Cinderella

I used to babysit for a boy who was attending Rudolf Steiner school. He wanted me to read from Grimm fairy tales. It was a gruesome story which he knew well but which scared me and I asked the child if we could please read something else!
I mentioned this to his parents but they were adamant that this was suitable, in fact necessary for a child of his age. He was aged 7.

I loved the Grimm stories, and I think I'm fairly normal.
I've always enjoyed the darker side, and still do.

PECS, the term ‘snowflake’ has been used to describe, and I quote ‘a neologistic term used to characterise........young adults........as being more prone to taking offense and less resilient than previous generations, or as being too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own.’
Generation Snowflake - Wickipedia

Whilst I know that there are many younger people who do not fit this description, it would appear to me that unfortunately a significant number do. It is my opinion that by not allowing children to watch Cinderella because it may implant certain ideas re the role of women in society, the parents in question certainly fit this description. Millions of children from all over the world have heard, read, and watched the story of Cinderella and enjoyed it and recognised it as a fairytale. In other words, not real.
Parents would do well to recognise the real evils their children are exposed to in today’s society. One thing which springs to mind is the overtly sexualised clothing many little girls are dressed in today, think of skimpy crop tops, off the shoulder skimpy tops, overtly tight, tiny little mini skirts, all on little girls of seven or eight years old, or sometimes even younger. What message do these clothes give out to girls? A far more dangerous idea in my opinion, that girls should be sexy, wear tiny, sexy clothes, that they should show off their bodies to ?

I only just caught up with Gransnet PECS so apologies for not getting back to answer your question earlier. I was out all day yesterday and so didn’t look till today.

Maddyone, you make such a good point. I’m by no means prudish but I know professional parents who don’t bat an eyelid when their daughters (mostly well educated & either at university or with good jobs) walk into the room before a night out & they would make street walkers look demure. Fake tan, fake eyelashes, fake nails, fake waist length hair, skin tight dresses, low cut & hardly covering their bottoms,finished of with sky high platform shoes, not to mention some with multiple piercings & tattoos & there’s talk of Cinderella being a bad influence. The mind boggles.

I was at a meeting last night where one elderly gent was talking about handicapped people rather than those with special intellectual needs. I drew in breath and realised I have become affected by pc language so where once I wouldn't have minded or noticed, now I find this language offensive. There are plenty of other examples which I won't repeat here.

Grammaretto, your point in this situation is where PC has a relevant place. The trouble is where do we draw the line. I think people who object & become offended by things like calling girls pretty, or reading fairy stories, really need to take a long hard think about what they really should be objecting to,such as mentioned in a previous post about the suffering many children in the world have to endure. I’m sure the parents of those children would more than welcome the idea of men rescuing them & I only wish there was the money & resources available to make it happen.

Thank you springleaves, I know it’s a serious subject, but your description of the way the older girls dress did make me giggle. I think it was you saying they would make street walkers look demure!
Seriously though, it seems a sad indictment of our society that we think nothing of this, but we, or some parents, worry about Cinderella! Plus, as you said, parents in other parts of the world worry if their child will still be alive at the end of the day.
Seems to me, worrying about Cinderella as a role model is very much a first world problem.

springleaves, the original post was about 'watching' the Cinderella film and then others referred to Disney films so that is where the analogy comes from. As to any of the written or visual material, I think that it can open up a conversation about the issues of helpless females and their role in life. My Grandaughter absolutely loves Disney's 'Tangled' where the 'Hero' rescues her to find out that she is more than capable of handling herself and has been 'escaping' for years.
Most Fairy Tales were written in a male centred era so they are bound to be the way they are...if the heroine had been strong willed, self supporting, etc they'd have probably been institutionalised!
maddyone, it certainly does put it into context when you look at other children across the world, doesn't it?

I recently played in a version of "Cinderella" and I think that is the point. if you want to cut it short and cut bits out and edit it to your hearts content, no one is going to stop you except maybe the writer of the panto; but I don't think its a harmful story anyway. It is beautiful. Every child wants to be a princess. I cant see anything wrong in it. I think sometimes these PC people go a bit too far!

So right bigcoll. I used to love the pantomimes years ago based on the Disney stories.

What next ? Social services taking away the 7 dwarfs on account of a young girl looking after them ?

The bad thing about Cinderella isn't that she gets the Prince, it is the abuse she has to put up with within her family from her stepmother & sisters

She who laughs last Yggdrasil They'll have to do their own chores now, including making up the fire.