It is accepted that popular magazines cause the skewed beliefs people have about what they should look like and what they should wear. The idea that fairy tales mess people up is less commonly discussed. I have thought for some time that fairy tales were a source of woe for me in my life. I did not watch an excessive number of fairy tales as a child, but the fairytale love story has been told millions of times in millions of ways. I can honestly say this was my expectation of romantic relationships and as you can imagine, I was left confused and disappointed when my relationships were not all grand gestures, devotion and adoration.
It is easy for me to believe then that fairy tales affect the way children develop ideas about sex roles, race, and class distinctions. Time after time beauty is held up as the most important feature of women, and strength the most important feature of a man. I grew up thinking that intelligence and cleverness was the most important quality a woman can have, and I did not understand the obsession other girls with all things pink and pretty. I wonder if the fairy tales I was reading shaped my beliefs. My favorite book as a little girl was called The Practical Princess. All of the stories involved handsome princes who were sent out to do the traditional quest of slaying the dragon and saving the princess. In these stories though, the prince had no idea how to solve the problem, and the very clever and practical princess would thick of a plan to solve the problem. The she would marry the dim, but sweet prince and live happily ever after.
I love the ideas presented in the article, Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us, of challenging the students to question what is being presented in these stories, but these ideas seem directed towards older children. With young children I still think there can be discussions about what is being presented in these stories. It would be immensely valuable if we could help children develop analytical skills and discernment. These skills would serve them their whole life, and need to be taught. Another thing that we can do as teachers is to take care in the selection of books we read. By consistently sharing stories that promote qualities we as teachers think are important it may have some effect on our students. Did I love the practice princess because I was that kind of girl, or was I that kind of girl because I loved the practical princess? I do not know, but I know that we give great importance to the selection of role models for children, so wouldn’t it follow that fairytale heroes are a kind of role models?
I had never heard of the story The Practical Princess but it seems like a good book to use in a classroom. You could read a book, such as sleeping beauty that deals with the princess being dependent on the prince and then The Practical Princess which has the Princess being the more in control character. I believe having the young children discover the differences may be a way to help younger children discover the stereotypes present in literature.
ReplyDeleteI want that book! I never felt like I could save the day. I still don't. I guess I did fall for the weak woman/strong man media supplied to me over the years. I'm still trying to overcome that obstacle and even though that book is for kids...it just might do the trick.
ReplyDelete"By consistently sharing stories that promote qualities we as teachers think are important it may have some effect on our students."-I agree! Exposure to a variety of stories and sources of positive influence definitely expand a person's outlook.
ReplyDeleteI also agree the the critical critiquing seems more useful with older students than younger ones when it comes to some stories, but certain issues can and should be discussed regardless of age.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on "The Practical Princess"! I think I was influenced by female musical artists like Aretha Franklin and Carole King who weren't considered particularly beautiful but very powerful, nonetheless.
My mom didn't let us have dolls to play with until we were older, and then we used them to perform surgery. She thought that if we only had traditionally boy toys to play with that we'd never fall into the girl trap. My sisters had more access to girly things than I did, I think because I'm the oldest and mom had the most to prove. We only wore dresses to visit with family (nothing like caving to pressure, eh?).
ReplyDeleteFast forward several decades and I have one sister who is always well-coiffed, fashionably dressed, and lives in a gorgeously appointed house with her former ski bum husband who's now getting his MBA. Both my sisters take on home improvement projects without a second thought, wielding construction equipment with abandon. Me, I can't decorate my way out of a bag, let alone figure out how to make my house look nice, but I'm pretty good at messing with small appliances and computers. Is it because I only had boy toys? Or because I just don't have the decorating gene? We'll never know. But I doubt it has anything to do with what we watched on television, because we watched a lot of it!
I keep laughing about patti's comment. I can just imagine using dolls for surgery. My parents had the similar issue with guns. I was never allowed to have fighting toys and if I played a fighting game later in life the focus had to be on the accurate historical representation of an old battle not the fighting itself.
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