Mothers Who Kill Their Children

Moon Garden Designs

I've mentioned before the surprise and wonderment that occurred when I discovered, several years ago, the existence in my library of an entire section devoted to books of and about fairy tales (which really initially spurred this blog into existence, as after I read so much I wanted to be able to remember and store the information).

On a recent trip to my local library I stumbled across another section that shouldn't surprise me-the murder section.  In the midst of various books on serial killers and famous murders, I found a title that piqued my curiosity; Mothers Who Kill Their Children by Cheryl L Meyer and Michelle Oberman, with Kelly White, Michelle Rone, Priya Batra, and Tara C. Proano. Although morbid and disturbing, I found the subject of infanticide by mothers to be fascinating, and incredibly applicable to fairy tales. The rate of mothers who abuse their children and either attempt to or succeed in killing them in fairy tales is frighteningly high. In the past, psychologists have explained this by saying it's young girls' playing out their Oedipal fantasies in which their fathers desire them and mothers are their rivals.

And while this is true on some levels-especially for those of us who were never abused, it's somewhat flattering to imagine yourself as someone else's rival, and the simplistic cast of fairy tales don't usually allow for complications like love triangles so family members tend to get in on the action-but the fact is, child abuse has been around for centuries and is not going away any time soon. Not that every fairy tale is based off of fact, but when those stories of mothers harming their children reach the public, they are sensational and tend to spread quickly. So it's not unheard of to think that the famous fairy tales such as Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, or Juniper Tree could have been inspired by people trying to understand how such acts of violence could have been committed by the one who is supposed to nurture and protect.

In fact, with all this discussion about the new Cinderella movie and whether or not it's feminist enough, it disturbs me a little that all of the heated debates about this tale of child abuse center around the faults of the young girl who did or didn't act too passively. (To clarify, I'm not referencing any of the reviews by my fellow fairy tale bloggers, but other ones around the internet like this one, or the whole discussion that generally circles around Cinderella). This is blaming the victim, which you should never, ever do in cases of actual abuse (read more on how to respond to someone who has been abused here). The book specifically negates any ideas that women allow abuse, or that they must all be weak and passive to have been abused.

Now don't get me wrong: I'm all for versions in which the heroine is not passive, and uses her wits and courage to creatively get out of horrible situations; I realize we apply fairy tales to situations in our own lives and patterns of passive females can be dangerous precedents. In the world of Faerie, taking risks that might be dangerous or foolish in real life are often rewarded. Plus, certain versions can make Cinderella appear extra dumb and helpless, which doesn't help matters. I still have yet to see the new movie so can't speak to how well it handles Cinderella's character and situation. Still-with all this talk over whether or not Cinderella should have rescued herself, why aren't we talking about how the stepmother could have gotten to the point where she would inflict such pain on her husband's daughter?

The truth is, abuse is something it's hard to escape. People who have been abused tend to gravitate towards abusive situations-it's all their used to, and they may believe it's all that there is or all they deserve. There is also the tendency for abuse victims to become the abusers later in life. While it's possible to escape from the cycle, the majority of abusive parents were once abused themselves. We should be asking where the stepmother came from and what her childhood was like and what factors lead to such extreme treatment of Cinderella. Research indicates that those who have been harshly punished are more likely to act violently. It's fairly common to see Snow White as a generational warning, that if Snow White is given worth for being young and beautiful, she is almost destined to become the stepmother as she grows older. The same could be said of other tales-Hansel and Gretel are more likely to be neglectful parents because of their trauma, and Cinderella is more likely to abuse her own children some day and/or end up with an abusive partner.

Not only that, but we should be looking at the whole culture. Laura J. Miller's comment on the back of the book states, "This carefully researched account shows how social forces can contribute to both the causes and cures for infanticide. Readers will find themselves shifting from asking, 'How could she do that?' to 'How could we have let that happen to her?'"

Take Cinderella. A stepmother comes in and starts dressing and treating her stepdaughter like a slave. This would have been obvious to other people in the community-they would have seen her clothes and her actions, knowing she was the true heiress to the estate, yet nobody did anything to help that we are aware of. Friends, family members, neighbors-in some versions the father is still alive, and simply passively allows his wife to treat his own beloved daughter like this. The person who is supposed to be providing Cinderella the most support and love is the one inflicting all the pain, and no one else in her community has attempted, or been successful in, stopping her. Why should Cinderella assume anyone else would be supportive?

