Princess Princess

            

                                      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?