My thesis for the research essay is that fairy tales are harmful for children because they teach old ideas about beauty, gender roles, and what is right or wrong. These stories often make kids think that how they look is the most important thing, especially for girls, who are shown that being beautiful is the key to being valued.
From List A, the article I picked is Liz Grauerholz’s “The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales.” This stood out to me because it shows how fairy tales focus too much on women’s looks. I agree with her idea that these stories teach girls they need to be pretty to matter, which can make them feel bad about themselves if they don’t fit those beauty standards.
From List B, I chose “Why Fairy Tales Matter: The Performative and the Transformative” by Maria Tatar. This caught my attention because it explains how fairy tales shape the way people think and act. I liked how she points out that these stories pass down old ideas about how boys and girls are supposed to behave, which don’t work in today’s world.
Both articles explain how fairy tales can hurt kids by keeping old ideas about beauty and gender alive. I think these stories are more harmful than helpful because they teach kids to follow unfair rules instead of being true to themselves.
2 thoughts on “Diana Gomez – Week 11”
Diana, this sounds like a very sound approach to the research paper. You have one reason, but it is a large and complex one that can certainly fill a 3-4-page paper. I look forward to reading. I’m curious to see how many people in the group share your feelings and how many disagree. Don’t forget to include a rebuttal.
Hey Diana,
I love your insight on this topic and agree with you fully that fairytales are harmful for children. As ive read in one the articles given to us in the directions, it mentions that fairytales tend to devalue women and show the men as always being the hero and the women always needing to be saved. Additionally, there is a great and might I say excessive focus on beauty in these fairytales which can be harmful for children. So with that being said I deeply resonate with your post. Thank you so much for sharing. Great work