Cinderella

Pecs, broadly speaking the generation of young people today are often described as ‘the snowflake generation’ because they are deemed to be less resilient than previous generations,take offence more easily & think everything should be handed to them on a plate. This is thought to have occurred due to their parents indulging their every whim as children,making them feel so entitled as young adults,they never expect to struggle. In other words just like a snowflake they melt easily. This is undoubtedly true in a lot of young people today but certainly not them all.

Whilst I totally agree that, for far too many families in the world, daily survival is all many can focus on. But does that mean that families in better situations should then live in sack cloth and ashes & not try to do what they feel is right for their kids. It does not exclude those people from also having a social conscsience and doing positive things for those in truly tragic situations. It does not have to be either or!

maddyone please can you explain what you mean by snowflake in this context? I have heard the term used & seen it in media headlines but am not sure I fully appreciate its meaning.

Grandma2213, sadly meeting Mr rich will makes no difference to happiness unless it includes mutual love & respect. I was brought up with not a lot to spare. I married for love to a man who had very little then went on to be very successful. I had career & my husbands earnings enabled me to work part time when the children arrived. I never felt less of a person because my husband was the main breadwinner. I valued my role in the relationship and felt empowered being the person in charge of our home. I hope life is treating you well now Grandma2213. You sound like a trouper.

In my late teens I vowed to marry a rich man. Why? Because we were poor and it made us miserable. My mother struggled with poverty and was mean and violent to us as a result. We did read fairy stories but it was poverty rather than that that helped me make my decision. Sadly I never met a rich man. I guess I moved in the wrong circles.
I made my own career and was moderately successful and when I married it was for what I thought was love. My life after that again was miserable and I had huge financial problems. My husband did not care and just kept spending. Before I finally threw him out I was penny pinching for years. I was AGAIN desperately unhappy. I often wonder how life would have turned out if f I had met Mr Rich then.

On reflection having read some of the latest posts there’s one last point I’d like to make. It goes without saying people are entitled to raise daughters according to their own beliefs. Having said this, I see no reason for those who are vehemently against the possibility of their daughters meeting a successful man,who happens to be wealthy,possibly through inheritance, they should describe those girls as less relevant in society to those who wish to ‘do it for themselves’ Why should a girl be made to feel less valuable in society if they have dreams of marrying early,creating a home and making a successful family life.Is this what we are teaching girls nowadays. You have to fight to be an independent high flyer or else you’ll be deemed as worthless. I think there will always be a place in society for both types,including those who love the idea of meeting their prince. The most important thing in life is finding a path which makes you happy and not being judged for being different & accepting people for who they are. I managed to have a career & raise a happy family but I’d never judge a girl who decided to choose a different path.

Way back in the late 70s / early 80s my DDs had access to all trad. tales and fairy tales. They also had " alternative" versions and a very varied diet of imaginative stories. Their family life was of both m & f doing paid work and doing domestic chores at home. I do not pariculatly like the Disney interpretation of trad tales. but as long as they are not viewed without discussion & challenge no major harm done!

Apricity, I had forgotten that, about them chopping bits off their feet to try to fit into the glass slipper.
Blood and pumpkins - it sounds more like Hallowe'en than a happy ever after story!

I don't have a problem with Fairy Tales but I do wonder at the automatic cry about everything being unPC. When it is violence, we worry about the drip, drip effect even though those watching usually know that it is just fiction. However, when people worry about the drip, drip effect of the helpless female who needs rescuing, they are just being overly politically correct.

Don't forget that the Grimm version of the Cinderella story included the ugly sisters chopping off bits of their feet to try to fit into the glass slipper and the blood everywhere rather gave the game away. Grimm in every way. As a child I remember wondering how anyone could actually walk in a glass slipper. And pumpkin coaches! Not a lot of those around. We underestimate children's ability to recognise the difference between fantasy and reality.

Think children know what is and isn’t real, none of mine expected to see talking animals or fairy godmother’s appearing from nowhere, think often people will overthink things that the children don’t even notice

It came to me after I had added my post how lucky we are that worrying about whether or not Cinderella et al is suitable viewing for today’s children, is indeed a privilege. No doubt, parents in Yemen, Syria, Africa, and other places have more pertinent worries, such as will we be bombed today, will my child have enough to eat today, will my child have clean water to drink today, will I be able to get to a doctor with my sick child today?

