For young women today the collective pressure to live up to the idea of the ageless goddess image threatens to undermine a century of progress women have made toward breaking out of the traditional archetypal mold projected upon them. This 'Barbie Doll' mentality is pushed by many commercial interests particularly Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry. A society obsessed with outer appearances unconsciously attempts to 'fill up the inner void' with artificial images. Yet this occurs at a great cost to the psychological and physical well being of a generation of women. The Eternal Girl like the Eternal Boy can fly too high and will then fall back to earth. The suicide rate for obese, adolescent girls is among the highest for any specific group in America. The 2001 suicide of plus-size model Natasha Duncan highlights this problem.  Mary-Kate Olsen's (below left) recent high profile anorexia problem is another example of a young woman trying to live up to the perfect body image. This photo shows her at the L.A. movie premiere of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. PUELLA AND THE BARBIE DOLL       It is estimated that one in ten college women suffer from a clinical eating disorder. Approximately 5% of the total adolescent female population of America suffer from anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorders. About 1000 women die each year from anorexia. The drive for thinness is a collective addiction to perfection.       The Barbie doll, at least in its traditional role, has had the effect of conditioning several generations of young girls into the commercial and social values of 'thin is best.' The picture LEFT Barbie girls collection  tells the story. The Right picture  shows Ken as the eternal Puer and Barbie as the eternal Puella.  Here they signify romantic novel stereotypes--the aggressive 'he' man and coy but seductive 'girl-woman.'

THE PUELLA AND PEER PRESSURE

Conformity to the peer group is one of the challenges facing young women today.  The peer group serves as the enforcer of 'generational group values' both positive and negative. For the Puella, who has little sense of  personal boundaries, the edge of the cliff is closer than she realizes.  Being able to say "NO!" to peers when necessary and sticking to one's inner convictions is very important.       The recent hazing incident at the upscale Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois in which a group of senior high school girls attacked junior girls is a case in point. Peer pressure on both groups--the seniors and the juniors--locked them into the inevitable archetypal roles as  perpetrator/victim. Conforming to the Puella's unconscious behavior of flying too high, the seniors broke the hazing rules and went overboard. According to a NEWSWEEK interview with school principal Mike Riggle, the juniors submitted to the punishment "for social acceptance."  Below Right is a video frame of one of the victims.

THE PUELLA AND THE SHADOW

      One way for a young woman to begin to recover her unique body image is to first recognize and then accept the shadow part of herself. One way she can do this is to read and reflect on the hidden meanings in classic fairy and folk tales. Passed down through the centuries, they are full of valuable insights about the nature of the psyche and human shadow (our rejected parts).

      The study of fairy tales requires some knowledge of both symbols and archetypes. We highly recommend the writings of Jungian Analyst, Marie-Louise von Franz for those of you who are interested in further explorations into folk and fairy tales. The following are two well known fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers.  In future we will add contemporary examples of the Puella and her shadow side to this section. 

THE FROG KING

This is the story line:

      One day while she is playing a young princess loses her golden ball in the bottom of a spring. An ugly frog agrees to retrieve it if she promises to love him, eat and sleep with him.  Appalled at the thought she tries to get out of the promise. But the insistent frog shows up at the castle. Her father, the king, says that she must let the frog in--a promise is a promise. Finally enraged after the frog insisted in sleeping in her bed, she throws him against the wall. He suddenly turns into a beautiful prince and tells her he has been under an evil witches spell. They were married and lived happily ever after.

      Below are two illustrations from the many different editions of the Frog King.  The color illustration LEFT is by the German artist Meyerheim. The B&W etching on the RIGHT is by the German landscape artist Otto Ubbelohde (1867-1922). Both show the princess at the well talking to the frog king.

Here is the story line:

      A merchant with three daughters promises to bring each of them a gift. The youngest Bella, wants only a rose. On the course of a business trip he comes to a garden and supposes that the owner won't mind if he picks a rose. But the owner, a hideous beast sees him and threatens his life. In return for his life, the father promises to deliver his youngest daughter to the beast in seven days. After seven days have passed the father does as the beast instructed him.  At first Bella was afraid of the unsightly beast. But after a time of being treated with great kindness and seeing and talking to the beast everyday, she grew very fond of him. Her father came to visit her every week and was relieved that she was o.k.

      One day the beast didn't show up for lunch and continued not appearing for many days. Bella searched everywhere for him. Finally she found the beast curled up under the very rose bush  that her father had picked the rose from.  She threw herself on him sobbing and said, "Beast please don't die for I love thee and she kissed the beast." Instantly he turned into a handsome prince and told her that he had been bewitched. He could only recover his original form if a maiden declared her love for him. Then they were married and lived happily ever after. 

      Below are two studio created  movie stills from the animated Disney classic.