So how do society and culture feed our understanding of why infanticide happens? From the book's introduction, "Infanticide is not a random, unpredictable crime. Instead, it is deeply imbedded in and is a reflection of the societies in which it occurs. The crime of infanticide is committed by mothers who cannot parent their child under the circumstances dictated by their unique position in place and time. These circumstances vary, but the extent to which infanticide is a reflection of the norms governing motherhood is a constant that links seemingly disparate crimes."

In short-in order for mothers to get to the point of killing their children, they have already been feeling various pressures, and get to the point of feeling completely overwhelmed. Some people dismiss all crimes of this nature as being committed by moms who just "went crazy," but this is actually very rare. When you start to look at the individual situations each of these women came from, you feel strongly sympathetic (although it doesn't, of course, justify what they did-the book is careful to never excuse their crime, but to explain why it happened and how we can prevent it).

Cultures have gotten, overall, much better in understanding the pressures of motherhood and giving women more rights. The book begins by a quick overview of the history of infanticide and the different cultures that gave women little to no value, and it seems like a miracle some societies survived at all under those conditions. Yet still, females bear the brunt of childrearing and face unique pressures. It is so strongly assumed that women want to get married and raise children, and that females are naturally nurturing and loving, that when women do struggle they're afraid to admit it, feeling guilt and shame. Obviously, the pregnancy and birth are responsibilities of women, but in cases of single parenthood, only 4% of children were raised by fathers at the time of the writing of the book (2001)-meaning 96% of single parents were mothers. Society tends to blame women for domestic violence, even when the father was the one doing the abuse.

A typical person convicted of infanticide will have several disadvantages in life. They might have gotten pregnant as a teenager and have been threatened by families or religions who don't support premarital sex. They are more likely to have been abused in the past, more likely to struggle with depression or suicide, and more likely to struggle with poverty. They were more likely to be minorities and/or lack privilege, and feel powerless in their own situations and to help their children's futures. The vast majority of women in the book were single, or if they were in relationships, were likely unsupported, abused, or going through a difficult separation. These women may not have had the education to know good parenting techniques or how to find support. Those who gave birth at younger ages were not mature enough to bear the responsibilities of parenting along with the pressures of adolescence and early adulthood, especially since nearly all of them felt unsupported by any member of their communities.

John B. Gruelle

The book divides infanticide into categories, depending on the circumstances and motivation behind the killings. One category is that of neglect-not necessarily intending to kill the child, but failing to meet their needs. This would be the case of the mother in "Hansel and Gretel". She didn't actually attempt to kill them herself, but to get them out of the picture because there was not enough food for all of them. Many have pointed out before that this fairy tale reflects earlier times when, if crops were not good, the people did go hungry and struggled with starvation, in Germany and around the world. The mother's acts were selfish, but not unheard of. Mothers who feel that they and their children have no hope and that they might save their children from suffering might attempt to kill them simply to spare them from suffering, or sometimes combined murder/suicide.

Snow White's mother/stepmother makes multiple attempts to kill out of jealousy of Snow White's beauty, and therefore assumed increased attention from the husband and father. This category is one that virtually never happens among mothers, although the authors note that sometimes males kill out of jealousy-it is men who are actually more motivated to kill a stepchild (one killed his wife's baby because he wanted to avoid the shame of raising a child that was not biologically his own).

The mother in "The Juniper Tree" appears the most evil of all. She has no apparent motive for killing, and she is the only one who actually succeeds (although the boy is transformed into a bird, and in some versions becomes a boy again). Her method of death is violent and cruel and she even goes farther than any of the disturbing cases in the book by having the boy's father eat his son's flesh.

The book may not shed light on all fairy tale characters' motivations, but will shed light on tragic circumstances that often hit too close to home. The authors surveyed 219 cases of infanticide that occured in the United States between 1990 and 1999 (and many cases undoubtably went undetected). This does not include child abuse that does not lead to death-according to safehorizon.org, more than 3 million cases of child abuse are reported each year, and childhelp.org clarifies that even though there are more than 3 million reports of child abuse, they affect the lives of more than 6 million individual children. (The book contains statistics, but being published in 2001, are not as up to date). These numbers are sobering. I can't help but wonder how our discussion of blaming Cinderella for "allowing" her abuse affects these people who have suffered and already experience feelings of guilt and shame.

