How Disney's Princess Culture Affects Young Girls: Acclaimed Author to Address Societal Feminist Issues on Feb. 6 Peggy Orenstein, internationally acclaimed author and commentator on issues affecting girls and women, will be speaking at Yeshiva University on Monday, February 6, 2012. The event, which is open to the public at no cost, will be held in Koch Auditorium, on YU’s Beren Campus, 245 Lexington Avenue, New York City at 6 p.m.

Orenstein’s discussion, titled “From Princesses to Pop-Tarts: A Look at the New Culture of Girlhood,” will be centered on the princess culture of Disney and how it is affecting young women in making them more materialistic and image-conscious. She will explore the choices young women struggle to make between their feminine identity and feminism. Orenstein is the author of New York Times best-sellers Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy, as well as Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World; and School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap. A contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, she has also written for such publications as The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Vogue, Elle, Discover, More, Mother Jones, Salon, O: The Oprah Magazine, and The New Yorker, and contributes commentaries to NPR’s “All Things Considered.” “Peggy Orenstein’s message about the prevalence of Disney’s princess culture, and its wide-reaching, long-term impact on young girls’ self-esteem, body image and development, resonates deeply with our students, in particular, as they navigate the challenge of developing into strong, independent, young women who may eventually raise daughters of their own,” said Robin Freyberg, assistant professor of psychology at Stern College for Women and co-chair of YU’s women’s studies program.