Fairy Tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have women as passive characters, waiting for a ‘prince charming’ to save them. Is it time we stopped telling these stories to children?
Fairy tales have stolen many of dreams. I think this happened not only for me, but also for many of us. Fairy Tales Have played an important role in our childhood. but still do we narrate these tales to our generation? Many of us have stopped because, these fairy tales portrait woman as a witch or an evil step mother or mostly the lead character is portraited as a passive one who waits for a prince to save her, which develops a passive character in our children.
In fairy tales like Sleeping beauty, The Snow white, Cindrella and many more, the lead character are portraited as a passive woman. This develops a submissive character in the children`s mind. This makes them to rely on others. in those ages, their mind will absorb everything we tell. This fixes in their mind that they should wait for others to help them to overcome their disabilities. This is the reason why many of the parents hesitate to narrate these fairy tales to their children.
But there are some other fairy tales like Rapunzel, The Robber Bridegroom. In these fairy tales, the lead women character raised her voice and tried themselves to overcome their disabilities. In the Robber Bridegroom, she creates a situation to escape from the butcher and she does. In this tale, the lead character relies on herself and get her away from the trouble.
Thus, fairy tales have both positive and negative aspects on children. Fairy tales have portraited women in many aspects, both admirable and abominable. The roles of women are already changing in today’s culture. Disney fairytales films namely The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast portray females in a more positive light. They possess more freedom to make choices and more changes in their lives as they pursue their highly articulated dreams. These stories can lead to increase the creativity of the children. I suggest every parent to narrate bedtime stories to their children.