Women are Princesses Too!

I just got my latest Disney catalog -- this is the one with all the Halloween costumes in it.  And it has lots more costumes than previous years (which is a good sign).  But I've noticed a theme here which I find somewhat troubling.

There are no "Princess" costumes for grown-ups.  There are all sorts of Princess costumes for little girls.  Little girls can be Belle, or Jasmine, or Cinderella.  Tinkerbell, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty.  Ariel, Mulan, Esmeralda or Pocahantas.

Women can be The Queen of Hearts, Cruella De Vil, the Evil Queen, Maleficent, or Ursula.

Have you noticed a pattern here?  In case you've missed it, they even have people posing in the costumes together...  Mom is the Evil Queen; her daughter is Snow White.  Mom is Maleficent, her daughter Aurora.  Mom is Ursula on the same page as a cute little seven-year-old Ariel.

Disturbing much? 

I mean, I've known for years about the whole bad rap that Disney (and fairy tales in general) gives to Stepmothers -- but here we're talking about Princess characters that are supposed to be teenagers or young adults being purposely made younger so the Elemetary School set can dress up like them, while the only alternatives for the over-12 set costume-wise are their evil counterparts. 

I wouldn't mind so much if we're talking about child characters (like, say, Alice) to begin with -- but when you're dealing with characters who are actually much older (Pocahantas, Esmeralda) -- it's just wrong to have the only properly licensed costume be for the pre-training-bra set.

To be fair, there are a few alternatives.  Minnie Mouse is available in all sizes.  And the Jack Skellington/Sally pair can only be purchased by grown-ups.  But, mostly, if you're an adult female and you want a Disney costume, you're stuck being the Evil Villain to some six year old in a frilly dress.  Unless of course you buy this one -- a thought which is too hideous to contemplate.