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.
