fairytale feminism 101
I was talking about fairytales today with Stuart (who is now five) and he mentioned the twelve dancing princesses, which he knows because puppydogtail has a t-shirt of it.
ME: I like the story, but I think the ending is sad.
STUART: Why?
ME: Well princesses often weren’t allowed go out and have adventures like princes; they were made to stay in the palace and do boring stuff. These princesses found a magical, special, secret place where they could do what they wanted, and at the end they can’t go there anymore.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because the soldier told their father what they were doing and he stopped them.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because once upon a time men made women do what the men wanted. Princesses couldn’t have awesome adventures and women couldn’t be interesting things like doctors or sailors or even help choose who was in charge of the country. Once upon a time your mummy wouldn’t have been able to publish papers on snails because she’s a woman.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because men are often stronger than women and could force them to do what they wanted. After a while everyone thought that it was normal and ok for men to tell women what to do, but of course it’s really bad and unfair. Do you know what I think happened to the 12 princesses after the story ended?
STUART: No, what?
ME: They all snuck away back through the magic door one night, taking all their jewellery with them. They travelled far away through all the magical underground places and finally came back into our world. They’d never been out into the world before, so they were nervous and stuck together for a long time, having wonderful adventures. Then, when they got more comfortable they became interested in different things, and went separate ways.
I then proceeded to relate what each princess ended up doing. He seemed completely enthralled through the entire conversation, both the story and the social politics bits.
ME: I like the story, but I think the ending is sad.
STUART: Why?
ME: Well princesses often weren’t allowed go out and have adventures like princes; they were made to stay in the palace and do boring stuff. These princesses found a magical, special, secret place where they could do what they wanted, and at the end they can’t go there anymore.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because the soldier told their father what they were doing and he stopped them.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because once upon a time men made women do what the men wanted. Princesses couldn’t have awesome adventures and women couldn’t be interesting things like doctors or sailors or even help choose who was in charge of the country. Once upon a time your mummy wouldn’t have been able to publish papers on snails because she’s a woman.
STUART: Why?
ME: Because men are often stronger than women and could force them to do what they wanted. After a while everyone thought that it was normal and ok for men to tell women what to do, but of course it’s really bad and unfair. Do you know what I think happened to the 12 princesses after the story ended?
STUART: No, what?
ME: They all snuck away back through the magic door one night, taking all their jewellery with them. They travelled far away through all the magical underground places and finally came back into our world. They’d never been out into the world before, so they were nervous and stuck together for a long time, having wonderful adventures. Then, when they got more comfortable they became interested in different things, and went separate ways.
I then proceeded to relate what each princess ended up doing. He seemed completely enthralled through the entire conversation, both the story and the social politics bits.