How lucky parents are that they have the luxury to worry about whether or not their child will watch Cinderella!

More snowflake behaviour, I’m afraid.

Having said that, I would not allow my grandchildren to do anything that was expressly forbidden by their parents.

Thankfully my adult children have never expressed such ridiculous views.

Didn't we all read fairy stories as children and watch fantasy films? Yes I did watch Mary Poppins and try to fly in the wind with my umbrella but I also knew it was a story and if I snapped my fingers my toys would not tidy themselves up. It's not just Disney films of heroes and heroines or being called beautiful (I never was btw ) all books and films are based on fiction of some kind or another - that's why we get involved in them and escape to another world whatever age we are.

The whole PC debate is just ridiculous and before long no one will dare say anything!

If I may just add to that - I think I find Cinderella and other Disney portrayals of females over-sexualised. Not appropriate in films for children.

Springleaves, I was thinking more of the Disney Cinderella, the unnaturally blonde, artificial, very curvy look. Snow White is much prettier!

Well said EllanVannin. It’s about time people recognised that disharmony is exactly what it is causing.We should be seeking to live together in peace,recognising & accepting each other’s strengths & weaknesses, girls & boys alike. I’m off now having realised I’m becomming too distracted from my work but it’s been good to chat :-)

I don't know about anything else but has this PC rot been purposely manufactured to cause/create disharmony ? Going by the many who've been brainwashed by this dangerous practice its insidious way of life is becoming the norm in every area of life as we once knew it.
Gone will be the free speech and democracy for fear of upsetting those who hold anything PC firmly in their grip.
It's no longer the country that I was born in and will be totally unrecognisable in the next century, something I'm sure I won't be worrying about but at the moment I remain to be a non-conformist/freethinker without the need to be treading on anyone's toes.

Mabon1, I could mention spelling and punctuation. ???

Grandma70,my teenage niece is the absolute replica of snowhite in the Disney film & people are always saying this to her. Is she pretty? absolutely! Is she humble, very intelligent & a lovely person? Absolutely! If that’s objectionable then this is why I for one will always stick up for the Disney lookalike girls who naturally have this type of look through genetics & there are many about. I believe beauty comes from within & it’s also in the eye of the beholder. We still can’t hide from the fact there will always be some girls who are born classically very pretty & ‘girly’ & there’s nothing wrong with recognising it in my opinion & that’s all it is, my opinion!

Coyoacan, the day we don’t recognise beauty in each other, whether inside,outside or both,will be a sad day indeed. I think I speak for a lot of people on this forum who are tired of this latest trend towards being PC in everything we say or do,often leading to irrational offence.If healthy discussion and sharing opinions is classified as ranting,then let’s rant on. It might not change peoples views but at least it gives food for thought. Actually for me anyway this Particular rant is over. I work from home & I’m recognising I’m now becoming too distracted so possibly not the best idea to join in the first place. I do hope people feel free to continue on this topic though as there are so many who feel the same nowadays.

Coyoacan, it is also what is seen as prettiness in the Disney films. That’s what I find particularly objectionable.

Why is it so wrong these days to be called pretty & feminine

Does anyone think it is wrong to be pretty and feminine? That is the trouble with your anti-PC rant, you do not even know the reasons that mother has.

My dd doesn't particularly forbid my dgd from watching Disney fairy-tales but notices unhealthy changes in her when she does. It's not that it is bad to be pretty, it is the message that being pretty is an amazing virtue.

And yes everything that we read, see, hear and experience has an influence on our perception of the world, especially when a child is small and trying to figure it all out.

Hm999 I mentioned in a later post my DIL has no intentions of ever going against parents wishes & neither would I. I explained it was a throw away comment because like a lot of people these days, even as a young mother,she is becoming expaspirated with everything becoming so PC these days people are afraid to say or do anything without offending someone. She thought she was being kind to a new mum recently when she met her in town & said “ What a beautiful baby,she is so pretty’ The reply she got was “thanks but I prefer if people didn’t say that,especially as she gets older as it’s not something I want her to place that much importance on’ laughable if it wasn’t so sad.

If I did something my DiL asked me not to, I wouldn't expect to be allowed to have my DGD overnight.