"The Princess and the Tomboy"

This is a few weeks old, but it's a dandy.

Okay girls, we all need to choose sides.   Remember, there are only two choices.  Do you love pink?  Does Mommy let you traipse around in high heels? Are you a spoiled, manipulative brat?  Congratulations, you are a Pretty-Pretty Princess!  

Do you like to wear pants?   Are you failing to internalize gender stereotypes?  Are there concerns you  might grow up to be a serial killer? You're a Tomboy!

This strikes me as one step away from declaring these girls are butch and femme.  It also bugs me that the tomboy role is pathologized, and the princess role is described as vain and devious.  Even at age four there is a double-bind. You're damned if you're a princess and damned if you're a tomboy.  It starts early.

As an aside, why do magazines aimed at adults have small children on their covers? They didn't choose to be celebrities, and I think it's creepy as hell that they are followed by paparazzi and that they apparently can sell magazines by being on the cover.  I can't help but imagine some lecherous old man with a collection of these magazines.  Blech.