"Princess Peach has been the damsel in distress of pretty much every game in the Mario series, waiting to be saved by Mario at the end of the game."--Winter Johnson, 6TH GRADER
Princess Peach has been the damsel in distress of pretty much every game in the Mario series, waiting to be saved by Mario at the end of the game. However, in newer games, Princess Peach has become a playable character—or even the main character—and has the spotlight on her without having to be the prize for beating the game. Despite this upgrade, the question remains: is Princess Peach a feminist icon or just another damsel distress?
It’s impossible to overlook Prince Peach’s past: she is the prize for beating the game. Originally not a playable character, just a trophy at the end. In some games, the prize you get for beating the game is a mask that lets you transform into a god, but in most Mario games it’s Peach. One other thing is that Peach rules the Mushroom Kingdom, but in the lore, she gets overthrown as soon as her dad leaves her. This could be promoting the idea that girls are incapable of ruling without help.
We saw Princess Peach get her own game on the DS in 2005 where she was the only playable character, and got to save Mario. It still may be a little sexist, as in this game, her only powers are her emotions, suggesting the only strengths women have are their feelings.. However, if you look deeper into the game, it takes place on Vibe Island where a lot of enemies are also super sad, angry, or happy—so you could argue that supposedly if Mario came here he would have the same powers.
When I play as Princess Peach, it feels like they’re putting her in a box because unlike the other characters who can, for instance jump higher, run faster, or be kinda good at everything, her only power is that she can float because of a big pink feminine dress she always wears, otherwise she is the slowest, and jumps the lowest.
Just recently, a new game called Princess Peach Showtime came out with her as the only playable character. In this game, she is tasked with saving a theater from the characters Grape and the Sour bunch. As she traverses through a series of different types of levels, she takes on forms like Sword Fighter Peach, Ninja Peach, Superhero Peach, and many more with the help of a magical ribbon. With Kirby-like (shape shifting) gameplay Peach can shape-shift into different outfits that give her new powers. This contributes to the idea that Peach can be anything she wants to be.
So the question persists, is Princess Peach a damsel in distress, or not? 8th grader Haraldur Johnson says, ”In the beginning she was just a damsel in distress, the person you save. But recently she has been getting a bigger part. I'm happy that Nintendo is giving more attention to an undervalued character. Now in the recent games instead of a damsel in distress that they are saving, it's like the Mushroom Kingdom or something.”
Thanks for reading, keep on shining like Princess Peach.
It’s impossible to overlook Prince Peach’s past: she is the prize for beating the game. Originally not a playable character, just a trophy at the end. In some games, the prize you get for beating the game is a mask that lets you transform into a god, but in most Mario games it’s Peach. One other thing is that Peach rules the Mushroom Kingdom, but in the lore, she gets overthrown as soon as her dad leaves her. This could be promoting the idea that girls are incapable of ruling without help.
We saw Princess Peach get her own game on the DS in 2005 where she was the only playable character, and got to save Mario. It still may be a little sexist, as in this game, her only powers are her emotions, suggesting the only strengths women have are their feelings.. However, if you look deeper into the game, it takes place on Vibe Island where a lot of enemies are also super sad, angry, or happy—so you could argue that supposedly if Mario came here he would have the same powers.
When I play as Princess Peach, it feels like they’re putting her in a box because unlike the other characters who can, for instance jump higher, run faster, or be kinda good at everything, her only power is that she can float because of a big pink feminine dress she always wears, otherwise she is the slowest, and jumps the lowest.
Just recently, a new game called Princess Peach Showtime came out with her as the only playable character. In this game, she is tasked with saving a theater from the characters Grape and the Sour bunch. As she traverses through a series of different types of levels, she takes on forms like Sword Fighter Peach, Ninja Peach, Superhero Peach, and many more with the help of a magical ribbon. With Kirby-like (shape shifting) gameplay Peach can shape-shift into different outfits that give her new powers. This contributes to the idea that Peach can be anything she wants to be.
So the question persists, is Princess Peach a damsel in distress, or not? 8th grader Haraldur Johnson says, ”In the beginning she was just a damsel in distress, the person you save. But recently she has been getting a bigger part. I'm happy that Nintendo is giving more attention to an undervalued character. Now in the recent games instead of a damsel in distress that they are saving, it's like the Mushroom Kingdom or something.”
Thanks for reading, keep on shining like Princess Peach.