The book was fascinating, although it was very difficult to read simply because of the material. The worst was reading the descriptions of how certain mothers killed their children. But the book suggests ways that culture and the government can provide more support to mothers and prevent these things from happening. Parenting is difficult even in the best of circumstances; and the more certain families suffer, the more difficult raising children becomes. Even in our own communities we can do our best to encourage and care for mothers who face troubling circumstances and their children. It may be true that many of the murders in the book could have been avoided if there had been a friend willing to lend a hand and show these mothers that there was hope for themselves and their children.

Cinderella illustrations-Frederic Theadore Lix, Valentine Cameron Princep
Snow White illustration-Charles Robinson
Juniper Tree-Warwick Goble

*Note-all the information about cases of infanticide and abuse were taken from the book; but the book had no application to fairy tales, so those are my additions

Madame D'Aulnoy: The Origin of the Term "Fairy Tale" and How It Spread like Wildfire

In one of his latest books, The Irresistable Fairy Tale (2012), Jack Zipes builds on what he discusses in his 2006 book, Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. I haven't read "Why Fairy Tales Stick" but the former is at my public library so I've gotten a chance to peruse it recently. In both books, Zipes seeks to look into and answer the question of the undeniable long-term popularity of fairy tales. Although they have changed over the years, evolving and adapting according to each culture, fairy tales have managed to remain in public general knowledge and popularity for an impressive longevity. In fact, really the only other thing I can think of that compares to fairy tales in its universal human appeal over completely varied human cultures is religion.

Zipes discusses the science of memetics, or to use a term most people are familiar with, "memes." Memes can be more than pictures of cats with funny captions-a meme is anything that captures the public imagination and spreads in popularity. Memes generally rise and fall over time, but fairy tales have stayed afloat for hundreds of years. What makes a meme stick with us is its relevancy. Therefore, general human consensus for most of known history would indicate that we find fairy tales relevant to our lives. Zipes points to the fact that fairy tales start in conflict, as do our real lives. Although I might point out that basically every story has some form of conflict, so there has to be some other common thread that indicates why fairy tales and not other literature remain so prevalent.

However, tracing the history of fairy tales themselves is incredibly difficult. Zipes says, "Almost all endeavors by scholars to define the fairy tale as a genre have failed. Their failure is predictable because the genre is so volatile and fluid." Not only that, but he goes on to mention that the term "fairy tale" never existed until Madame d'Aulnoy coined it as the title of a book in 1697. Her collection of stories about fairies prompted a trend with far-reaching impact she could not have imagined at the time. For now we use the term to cover a multitude of stories, but most of them don't actually involve actual fairies. How did that specific term explode to cover the undefinable genre we now call fairy tale?

Rare copy of D'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales-only $5,500 Euros

(Fun fact: the original French, conte des fees, was originally translated into English as Tales of the Fairies in 1707. Sound like a certain blog name?!? I wish I could say my blog title was a direct reference to this original French term, but it was really a quick decision made when I impulsively decided to make a fairy tale blog, and I thought the title should simply convey what I would be talking about. I wasn't very creative.)

Adrienne Segur

Illustration for "The Royal Ram" by D'Aulnoy

Although the French fairy tales were very influenced by the Italian collections of Straparola and Basile, those works were only self titled as "tales" and not necessarily associated with, or strongly featuring, fairies (although a few do make an appearance). Yet D'Aulnoy made fairies central characters and put the word in the title of her book, creating an association between a term and a genre that are inseparable today. Why fairies, and why all of a sudden? And what was it about D'Aulnoy's newly coined "fairy tales" that made them so popular?

D'Aulnoy lived in a time when women's rights were severely limited. She created a world of fiction in which human lives and destinies are governed by powerful female fairies-the fairies influence everything from fertility and birth, to arranging destinies and love. Some fairies are more evil and witch-like, others good and just, but they are all powerful and fearsome, and in control of the fate of humans. In a time when women had little to no power either in society or in the home, she created a world where women could vicariously live through fairies to have responsibility, supernatural powers, and control. D'Aulnoy and the other female writers who followed in her footsteps self-identified with the fairies and used them to create alternate ideals for society.

Madame D'Aulnoy

The human characters in the first official fairy tales turned not to government, or the church, to solve their problems-but to the fairies that were a throwback to old mythological dieties and goddesses. For the first French fairy tale writers, "the fairies in their tales signal their actual differences with male writers and resistance to the conditions under which they lived...it was only in a fairy-tale realm, not supervised by the church or subject to the dictates of King Louis XIV, that they could project alternatives stemming from their desires and needs."

