Louise McFadden: Unhappily Ever After: The Harmful Effects of Traditional Fairy Tales on Children

Once upon a time there lived a little girl who was captivated by fairy tales. At bedtime, she listened carefully to her mother’s voice reading the stories aloud, and gazed at the colourful illustrations which brought them to life. Every night, disturbing thoughts of wicked stepmothers, children abandoned in forests and wolves devouring grannies swirled around her young, innocent mind. Such cruelty and brutality are common themes in traditional fairy tales, leaving many children terrified and anxious. Considering this, as well as the sexism, lack of diversity and questionable morals displayed, is it any wonder that little Louise grew up and felt the need to write an essay condemning these damaging and outdated stories?

Murder, kidnapping, mutilation and cannibalism: these are just some of the atrocities that make traditional fairy tales inappropriate for children. According to the historian and mythographer Professor Dame Marina Warner, as well as the fairy tale expert Professor Jack Zipes, many stories were not originally intended for children, but for adults. This includes the popular Brothers Grimm stories of the 1800s, such as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Snow White’ and ‘Cinderella’. The earliest adult versions of ‘Cinderella’ contain gruesome details – the ugly stepsisters amputate their own toes to fit into the glass slipper, and later their eyes are pecked out by birds. Originally, in ‘Snow White’, the wicked stepmother is made to dance in red-hot iron shoes until death. Lovely. While some stories have been rewritten over the years in an attempt to make them more child-friendly, a disturbing amount of death, brutality and abuse remains. For example, do you think a story about abandoned children being lured into a cannibal’s house sounds appropriate for a four-year-old? It sounds like the plot of a horror movie. According to Reader’s Digest, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ was one of the nine most popular fairy tales in 2021. What makes this worse is that, like many other fairy tales, it was based on horrendous true events. Many real-life children were abandoned, some even eaten, during the Great Famine of 1314 to 1322. Many parents don’t know the origins of these stories. If they did, perhaps they’d think twice about sharing them with their children. Some, however, do realise the anxiety caused by the cruelty and gore. A OnePoll study in Britain in 2018 revealed that a third of parents said their kids cried at Little Red Riding Hood being eaten by the wolf, and over a quarter change the stories they read to their children. It goes without saying that parents shouldn’t have to adjust the barbarity in their children’s stories – there should be no barbarity to begin with.

As well as the wicked violence of the stories, the endemic sexism also has a damagingly corrosive effect on children. Hundreds of years ago, fairy tales were intended to teach boys and girls their roles. According to Liz Grauerholz, former Professor of Sociology at Purdue University, and Lori Baker-Sperry, Professor of Women’s Studies at Western Illinois University, in their study of Grimm’s fairy tales titled ‘The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales’ (2003), young women were to be “domesticated, respectable, and attractive to a marriage partner”. Why are we still indoctrinating children with outdated gender roles in 2022? Princesses in traditional fairy tales typically do housework all day, lack ambition and have zero independence. They have very shiny hair, though. In fact, the disturbing emphasis on feminine beauty is highlighted by the well-known quote from ‘Snow White’: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Grauerholz and Baker-Sperry’s study states that 94% of Grimm’s fairy tales mention beauty or ugliness. Pressuring young girls to meet impossible beauty standards is unethical and brainwashes them to believe that their appearance is their most important trait. It is not. Seriously, what sort of message are we sending our daughters? That they should sit looking pretty, waiting for a man to save them? Four of the most famous traditional fairy tales follow the recipe of the passive princess waiting to be rescued by the powerful prince – ‘Cinderella’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’. Girls can be so much more than this. They can provide for themselves. They can be the heroines of their own stories. Should parents really be creating a situation where young girls idolise princesses like the Little Mermaid, who sacrificed her voice for a man? As for boys, toxic masculinity is encouraged. Princes in the aforementioned fairy tales tend to have very little characterisation other than being the tough, heroic rescuers and protectors of women. We must stop teaching boys to be strong all the time and show no weakness, emotion or vulnerability. It’s unfair to weigh these restrictions and expectations on anyone, let alone a child.

Traditional fairy tales have a lack of diversity. If I asked you to imagine some characters from fairy tales, you would most likely picture young, white, able-bodied princesses with clear skin and twenty-inch waists. Princes tall and muscly, witches old and wrinkly. Where is the representation for children of colour, disabled children and the LGBT community? There’s no excuse not to include characters that these children could relate to. It’s extremely important to have racial diversity in children’s stories for children of colour to feel included and represented, and to prevent racism developing from a young age. Additionally, there is no body diversity. All characters (except villains because everyone knows that a character’s goodness is directly related to their physical attractiveness) are thin and good-looking. One exception is Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Ugly Duckling’ … who eventually turns out alright on the basis that he becomes a beautiful swan. Consequently, some children struggle with low self-esteem, continuing throughout adulthood. What harm would having some more inclusive stories with diverse characters possibly do to our children? Apart from making them happier and more empathetic?

The tales are crammed with bad morals and messages – poisoned apples, corrupting children’s minds, and giving them a twisted perception of good and evil. Every detail from the stories plants a seed in their heads. For instance, stealing and greed are condoned in ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. When you see the Prince harmlessly kissing Sleeping Beauty to wake her from the evil fairy’s spell, your six-year-old sees that it’s okay to kiss people when they are asleep. Is it really true love’s kiss or is it sexual assault? Another example of an insidious message is in ‘Beauty and the Beast’. While there is some debate over whether Belle suffers from Stockholm Syndrome (a psychological condition causing hostages to develop positive feelings towards their captor), the story is nonetheless problematic. Belle changes the Beast, teaching him kindness and eventually transforming him back into a prince. Stop teaching young girls that it’s their responsibility to fix men who abuse them. In addition, distorted messages about romantic relationships create unrealistic expectations for children. Fairy tale couples are usually adolescent, implying that love is found easily and quickly, and is only for young people. This can lead to anxiety and depression even when the child is grown up, still looking for “the one”. Moreover, the fact that many tales end with a magnificent wedding insinuates that marriage is the ultimate prize and sign of success. This isn’t true. Love and success can come in many forms and it’s important to teach our kids different happy endings.

I’m aware of the argument that fairy tales improve children’s imaginations. However, they often simply can’t tell the difference between magic and reality. Over fifty American youngsters who kissed frogs hoping for a real-life prince to appear (after watching the Disney film ‘The Princess and the Frog’) certainly didn’t gain a better imagination – they gained salmonella poisoning. And to those who argue that the stories are entertaining – no one is saying that children shouldn’t be told stories, just that there are more suitable ones which could aid childhood development.

Traditional fairy tales do more harm than good. Perhaps if we replace these traumatic stories with ones that are enjoyable, while also being more up-to-date, ethical, inspiring and inclusive, we can all live happily ever after.

Bibliography

Websites:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190402-is-it-time-to-rewrite-fairy-tales

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20130801-too-grimm-for-children

https://brightside.me/wonder-films/7-dangerous-messages-in-popular-fairy-tales-and-ways-to-protect-your-kids-from-them-797575/