9 dangerous promises from famous fairy tales and 1 way to protect children from them

In December 2019, a Twitter user he wrote about a strange message he found in the Russian fairy tale Jack Frost🇧🇷 It seemed illogical to her that the main character, when freezing in the forest, still kept telling the mage that she was fine and warm. Also, given the context of the plot, this is a good thing to do. According to the reader, this moment sets a bad example for girls: asking for help and complaining are bad things to do, even if you are in danger.

The tweet had great repercussion, as many agreed with the author in the comments. we, from awesome.club, we love fairy tales and believe that childhood without them is something unimaginable. However, some works of literature and cinema need to be discussed with children, so that they understand them correctly. We’ve made a list of topics to help you talk about these topics with your kids.

This message can be seen, for example, in Disney’s tales of the so-called “home era”. They include Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs🇧🇷 Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast🇧🇷 Good heroines in such stories cope perfectly with everyday tasks, and bad ones don’t know how to do housework.

After watching these cartoons, the idea is created that a good woman is only interested in her house and household activities. But in today’s world it is not so.

Most fairy tales are based on the “problem—adventure—reward” scheme. In them, the prizes for men are various: love, justice, title, wealth, etc. For women, the reward is almost always marriage. But in today’s society it is no longer believed that marriage is the only goal and indicator of success in adult life.

Last year, actress Keira Knightley admitted to reporters that she stopped her daughter from reading and watching some fairy tales about princesses. She doesn’t like the fact that many heroines in these stories seem helpless and wait for a man to save them from their traps.

For example, Cinderella continues to serve her stepmother in her own home without trying to defend her personal freedom. Fortunately, first a kind fairy appears who helps her, and then a handsome prince who gets her out of trouble. But in real life, we cannot wait for such help.

Despite this, Knightley allows her daughter to watch movies like moana and Frozen🇧🇷

Another American actress, Kristen Bell, found it necessary to discuss the fairy tale’s ending with her daughters. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs🇧🇷 From a common sense point of view, the modern mother is surprised that the prince kisses the princess without asking her permission, while she is in the most helpless state.

Bell feared the girls would think her consent to a relationship is a secondary and worthless thing. Especially considering that, when this kiss took place, the princess was only 14 years old.

Another nuance that alarms modern mothers is in the fairy tale The Little Mermaid🇧🇷 The girl, who is misunderstood by everyone around her, risks everything she has for a prince she has seen a few times in her life. As we know, in the original story everything ends tragically for the Little Mermaid.

The problem of this princess’ behavior was also noticed by experts in family research. In their opinion, losing one’s voice (something that in ordinary life is associated with failing to express thoughts and intelligence) in order to win the prince’s love is not the best behavior for a young woman.

Studies show that girls who regularly watch cartoons about princesses later develop low self-esteem. No wonder: they want to look like their favorite heroine, but this is simply impossible because of the distorted body proportions depicted in the drawings.

To look good, women need to take care of themselves and their own style. But it will never be possible to achieve a resemblance to the princesses. The sooner little viewers realize this, the better.

Another interesting nuance: in fairy tales, good characters are always much prettier than bad ones. This pattern can create incorrect stereotypes.

Scientists are also concerned that characters with obvious mental and psychological disabilities are often mentioned in fables and movies. For example, 85% of the 34 Disney cartoons released before 2004 show characters who suffer from different mental health issues. And most of the time these diseases are used to denigrate and expose someone in a bad way. This can create prejudices against people who really need help.

In many fairy tales and cartoons, young characters have to deal with their problems on their own, because adults just don’t hear or understand them. We want to believe that our family is different. But it’s worth working hard to get kids to understand this.

A father would never leave his daughter in the woods because someone asked. Mothers will almost always be available to listen to their children. It will be helpful to ensure that children know that there is nothing more important to parents than their children, for whom they will fight to the end in any situation.

When the story ends, its moral remains in the readers’ minds. Usually, the author leaves a positive message for children, saying that after all the problems the characters faced, they lived happily ever after. But this is a “decorated” view, which can lead to children’s misconceptions about family life.

Leadership expert Vanessa Loder recommends that parents replace phrases such as “Snow White lived happily with her prince in the castle” with “Snow White lived with her prince in the castle, and although they were sometimes sad or angry, they were often still happy.” happy”.

The works below teach being friendly, helping the weakest, loving and not giving up, and are an easy way to tell the child about the structure of society and the course of life. In general, they decrease the likelihood that little ones will create incorrect stereotypes while watching them. Such stereotypes are carried, by the way, by many people of our generation throughout their lives.

What about you, which fairy tales, readings or re-readings do you catch yourself thinking about and can you conclude that the behavior of the characters is not as logical as it seemed in childhood? What works did you love as a child and would you be happy to show your children?