More on Perrault and His Views on Women

My reading on Perrault and my last post made me curious enough to consult other sources. From Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantment: Classic French Fairy Tales, Jack Zipes writes,

"He [Perrault] had been annoyed by Boileau's satires against women. Thus, we wrote three verse tales, Griselda, The Foolish Wishes, and Donkey Skin along with a long poem, Apologie des femmes, in defense of women, a defense, which is, however, questionable. His poems...stress the necessity of an enlightened attitude of fairness toward women, but fairness on male terms." (emphasis mine)

The satires Zipes references were Nicolas Boileau's "Contre les femmes," or "Against Women," in 1694. According to Encylopaedia Britannica, the main reason for Boileau's beef with women was because they tended to be on the opposite side of the hottest literary debate in France, the Ancients and Moderns (which, as I understand it, boils down to: is old, classic literature innately superior to modern literature?) Women were, supposedly, on the modern side. Perrault was also one of the main supporters of the Modernists.

I've tried looking at what Boileau actually said about women that would have even prompted Perrault's "defense," but I'm having trouble finding any sources that summarize his writings (anybody know?). So far Perrault still looks, overall, like a hero for women's rights.

But just a quick review: the tale "Griselda" is about a prince who falls in love with a woman because she isn't silly and materialistic, like other girls. She is modest and humble, while conveniently being incredibly beautiful anyway. They marry, but after a while, for no reason at all, the Prince becomes annoyed with his wife and starts bossing her around. She bears it all with patience, humility, and grace. But this only prompts him to be more and more cruel, ultimately deciding to take a younger, hotter wife (who is also secretly his daughter, whom he hid and told his wife was dead, just to mess with her) and send his first wife home again. Then to rub it in, he has her come back to be the lady in waiting for his new wife. But through it all, Griselda makes multiple speeches about how it is her life's goal to humbly obey her husband in all things.

Okay. You guys probably know I'm not the type of person to get too riled up about princesses being passive and the other current feminist debates, in fact if anything I get defensive about fairy tales in their historical context, etc. But this story makes me truly angry. How is this, in any way, a defense of women?

Portrait of Perrault by Phillipe Lallemand, 1672

In a sort of twisted way, it looks like he's paying women a compliment by showing how they can be morally superior. But, in this story, in "Bluebeard," and in lots of Victorian literature that would follow, women are expected to be not only morally superior, but perfect, and harshly condemned for falling short in any way. Men can apparently do no wrong, because the Prince in Griselda is not only never punished, but praised for his cruelties because it allowed his wife to show her character. And we're supposed to believe that Griselda will be happy in returning to her twisted and dysfunctional marriage to this guy.

So here's my conclusion: Perrault was being completely serious in his fairy tales, even in his moral to Bluebeard, and yet somehow, in a mind-boggling way, this was actually feminist literature. Although expectations of men and women were vastly different (and completely unfair and unhealthy), Perrault at least shows women who do the right thing (as those at the same defined "the right thing") in the face of great adversity.

What Perrault Had to Say About His Tales

One of the reasons I was so interested in the book Fairy Tales Framed, edited by Ruth B. Bottigheimer, was to see what Perrault actually thought about his tales. He has a whole host of fairy tales that are now considered to be part of the classic fairy tale canon, but one question that has plagued me for years (as well as many other fairy tale fans and scholars) is what to make of his moral to Bluebeard-the one that concludes that the moral of the story is not to commend the wife for discovering the truth and saving herself from a murderous husband, but to condemn her for her curiosity.

Marina Warner thinks that Perrault's story contains thinly veiled sarcasm and should not be taken seriously; it's true that he was a feminist for his time and a friend and associate with many female fairy tale writers of his time. Maria Tatar thinks he may have given random and contradictory morals just to prove how foolish it is to try and find deeper meaning in fairy tales.

Yet many people who later retold the story seemed to take the moral completely seriously, despite the fact that the story's events contradict the condemnation of the woman (Bluebeard is always punished and the wife lives happily). Cautioning women against curiosity was a big theme in the Victorian era, and even through the 20th century (anyone remember the episode of Dick Van Dyke where they purposely trick Laura into opening a package meant for Rob, and she is humiliated when the boat expands in her living room?)

