What is your ideal fairy-tale ending to life? Do you have one? Did you have one when you were much younger?
Growing up in the seventies, I was more than familiar with the stories like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Rapunzel. Maidens, with many moments of distress, who were all ‘rescued’ by princes. Love conquered the awful situations in which these girls were put – slave to stepmother and stepsisters, 100 year curse of being asleep (coma?), poisoned by stepmother, and locked up in a tower. The villains in these tales are women, the heroes are men (princes, no less), and everyone lives happily ever after. Excellent, I thought when I was young, no matter how hard school days are with insecurities over who your real friends are, no matter who is mean to me, no matter how badly I do in a test, life is going to turn out so perfectly. (WTH!)
So let’s talk about the women who are the villains in these stories, shall we? Even in Hansel & Gretel, a cannibalistic witch wants to fatten up two children and eat them. Not to mention the fact that a couple of the culprits in these fairy-tales are stepmothers and stepsisters. What message have these been giving our little girls for all these years? How dare someone remarry? If your father remarries, you offspring are doomed? What happens if a mother remarries? Is that a possibility? I am assuming that they always killed off the mothers in these stories because in those days many women died in childbirth. But did that mean that the women who survived childbirth, but lost their men, were bitter and horrid people? Whatever you do, do NOT let your Dad marry any of these women!
Okay, now let’s talk about being saved from these terrible women in these tales. Along comes the handsome prince, he falls in love with the weak girl, who in turn falls for him, they marry and live in the palace forever in love and happiness. The end.
What happens when the royal babies are born? No sleepless nights? No arguments about who is doing more for the baby? No financial worries? No health hiccups? No domestic quarrels? Marriage is hard. Having children is even harder. I’m not saying that all of this does not bring joy. It can. But it doesn’t come easily and there are times of real difficulty. You have to work at making a marriage work, and if it doesn’t, it is NOT the end of happiness.
Of course, there are many authors re-writing these fairy-tales, giving them more modern and realistic endings, but these fairy-tales are still at forefront of little girls’ dreams. Princess dolls, princess clothes, princess cakes, princess purses, princess wands and crowns. You name it, they are all still right there in the shop, on the internet, in books and even on food. In fact, just this weekend, I made a Sleeping Beauty cake for a friend’s daughter, who turned five. Yes, indeed. The year is 2016 and little girls are still ever hopeful that they will have their fairy-tale HEA.
CyberBright 
The issues mentioned always struck me in those stories however your right we need to be mindful of what we’re teaching our girls. I was fortunate enough to have a good relationship with my mother though we don’t always see eye to eye. This has allowed me to share a deep reverence and solidarity with other women. Sisters in arms….I believe in empowering and educating women to create a better society. Perhaps some will see the way we treat others and want to do the same….
LikeLike
well said!
LikeLike