I'm a firm believer that stereotypes in fairy tales affect girls and boys in one way or another. While the role of princess might not inhibit your girl from slaying dragons, millions of girls look at Aurora's slender waist and appearance and think that's what you're suppose to be, in order to get true love.
Also: isn't it a bit depressing that the only role that's looked down upon in these old tales are nowadays the roles of the passive women?
There is nothing cool in being peaceful, only a sword (or some such) can be cool. We surely do give mixed signals about our world.
I don't believe that these classics are bad per se, but I do believe they send messages to kids on deeper levels than you'd think. Your girl identifies with the prince, as do many other (as did I), and in time she'll ask herself why she identifies with the character that isn't a girl, and other things will come from that.
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Date: 2009-03-04 10:30 pm (UTC)Also: isn't it a bit depressing that the only role that's looked down upon in these old tales are nowadays the roles of the passive women?
There is nothing cool in being peaceful, only a sword (or some such) can be cool. We surely do give mixed signals about our world.
I don't believe that these classics are bad per se, but I do believe they send messages to kids on deeper levels than you'd think. Your girl identifies with the prince, as do many other (as did I), and in time she'll ask herself why she identifies with the character that isn't a girl, and other things will come from that.