Last weekend, I met a female friend whom I haven’t seen for a long time. When I saw her at the selected point, she had two bags on her hands. So I offered to help. Then she gave me the two bags, which was totally not the right manner in China. And then we drank coffee together, and talked a lot. Two hours later, she was going home. Then I got a bigger surprise. She asked me to go to the subway station with her, because the bags were too heavy, and I was supposed to hold the bags for her, with the fact that I didn’t go home by subway. I was not inclined to refuse to help friends, so I did lift the bags till the arrival of subway station.

On my way home, I began to think about the whole thing. Since I was not a strong girl, why did she ask me to help in that way, just like that I was a gentleman? One reason, I thought, perhaps was that I was not likely to refuse other’s request to help. But the most important one was that she considered herself as a princess and was superior to others, at least to me.

I completely agree that every girl should treat herself as a princess, but my friend interprets “princess” as “princess tendency” (or false sense of entitlement). And she is certainly not one of the kinds. In the opinions of such girls, everyone else should treat them the way the way a princess deserves and they also take other’s kindness for granted. They don’t have to be nice to others, and all that they need to do, according to them, are wearing beautiful dresses and waiting for their prince charming. I hope that they could find their princes who also accept them as princesses and live happily after forever. But for me, they have nothing to do with a princess, except a shame for the noble title.

Since such girls are not princesses at all, and then what a real princess should be like? A picture would come to our mind: gorgeous appearance, wearing a tiara, smiling and waving gracefully. These certainly are symbols of a princess and very important. But being a princess is about more than just better looking. A princess must be “a strong person who uses their courage to make life better for others and face responsibility, all while letting their inner beauty bring light to everyone around them.” She should have the ability to give perfect speeches, excellent posture, kindness, humility instead of proudness, good manners, politeness, and perfect dinner etiquette. In the movie Princess Diaries, Mia needs to prepare a lot, reading books, manner training and the ability to make speeches, before becoming a real princess. And in Roman Holiday, Princess Ann has to give up her true love in order to serve her own country. So being a princess is not easy, is it?

But there is one more kind of princess, which is much harder to behave than the kind above: a girl in extremely hard situation but with a noble heart. A princess with gorgeous dress and tiara is easy to be identified; however, one with rags but a great heart is hardly to be seen. The later should deserve much more respect. For she can still behave like a princess and willing to help others, under the facts that people would neglect or even humiliate her. Maybe they are not pretty and don’t have beautiful clothes, and their inner beauty makes them glorious. Just like Sarah (a figure in movie A Little Princess) said to the principal, “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses.” She said so because she believed that a great heart is more important than the appearance.