Modern Day Fairytales

After reading "Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us" by Linda Christensen, I began to reanalyze my childhood. It hit me. I was one of many to have fallen into the fairytale fantasy. Every night before bedtime, I would read various picturebooks with my mom and I realized that my favorites always included princess fairytales. Not to mention that my closet was filled with Barbies. I was raised with specific gender stereotypes and was practically programmed to believe that I had a Prince Charming searching for me, as long as I fit the Princess criteria. Everything in my room was pink and girly. Although, my parents never pushed these decisions on me, I was always the one that asked for the newest Barbie or to be read the same princess story. I remember begging my mom and dad for a Princess Birthday party. It was my 7th birthday and everything was pink and frilly. Even the cake had a Barbie in it, decorated as a princess. All of my friends dressed like their favorite character and I was dressed as Cinderella.

I began to wonder if Disney really is to blame. Cinderella is a story that was structured from a different time. A lot of things have changed since this fairytale was produced through Disney. I don't blame Walt - I blame the media. I think that the media promotes these ancient stories instead of modernizing the original and adapting it to 21st century ideals. Although, there are modernized tales out there, the media isn't promoting them. In fact, I haven't heard of any of the revamped stories until our last class. I looked into them and thought "why don't more people know about these?"

I think that I would show my kids both versions and allow them to choose what story they liked the best. I don't believe that a story can literally alter the way that a child grows up but it definitely affects them. I think that if I was shown more "up to date" fairytales, I would not have bought into the whole "Prince Charming" idea. I believe that if more girls were focused on their careers and bettering themselves (solely for self-improvement, not to impress a guy they liked) instead of searching for a husband, there would be more gender equality in society and higher self-esteem. Although, whose to say that these fairytales are the reason that some women are more focused on finding a mate rather than a career or increasing their social status? Some people are raised with those ideals and others are taught to get ahead in life before thinking about marriage. All in all, I think that there should be more attention brought to modern-day fairytales without eliminating the classics.