Living happily ever after

Like all mothers, I want my daughter to grow up to be a strong, independent woman with a mind of her own.

But when I see her immersed in the world of fairy tales, I can’t help but wonder – are we setting wrong expectations for our kids by reading them the tales of Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel? A world of riches and splendour in which the princesses meet their Prince Charming and live happily ever after?

I know Fairy tales are something all of us have grown up with us. They may be magical and mystical and conjure up a world of imagination for the kids.

But have you ever wondered what children really learn from fairy tales?

Sample this -

Snow White needed brought back to life by the Prince after she ate a poisoned apple.

Rapunzel needed to be rescued by the Prince after the evil witch cut off her hair.

Cinderella needed to marry the Prince to escape the drudgery of her existence.

Sleeping Beauty needed to be woken up from her 100 years of beauty sleep by who else but a handsome prince who just happened to be visiting.

Little Mermaid was willing to give up her voice to gain the love of the Prince.

And in the Frog Prince, the wily frog taught a lesson to the foolish princess who didn’t honour her promise.

How far removed are these characters from real life today? A world in which women are no less than men and indeed often outsmart men in many aspects of life as they manage home, office and children with ease and grace. And in many cases, they don’t even need a ‘real life Prince’ to lend them a helping hand!

In most of the fairy tales listed above, the heroines are quite the opposite of today’s modern women. They are beautiful, fair, damsels perennially in distress and waiting for the handsome, dashing prince to rescue them from their tragic existence.

In fact, the only characters in fairy tales with interesting feminine characters seemed to be in Beauty and the Beast and the Rumpelstiltskin. In the former, Beauty with her kindness and love saved the Beast. And in the latter, we saw a feminine character actually capable of thinking, plotting and outwitting her adversary.

If the world is moving towards equality why shouldn’t we revisit our fairy tales as well and have female characters that are not cardboard cutouts? Why can’t they have careers and be happy and not really need the Prince to save them?

For example..

Why can’t Snow White be best friends with her stepmother and discover a new wonder cure to make people slimmer by eating a magic apple? Why can’t an obese Prince be their first patient?

Why doesn’t the Little Mermaid use her musical abilities to become the first underwater Rockstar?

Imagine Rapunzel is so enamoured of her new short hair that she starts a fancy hair salon which specializes only in short, Pixie haircuts?

Imagine Cinderella taking a day off from her drudgery and making her stepsisters do all the housework?

What about Sleeping Beauty starting a new form of Yoga in which people can attain inner peace by sleep?

Alas, fairy tales may not be rewritten. Let’s just make sure, our children enjoy them in the right spirit.

And let’s start teaching about the values of self-reliance, independence and hard work which are the only means to ‘living happily ever after’ in today’s times.