In our society, although 1 out of every 2 marriages fail, marriage still seems to be presented one of the absolute pinnacles of our being. Marriage is the “happy ending” of most of our traditional folklore than, is not surprising. But as our culture is changing, single-parent household and those living as life-long bachelors and bachelorettes are more common, how relevant and reflective of modern societal values are they? I think it is quite obvious that the majority of the members of our society for the most part, positively views marriage. But our traditional folktales and the majority’s opinion are not reflective of the reality.
How many “alternative” fairy tales have you heard of? I have not heard of very many that still do not end “happily ever after” with the bride and groom being whisked off to marital bliss and never being heard from again. I have, however, found a compilation of “Princess Stories with Attitude” called Don’t Kiss the Frog! I have not read it yet but I proceeded to order it on Amazon, just to check it out. But the title intrigues me; Don’t Kiss the Frog?
( You can preview it here on Amazon! )I feel, in our society we are constantly reminded of the "threat" to the foundation of family or the foundation of marriage. As if suggesting that one does not have to find a partner, or one does not have to have children is automatically promoting promiscuity. But I believe it is important for children to develop a sense of independence, a sense that even if they do not end up with a prince or princess charming, they can still end up “happily ever after”. I do not know if it will ever happen, or at least happen in my lifetime, but can we promote, or SHOULD we promote happiness, even if it means being single, over monogamy? Can we even do that through children’s literature? It really makes me wonder.
Before this class, I hadn’t really thought about how despite today’s changing views on family life in our society, the books we are providing for children still portray the typical fairytale romances and traditional families. Among my close group of seven friends, only one other friend and I come from families who haven’t been through divorce. Although it may cause some controversy, I think in today’s society we need to be providing books that promote happiness among single parent, divorced, and homosexual families because the traditional family is no longer the norm. Although they have options like this out there, like Don’t Kiss the Frog?, they are not readily available. Books featuring non-traditional families need to be incorporated into classrooms and school libraries and shared with students so they understand that happiness is possible even in the non-traditional family.
ReplyDeleteI think the key to this sensitive topic is balance. Teachers today should be aware of the fact that our world is rapidly changing. Many students come from untraditional homes, whether that means single parents, divorce, being raised by an extended family member or homosexual parents. I don't think that traditional literature should be shunned for its depiction of the ideal of marriage, and it must be kept in mind that when most of these stories were written, divorce was uncommon, and homosexual families were unimaginable. I think it is still appropriate to share these stories and their meanings, but it is important that we supplement them with stories that show that life does not end without a happy, "normal" marriage. Being open and politically correct about these types of homes is still a concept that is relatively new, so material is still more difficult to come by. However it is important that in order to have a well rounded, fully educational classroom, teachers go the extra mile to find and provide the limited material on these subjects that does exist.
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