Our society feeds little girls fairy tales as if their very lives depended upon it: fairytale books, movies, dolls, dress-up, tea sets, birthday cakes, bed linens, bath towels, and entire family vacations! It's a fairytale feeding frenzy! And my family partakes with pride. But why? Why are we doing it? Is this the best that life has to offer a girl? A lie?
All little girls want to be a princess, and mommies are no different. As I dance about in my dingy white prom dress with my daughter in her sequined ball gown, I wonder where is my Prince Charming? I don't recall most of my adult life in the pages of those fairy tales. And instead of becoming bitter, I find I still cling to the girlish hope that I will grow-up to be a princess. I don't actually need a castle, a prince, or wealth. But that true love thing still sounds nice. Is this just another lie of the fairytale world?
4 comments:
Well, you notice, Prince Charming has the same name whether he is romancing Snow White or Cinderella. This guy is a serious playah.
Apparently charming princes are so rare that there is in fact only one charming prince to go around.
I'm torn, myself, about teaching my son fairy tales. The lover of literature in me tells me he'll NEED to learn fairy tales, all of them, inside and out, if he ever wants to truly understand much of the great literature of our culture.
The feminist in does wonder, though, what would happen if we just didn't teach these stories to an entire generation? How would girls and boys relate to one another if we didn't give them a script?
In any event, I have decided he'll learn them anyway with or without my intervention, so I might as well teach him the stories myself, so that maybe I can also help him put them in perspective.
I think the problem is... girls grow up being taught a fairy tale.. and boys are taught to be tough and play with GI Joes and war games. How can a girl find a guy that fits an ideal she has been taught, but he hasn't?
anon#1 I think you both raise important points and interesting questions. All I can say is that I was raised reading the fairy tales yet my parents always imparted to myself and my younger sister that as women we also needed to know how to take care of ourselves and not expect anyone to come out of the blue and make our wishes come true. I think as parents it's our responsibility to , like Jaelithe said, "put them in perspective". I plan to read my son all manner of books but teach him to the best of my abilities to be an upstanding man, a gentleman and to teach all people with respect. (and hope that it all sinks in!)
anon#1 I meant treat all people with respect. (but some could use teaching on that too.... )
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