Thursday, December 20, 2012

Little Red Riding Hood



Today is the 200th anniversary of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. In the last year or so I have come to appreciate them more than I did in the past. 

I never liked a lot of the stories like “Snow White” and “Cinderella” because they always spoke of princes coming to the rescue and saving the women in the stories. I just don’t think this is a fair lesson to teach any girl (or even any child for that matter). Because:

1)      There are so few real princes in the world.
2)       It assumes that women aren’t capable of helping themselves and that they need a valiant hero/man to save them from their problems.
3)      If women envision themselves as princesses, how do they deal with the crazy world when there are no magic spells?

However, since the appearance of the television shows like “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm” and their retellings of these stories, I’ve begun to enjoy them again.
Now that my daughter is born I like them more too. Because

1)      She has a little velour sweater with a fox on it so I call her my Little Red Riding Hood.
2)      I’ve been reading these stories to her and they are warped! And if there is anything I like it’s morbid and twisted stories. 

I’m sure in time, I will enjoy these stories in different capacities especially because it will be through the eyes of my daughter. Maybe I’ll appreciate them to another degree when she gets older.

1 comment:

M said...

I agree with not wanting all girls to believe in fantasy princess realities and teaching kids that women can't help themselves and need a man to save them. Kids need to be prepared for reality!