Daily Archives: April 13, 2025

Fairy tales can offer important benefits for children. They encourage imagination, introduce basic ideas of right and wrong, and help children explore emotions in a safe way while some stories reflect outdated values that can be not practical in real world nowadays. From List A, the article “Sex and Violence in Fairy Tales” by David Isaacs caught my attention. In it, Isaacs explores concerns about the scary or violent parts of traditional fairy tales, such as death or cruelty. He argues that while these elements may seem harmful, they actually give children a way to face fear in a safe setting. This idea made me think differently about how children process intense emotions and situations From List B, I was interested in “Rediscovering the Power of Fairy Tales” by Mary Howarth. She writes about how fairy tales can be valuable in the classroom to help children understand life challenges, solve problems, and talk about feelings. What caught my attention was her point that these stories allows children to make sense of their own experiences relating to their own life journey.

My thesis for the research essay is, Even though fairy tales are meant for children, they often deal with dark topics like fear, danger, and survival, showing how people use stories to deal with the scary parts of life. From List A, I chose Jack Zipes’s article “The Struggle for the Meaning of Fairy Tales.” What stood out to me was how Zipes explained that fairy tales come from real struggles people have faced. These stories might use magic or talking animals, but they still talk about serious things like hunger, danger, or feeling alone. From List B, I picked Bruno Bettelheim’s “The Uses of Enchantment.” Bettelheim explains that scary parts of fairy tales actually help children deal with emotions like fear or anger. Instead of avoiding those feelings, the stories help kids face them. I like the idea that fairy tales are not just fun or silly they can help people understand hard things in a safe way.

My research essay shows that fairy tales hurt children by teaching them wrong ideas about life. These stories tell young girls bad messages: that being quiet and waiting is good, that being pretty will make a prince save them, and that getting married fixes everything. Fairy tales also show women fighting with each other instead of helping each other. As Fisher and Silber say, “Fairy tales are internalized at a tender age, before their primary audience – young girls – have acquired tools for questioning them” Fisher-GoodBadBeyond-2000.pdf (Page 133). Kids learn these narrow gender roles before they can think about them clearly.   I also believe that fairy tales also pictures a reality for little boys that their only purpose in life is to create a family and take care of them and not live life for themselves. “Boys compete with their fathers for their mother’s love and then fear retrieval.” J Paediatrics Child Health (Page 1) This quote shows how fairy tales might strengthen unhealthy family feelings where boys feel they must compete with their dad, potentially creating anxiety and competitive tensions in boys’ family relationships. Fairy tales hurt them more as they struggle to find out who they really are without including others and responsibilities. i think its best to let them experience life realistically as much as they can so they can be ready to face some challenges along the ways but fairy tales tend to show them that life will always have a good ending and its promised that everyone  will find someone no matter what  or a good ending is always waiting for them at the end.

Thesis: Yes, I think fairy tales are good for children. They do more than just entertain, they help kids understand their emotions, learn life lessons, and use their imagination. These stories often have simple messages about right and wrong, facing fears, and believing in yourself, which can really stick with kids as they grow up. One Article I read from List A Is the “The Positive Impacts of Fairy Tales for Children,”. Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson talks about how fairy tales help kids deal with feelings like fear, anger, and sadness. I liked how she explained that stories give kids a safe way to explore tough emotions. That stood out to me because I remember how stories made me feel better when I was little, even if I didn’t understand why at the time. The article I choose from list B is Mary Howarth’s article “Rediscovering the Power of Fairy Tales”  which was really interesting. She writes about how fairy tales help kids (and teachers) be more creative and curious. I liked how she connected stories to learning and imagination. It made me think about how fairy tales are more than just fun; they can actually help kids grow and think in new ways.

Thesis: Fairy tales are not just fun stories but also powerful tools for children’s emotional, moral and imaginative development, with valuable life lessons and shaping their worldview. List A: “The Benefits of Fairy Tales for Children” by Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson One thing that stood out in this article is how fairy tales help children deal with difficult emotions by giving them symbolic stories where good beats evil. Knox-Johnson says fairy tales reflect inner struggles and provide a safe space for children to explore fear, courage and justice. I liked this because it shows how these stories can guide kids through their own challenges, using metaphor to make sense of big feelings. List B: “Tell Your Children Fairy Stories” by Jane Stafford Staffod says storytelling between parents and children is a bonding activity that also passe on cultural values and personal beliefs. I liked her point that telling stories helps children develop imagination and a sense of morality. This resonates with me because it shows the lasting impact of oral storytelling beyond just reading, it becomes a shared experience between parent and child that shapes identity.

While fairy tales can often be seen as harmless and whimsical, I believe that traditional fairy tales can negatively impact children’s development. They create an unrealistic perception of reality, reinforce gender stereotypes, portray idealistic relationships, and suggest punishment for not being physically attractive. The article that I chose from list A is “Experts Say Fairy Tales Not So Happy Ever After’ By Liz Grauerholtz. They stated that fairy tales promote more about beauty standards. The ones that are “unattractive” are portrayed as evil or jealous. Stories tell children that unattractive people are more likely to be evil and reinforce traditional gender roles* (Grauerholz). This interest me because multiple tales normalize people not being up to certain standards as being evil. One that’s famously known is Snow White. The article I chose from List B is “Good and Bad beyond Belief: Teaching Gender Lessons through Fairy Tales and Feminist Theory” by Jerilyn Fisher and Ellen S. Silber and “Rediscovering the Power of Fairy Tales” by Mary Howarth. Children can interpret her own point of the fairy tales and apply this to real world situations.

My Thesis: Fairy tales are bad for children because they promote unrealistic beauty standards, reinforce harmful gender roles, and give children false expectations about life and success. Article from List A: One article that caught my attention from List A is “The Positive Impacts of Fairy Tales for Children” by Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson. Even though this article argues in favor of fairy tales, I found it interesting because it helped me understand the opposite point of view. The author claims that fairy tales can help children develop imagination and learn life lessons. This made me think more deeply about how different people can interpret fairy tales in very different ways. Article from List B: From List B, I was most interested in “The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales” by Lori Baker-Sperry and Liz Grauerholtz. This article explains how fairy tales constantly send messages that being beautiful is the most important thing for girls. One idea that stood out to me was that beauty is often shown as a woman’s “most important asset.” That really made me think about how harmful this message can be, especially for young girls who are still developing their self-image

Fairy tales are not just entertaining stories, but powerful instruments that helps the emotional development and moral understanding of children. The article that I am looking for is “The Positive Impacts of Fairy Tales for Children” by Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson. I enjoyed how the writer emphasizes the fact that fairy tales allow children to build emotional resilience. She explains how the form of fairy tales characters face difficult challenges but eventually triumph is capable of assisting children in overcoming their own problems of hope and courage. I enjoyed this idea because it suggests that children’s stories are not just entertainment but actually promote children to be strong inside. Another article I read was “Why Fairy Tales Matter” by Maria Tatar. Tatar feels fairy tales are important because they allow children to explore complex emotions and issues in a safe, symbolic way. She talks about how fairy tales are a field for imagination and self-knowledge, and that really resonated with me. Her discussion of why children see themselves in fairy tale characters made me think about how fairy tales can be reflections for children who are trying to determine who they are and what kind of person they want to be. Together, these articles affirm the idea that fairy tales are powerful cultural instruments that helps children’s psychological and emotional growth.