“I was going to call my cat ‘Duchess’ but realised she’s an Arab cat so named her ‘Sheikha’ instead,” Eman Taha, a Palestinian-English Muslim woman in Dubai shares. “I even have a ‘Princess’ nameplate necklace.”
From cats to cars across the Middle East, the Princess name is everywhere. Subscribing to “princess treatment” is about receiving high-quality care with the reverence often reserved for royalty. It traditionally reflects a demure, feminine power that embraces being adored, protected, and honoured as the standard.
What exactly is the “princess treatment”?
“Princess” holds cultural weight beyond a title; it’s an aesthetic, a lifestyle, and now a trend. The internet has given this identity a digital glow-up. The “princess treatment” dating trend has taken over TikTok. Women are sharing all the sweet, soft, and chivalrous things their partners do for them from the classic offering them their jackets when it’s cold to more extreme examples, like enforcing a no eye contact with other men rule.
@hayatihasaria princess treatment always🥰 #love #married #wife #husband #dubai
♬ оригинальный звук – .
What is the dark side of “princess treatment”?
Gen-Z is divided on whether this trend is positive. When co-dependency becomes the face of the relationship, women’s agency are at stake. “Personally, I do want to be treated like a princess, because I know my worth and the kind of love I’m deserving of,” says Hanan Sharifa, a Muslim Moroccan woman based in New York City. “I carry fears around being manipulated or made to feel small under the guise of being ‘taken care of.’”
Hanan admits she’s wary of “princess treatment” when it feels performative or transactional. Raised between two worlds—an independent white American mother who saw the concept as regressive, and a Moroccan father whose culture valued tenderness and acts of care—she grew up with conflicting messages. In Minnesota, where her early relationships were mostly with white men, Hanan often felt she had to shrink herself or settle for less. “There was always this internal knowing that I was meant to be cherished,” she says, “but I didn’t see that reflected back to me.” Now, she’s in the process of unlearning that disconnect, reclaiming her cultural and spiritual understanding of love as something divine, though it may not necessarily be “princess”.
What are the cultural ties to “princess treatment”?
White feminism often pushes the narrative that equality means women must hustle just as hard as men, taking on identical roles in both work and relationships, says Dr. Sarika Persaud, who hosts Kama, a podcast on love and relationships for brown women. But advocates of “princess treatment” argue that it’s less about entitlement and more about energetic balance and cultural preservation. It speaks to a universal longing to be cherished, adored, and cared for, especially by those embracing their divine feminine.
In many Middle Eastern cultures, the “provider and princess” dynamic isn’t a new phenomenon. It reflects long-standing values where feminine-masculine roles are viewed as complementary rather than conflicting. In Islam, for example, there is deep honour in a man providing for his family, and dignity in that responsibility. “It gives him a sense of purpose and accomplishment,” says Dr. Persaud.
@justamomkilliniit #greenscreenvideo #princesstreatment #nothanks #yikes
♬ original sound – Helen A Handbasket 🆘️🇺🇲💙
How does a “princess” strike a healthy balance?
Through this lens, true “princess treatment” is equitable and reciprocal. It’s not about being saved; it’s about being seen. While the internet often equates princess treatment with luxury and indulgence, for Eman, it’s a mindset rooted in cultural values. “In Palestinian culture, women are seen as the backbone of the family and naturally treated with care, dignity, and respect,” she says. “Being provided for was never something shameful—it was a right. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to work or be independent, but that we were raised with the freedom to choose. And to me, that freedom is the essence of true empowerment.”
The modern woman can run a business, set boundaries, and still be a “passenger princess”. For many women, especially in the Middle East, embracing “princess-hood” isn’t about passive submission, it’s about sovereignty. It’s about choice and celebrating identity. And if the internet can move beyond its obsession with binaries and semantics, maybe we can start understanding women in their full complexity—not as a fleeting trend, but as a lasting truth.
Read about our fave Palestinian Falahi pop princess here.