Unfortunately, Fairy Tales Framed doesn't include anything directly written about "Bluebeard", but includes his own words about his Mother Goose tales and another fairy tale collection that included Donkeyskin-which will shed light on how he thought about all of his tales. In both of those instances, he spends the vast majority of his arguments defending the validity of fairy tales, simply because they had beneficial morals. He compares his stories to ancient myths and fables, and even claims that his morals are superior because they make sense (he claims that "Cupid and Psyche" has no discernible meaning).

rcmtrue, "Allerleiruah"

For example, regarding "Donkeyskin", Perrault wrote that "It is not hard to discern that the goal of this tale is to help children learn that it is better to risk the most severe punishment than to fail to do their duty; that virtue may be thwarted, but it is always rewarded."

Perrault's tale Griselda is a very preachy tale about the need for a wife to humbly obey her husband in all things, even when he is clearly at fault. When the Prince of the tale decides to marry another girl and send his wife back to her parents, she responds with "You are my husband, lord, and master. And whatever else you may hear, you must remember that nothing is nearer my heart than to obey you completely." Seriously, the whole story is like this, it's a very uncomfortable read. It's actually possibly the most sexist fairy tale I've ever read and makes our discussion of how females tend to be more passive overall look like nothing in comparison.

Image

Yet Perrault did not see the cruel husband as needing to change, but the tale concludes with " Indeed, the people even praised the prince's cruelties because they had produced so remarkable a proof of Griselda's constancy that people saw in her a model for women everywhere in the world." He later wrote that the story "tends to influence women to put up with their husbands and to make them see that there is nothing so brutal or strange that the patience of an honest woman cannot bring to an end."

It's really hard to say what Perrault's true intent was. Scholars tend to think he couldn't have meant his words literally, and it's true that many fairy tales were disguised criticism of royalty. Yet I don't really find Perrault's tone to be that "tongue-in-cheek." He may have been defending the publication of fairy tales in general, which was a hot debate at the time, but to all appearances he was literally preaching complete and total obedience of wives to their husbands, no matter how degrading or cruel, in multiple tales.

Russian children's book illustration from Soviet Era-(can't find illustrator name, at least not in English)

And it really begs the question, why do scholars feel the need to defend Perrault's intentions? I admit I don't know much at all about French culture at the time other than what I've read in fairy tale books, but I kind of find it hard to believe that he was really just writing for shock value when it seems everyone at the time and for hundreds of years afterwards took him literally.

Kenneth Branagh on his new Cinderella

Reader chizzie-shark shared this link  with me, an interview with Kenneth Branagh about his new Cinderella movie. I love this quote, it makes me more interested in seeing his version of the fairy tale:

"Oh My Disney: One of the themes of the new film is courage. How did that inform Cinderella as a character?
Kenneth Branagh: I think that she learns to turn the other cheek with strength. She has no sense of self-pity, no sense of being a victim. She makes her own choices, She doesn’t indulge in her own pain or hardships. She looks at the world with compassion. I find her such good company because she’s so un-showy, and yet she’s so charismatic. I think she really knows herself."

Are people excited about this version? Or, like so many recent fairy tale movies, is it better not to get our hopes up? Speaking of which, who's seen "Into the Woods"? So far, other fairy tale bloggers seem pleased overall...

A Hansel and Gretel Christmas

Found these two ads in the Chicago Tribune a couple days ago and thought you might find them interesting too:

"Gingerbread House Competition: Hansel and Gretel's witch could look to Geneva for inspiration this season as candy-coated houses fill the All Chocolate Kitchen. The houses must be made entirely of edible materials and will be judged...on overall appearance, creativity, difficulty, and precision."

Emerald City's "Hansel and Gretel: A Wickedly Delicious Musical Treat"

Among the most fertile of fairy tales, this classic takes on a new flavor when kiddie ace Justin Roberts teams up with Emerald City's Ernie Dolan. The pair deliver an all-ages rock musical (featuring The Grimm Brothers Band) about the brother-sister duo who discover appearances aren't always as sweet as they seem. 

Sounds interesting, definitely a new take on Hansel and Gretel! More info on the Broadway in Chicago site.

Then, also from the Chicago Tribune, but on a much more sober note: They've been doing several exposees on the system of institutions in Illinois for abused and neglected children, finding that they are rife with sexual and physical abuse, from the other residents as well as the staff. Truly heartbreaking to read story after story of kids and teens who were taken advantage of when they should have been protected. (Read more here, here, and here.)

