Sleeping Beauty.

Really it is perfectly possible to read trad tales and teach boys & girls about being respectful & to challenge stereotypes. Trad tales are set in the past so good to use them as the start of a discussion on what would be right oe wrong! I am someone who does not like the derogatory term "politically correct". It is a way to undermine good thinking and uses poor or misrepresented situations to ridicule good practice.

Language is as much part of our history as stories of people or things and while we may drop the odd female definition - all actors are actors these days, you rarely see actress as doctors, solicitors and accountants have never felt a need for a female form, I am quite happy to live with man-sized paper hankies, housewife pillowcases and any other word that reflects a previous age.

As for this nonsense about fairy tales. If this is how some of our sillier celebrities talk about their child rearing methods no wonder we now have a generation of snowflakes.

Jacky??

I think KK has also banned Cinderella as it portrays women as down trodden workers. Oh the shame that we have been indoctrinating our children and grandchildren with these stories.
What a load of old hooey.

No way would I want my snot to be equal to that of a man

Eurgh! Is this what kissing entails these days? No wonder OK isn't up for it.

KK not OK

Very silly.
I hope these affected young women use the time when their children would be watching Disney films to read the actual stories, original versions) aloud to them, and discuss them.

I am visualising the story......"And the handsome prince climbed up the tower, found the princess deeply asleep and whispered in her ear, May I kiss you? - no response. May I kiss you? - no response. MAY I KISS YOU? - no response. Tedious or what?

My DD wrote a "book" of the story of sleeping beauty when she was about 9 - it was hysterical and included a "bar code" on the cover and a very feisty princess with a singer sewing machine (including make and model) and who told the prince to take a hike!! It was very very funny. I must see if I can find it.

Haha. How silly. I live in France, where, depending on the region, you may receive two, three or even four kisses on both cheeks from men or women at any time of day or evening. Never been asked for permission and never felt violated! Mind you , it can be exasperating if you're in the checkout queue and the cashier interrupts her/his work to "donner la bise"

Fine by me if KK chooses to inflict this decision on her children but going public smacks of the fact that she's publicity hungry. It certainly worked!

The world is going mad. Do the rules of permission to kiss etc go away as you get older? Swear I never hear any of these stars asking or giving permission when they are kissing or jumping in and out of bed with each other in films. Do as I say not as I do obviously

I always found Kiera Knightley a bit precious. She should read the books. The ugly sisters cut bits of their feet of to try to get the shoes to fit. The Grimms were well named.

I thought there would be an objection to Sleeping Beauty doing all the housework for the 7 dwarfs x

God forbid she doesn't find Strewelpeter!

Maybe KK should stop worrying and read "Woman Who Run With the Wolves" by the quite amazing Clarissa Pinkola Estes who, amongst many wonderful things, is a 'cantadora' - a keeper of the old stories.
About the story, she has said:
"an ancient story which many have been taught is a story about a young girl only. It isn't. It's as much and even more so in some cases, about the las viejas, the ancient old women... and some of whom are retaliatory and petty bitches, and most of whom are beautiful blessers."
"Sleeping Beauty is a tale of exile and exclusion. The wicked fairy – the seventh, thirteenth or fourth fairy, depending on which narrative you chose – casts her spell on the baby princess because she is excluded from the celebrations surrounding her birth. In this we can recognise one of our own fears. To be rejected is hurtful. It leaves our social position tenuous and our relationships strained. The wicked fairy plays out our secret fantasy of revenge. Her vengeance is disproportionate but at least it’s poetic. She excludes the King and Queen from the life of their longed for child, she denies the child the privilege of growing up in the royal family."
Of the Sleeping Beauty's awakening, she says
"the young sleeping woman awakens, and truly awakens, not because she is kissed by the prince but because it's time...........the hundred year's curse is up and it is time for her to wake up. The thorn forest surrounding the tower falls away, not because the hero is superior, but because the curse is up and it is time. Fairy tales instruct us over and over: when it's time, it's time".

I want to know what "and they lived happily ever after" actually entails. It's a lazy, lazy ending to any story, the ultimate cop-out.

Does Cinderella let her looks go once she's bagged the Prince? Turn into a shrewish, chain-smoking housewife? And what of the Prince? I bet reality sees him go bald, pot-bellied and turn into one of those loser guys you occasionally see shuffling into and out of the local bookies, wearing a cheap jacket, jeans faded with age and puffing on a dog-end because he can't afford cigars these days...........ha!ha!ha!

Why on earth do these so called "Celebrities" think that anyone is interested in their ridiculous ideas?

Lancslass1: It's all dreamed up by their PR people to get a bit of free publicity. Maybe Ms Knightley has a book/film/song/play/product launch coming up?

Dick Barton special agent terrified me .Fairy tails Ha too unreal to be scary or believed

I have no problem with traditional fairly tales, although like other contributors I dislike the "Disneyfied" versions. I would want issues like respect for other people and consent to be in everybody's upbringing, but they don't have to be in every story.

I am a little sensitive because a sex offender grabbed me and forcibly kissed me. Fortunately the location was sufficiently public that I got away with "inappropriate touching".

All I heard Keira Knightley say on the radio was about The Little Mermaid when she said she didn't want her daughter to think it was o.k. for a woman to loose her voice for a man. I don't see anything to disagree with in this statement, but i think she has got the wrong end of the stick regarding The Little Mermaid.

My interpretation of the story is that it is saying that if you try to become something that you are not, then you may suffer for it.

A mermaid want to become human so that she can marry a prince. She sells her tongue and looses the power of speech in a trade so that she can have legs. She gets the legs but every step she takes is agony. The prince chooses someone else to marry anyway. (presumably someone who can talk to him)

This can either give the message that you should be happy to be who you are or that you should not get ideas above your station.

These fairy tales are worth thinking about, probably why they have lasted so long.

I did my own bit of censorship when my children were small by never reading them The Little Match Girl, which I don't believe was ever written for children. A story about the most vulnerable in society. Was she hallucinating from hunger and cold, or was this a spiritual visit from her grandmother?

I think the problem is, as someone else has suggested, that these tales have been so watered down that they have ended up as basically 'prince saves girl and they get married. the end.'

I am also another one like pecs who dislikes the term "politically correct" seems to me that being politically correct is just a way of trying not to be hurtful and to respect the feelings of others.

The tales carry important truths about human nature and the artificial lives many celebs live which are divorced from reality and in the context of an elitist bubble keep them from nature, human nature and the real world.

The tale most relevant for them is, perhaps, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes. They are naked but do not know it.

You would think an actor would understand metaphors though!

KN should stick to acting. Her kid will see more than that when she gets access to pre water shed Corrie and Emmerdale

Once a so called 'celebrity' (hate that word!) has a child, isn't it true that they suddenly become experts on childbirth and child rearing? After all, it's never been done before!