Sadie is a princess supposedly trapped within a tower and is rescued by Princess Amira, rather than a typical prince. Throughout the story the two characters defy gender roles and traditional expectations placed upon them all while still playing into a typical fairytale storyline. Drawing from Michael Warner’s definition, which protests norms and the ideas of norms/normal behavior (Warner xxvii), we can conclude that this webcomic is queer.
While
Princess Sadie still follows the role of the “damsel-in-distress” trope, she
deviates from the role by sabotaging princes’ attempts to save her. Sadie
diverges from this trope by showing intelligence (i.e., by asking how Amira is
actually going to save her) and also by “defeating” the ogre while the princely
Amira and Vladric are arguing. Sadie shows personal growth throughout the
narrative as she steps into the Queen’s role thereby a divergence from
classical fairytale plots as princesses are almost always stuck within a
one-dimensional character slot. Through the comic, Sadie’s sister calls her a
“fat silly crybaby” and Sadie responds toward the end with “That may be true,
but I’ll never let you make me feel like it’s a bad thing ever again” (36).
This demonstrates Sadie’s personal character development as well as a body
positive message. Despite this, though, the art doesn’t uphold to this physical
trait described in the dialogue.
The
other princess Amira embodies the prince role within the comic’s fairytale
narrative. Evidence of this comes from her physical appearance (her clothes,
her hair, etc.), her personality, and the way she presents herself. It’s also a
representation of a woman being in power rather than as a figurehead. Amira’s
character is specifically working against constructed gender roles by being
cast within the part of the rescuer, which is typically the role of a man. The
clothes she wears are also masculine in nature. Princess Amira’s race and role
as the hero also add to the queer narrative of this comic. According to Cathy
Cohen’s definition of queer, Princess Amira “stands on the outside of the
dominant constructed norm of state-sanctioned white middle- and upper-class
heterosexuality” (441). The components of her identity correlate to Cohen’s
definition of queer – even though it’s implied Amira falls within an
upper-class category – she is still outside the racial norm in fairytales. In
contrast to Princess Amira’s role as the hero of the story and a source of strength,
Prince Vladric, the only male character in the story, is shown as weak. He also
ends up in a subservient position to Princess Sadie as her advisor instead of a
ruling position as in most fairytale stories.
Warner
defines queer as being outside and resisting the established norms and normal
behavior. Strangelykatie’s webcomic about two princesses embodies Warner’s
queer theory through the depiction of a non-traditional fairytale. Both
princess’s physical appearances as well as their determined personalities place
them outside of what you would call classic princess behavior. Despite having
dialogue describing Princess Sadie as “fat and stupid”, the art contradicts the
message being conveyed. Princess Amira queers the gender norm that would
typically apply to her but still falls within the conventional “prince” trope. Even
though we view Princess Princess as
queer, there are still aspects contained within the webcomic that are not.
1. Does this story read as both queer in content and
queer in form? How does the presentation of a web comic change our view of a
fairy tale story? Are there any queer implications about its form through its
circulation on Tumblr and other social media sites?
2. As the only male character, how is Prince Vladric’s
portrayal in the comic significant? How does his portrayal read as queer? How
is the character objectified?
3. How do we read Princess Sadie and Princess Amira’s
relationship? What examples lead readers to concluding a queer relationship? How
would Adrienne Rich see their relationship?