But it did remind me of fairy tales, so many of which are about the abuse of children. And while we sit around contemplating the possible symbolic and psychological meanings of these tales in which mothers, stepmothers, siblings, and lusty fathers are cruel and mistreat the protagonists (I was just reading the other day about how "Donkeyskin" is supposed to be a way that girls live out their Oedipal complexes), we forget that for thousands of kids worldwide, these accounts of horrible abuse are true in the most literal sense. Even in our modern world, the very system that is supposed to put an end to this is making it worse. Many of these girls escape the system, to end up on the streets and in prostitution. They are truly victims, yet I hope no one would accuse them of being passive and unfeminist; they were placed in a horrible, awful sitation they should never have been in. I just hope that these articles inspire some major change, because awareness is only the first step-people have to take action next.

Neil Gaiman: Why Disney's Sleeping Beauty Doesn't Work

Concept Art for Disney's Sleeping Beauty by Eyvind Earle

You may have seen links to this interview with Neil Gaiman going around the fairy tale blogosphere from The Telegraph: Why Disney's Sleeping Beauty Doesn't Work. He talks about many aspects of fairy tales and history, from the Grimms to Goldilocks to Angela Carter, so it's worth a read; but in reference to the title, he doesn't think Disney's Sleeping Beauty makes a complete story. In the opening paragraph, he says,  "I don't have a lot of patience for stories in which women are rescued by men." 

Henry Maynell Rheam

Sure, that's a way to interpret Sleeping Beauty and Snow White stories, and I love a good twist to the helpless heroine, but that's only one way. Bruno Bettelheim sees stories with sleep as describing adolescence, Gaiman himself discusses how Perrault's "Sleeping Beauty" is really less about the sleeping and rescuing and more about the nightmare of having a horrible mother-in-law. With Disney's new "Maleficent" it's clear we can tell the story in a way that doesn't include rescue by a man at all.

It's just another example of how it seems like the only way modern people interpret classic fairy tales is to see them as sexist-helpless women in need of rescue by men. We miss out on other meanings, and then it sets up anyone reading such opinions to decide that, to be intelligent and forward thinking and support gender equality, we too have to dislike any stories where women are less active than men or in need of rescue.

Warwick Goble

Disney's classic Sleeping Beauty may not work for Gaiman, but clearly, for generations, it has "worked" for lots of little girls (and big girls!) who love Princess Aurora; who are enchanted not so much by the idea of being helpless, but that someone would want to rescue them.

I just hope we aren't sending out messages that it's wrong to ever need help. We all get in situations where we need help, it's okay to ask for it, it's even okay if that help comes from a loving and supportive significant other.

Gaiman himself says it best at the conclusion of his interview:

"What does he mean, I ask – that they are true and also… inspiring?

"True and also lies!" says Gaiman. "If someone says: 'We have investigated – there was no Snow White', I'm not going to go: 'Oh no, my story is now empty and meaningless'. The point about Snow White is that you can keep fighting. The point about Snow White is that even when those who are meant to love you put you in an intolerable situation, you can run away, you can make friends, you can cope. And that message," he says with a smile of satisfaction, " – that even when all is at its darkest, you can think your way out of trouble – is huge."

Nancy Ekholm Burkert

*Also, I believe this interview, and the movie Coraline, has been the source of some confusion over the famous quote about fairy tales showing children that dragons can be defeated. I've seen many people crediting it to Gaiman. The article says, "He points to the lines he used as an epigraph to Coraline – remembered from GK Chesterton but loose enough a paraphrase to be his own: "Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."

Here's the Chesterton quote:

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

Paolo Uccello

In my opinion, I think the thought is clearly still Chesterton's, but with either wording, I love that quote.

Little Red Riding Hood and Women's Safety on Running Trails

Since capes and cloaks aren't really in vogue these days, a current way to reference Little Red Riding Hood is to have her wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, such as in the pilot episode of Grimm:

Or maybe a red jacket as in Freeway:

Back when we were doing the You Know You're a Fairy Tale Blogger When... posts, I mentioned that I feel just a little bit paranoid when I go running in a red hoodie. That scene from Grimm probably didn't help, but outdoor running can be a legitimate concern for people.

Although the wolf has been interpreted for hundreds of years as referring to males who may be sexual predators, the fairy tale originated in societies where wild animals were a real danger, and belief in werewolves was prevalent. The wolf probably started out as literal.

Either way you look at it, it's hard for a 21st-century person living in the Chicago suburbs like myself to really wrap my head around the associations people used to have with wild animals. Around here, it seems like anywhere you go, there's civilization, cell phone towers, businesses and homes, and streetlights. The one place you can go to even get a small idea of what it might be like to live in a tiny town in the middle of a vast forest is a running trail or forest preserve.

Eugene Recuenco

And running trails, being secluded, are known for being potential places for attackers to hide. See this article for a map of reported attacks on runners in the D.C. area. There don't seem to be stats for  incidents of this nature (this article has some information about risks of rape and attack), but it's something you hear reports of all the time. A woman was attacked this summer on a section of the same trail I ran on, in the middle of the day.

This is one of those areas where it can be really frustrating to be a woman. Men can go running in the dark, alone, and be fairly confident that they will be safe. Women have a whole list of restrictions to abide by. We are seen as being weaker and therefore an easier target, as well as more likely to be sexually assaulted. Even if being attacked isn't likely, there's still the fact that, if an attack should happen, people could shake their heads and say, "well, she knew she was taking a risk, running alone like that." Even though the attacker is clearly the one at fault, there would still be some amount of blame attached to the woman who just wanted to get a workout.

Dakota Fanning-Vanity Fair 2010

I run with a rape whistle on my key ring, but to be honest, if someone were to attack me I'm not sure I'd have the presence of mind to pull it out of my pocket and blow on it. I go running in the daylight and usually when there are plenty of other people on the trails, but as the weather gets colder, trails are less populated. The other day I had a scare, running through a trail in a field, hearing a rustling in the stalks. My mind being filled with fairy tale imagery, my first thought was a wolf. It was probably only a rabbit or squirrel, but it could have been a coyote or something more sinister.

I still feel pretty confident when I run by myself. But in those rare times when I feel isolated and surrounded by the darker side of nature, I try to imagine what it would have been like to live long ago, when travelling anywhere outdoors was much more dangerous. The woods would have been filled with beastly predators, and even sexual assault would have been fairly easy in more secluded areas-risks we worry about today (rightly so) would have been an everyday issue for most fairy tale audiences.

From M. Night Shyamalan's The Village-the "monsters" wear red and are attracted to the color

And, kind of on the same topic, I found these fairy tale-inspired workout shirts on the etsy shop WorkItWear. I love the female-positive messages (such as, "I run like a girl-try to keep up"), and the idea that you can be the kind of girl who likes Princesses and fairy tales but also strong and athletic!

The Aftermath of Frozen

It's been almost a year since Disney's "Frozen" release at the end of last November. Its popularity soared, and doesn't look like it's going away any time soon.

Elsa was a prominent choice for little girls' costumes this Halloween, and holiday commercials are using Frozen toys and products as a way to attract customers. With the unusual cold we've been having in the Midwest, someone on my Facebook feed joked about how maybe the fact that nearly every little girl wanted to dress up as Elsa had something to do with the unseasonal snow flurries.

Disney seems to be pushing the products so hard, both in the Parks and stores (the Christmas Parade is officially titled the "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration") that its been getting some backlash from frustrated customers. People are not only tired of seeing the merchandise everywhere, but very upset that the classic Norway ride, Maelstrom, in Disney World's Epcot is being replaced with a Frozen-themed ride.

 Yet people are still going in hoards to buy the merchandise, so much so that Disney stores has a limit of 1 Anna or Elsa costume per customer at their stores. I heard that costumes were being sold on Ebay for hundreds of dollars around Halloween (my good friend Christy went as Elsa in a homemade costume). I thought the three hour line to meet the Princess sisters at Disney World was bad in the spring, but their initial appearance in Epcot led to lines as long as 7 HOURS. I cannot imagine standing in line for that long to meet actors in costume. Many people don't even get seven hours of sleep a night...

Yep, Frozen on Ice is already happening

The fairy tale blogging world has already discussed the film and why it's so immensely popular. The rest of this post isn't really new thoughts, just review as we look back over the year. I think it boils down to two main factors:

1. Our culture was very ready for a fairy tale retelling that doesn't focus on love at first sight. Children's enthusiasm can only go so far without parents willing to support the movie and characters as well, spending money on the products and even waiting in line with their kids for hours and hours. We've been complaining about the fairy tale/Disney Princess stereotypes for so long. Could this be the beginning of truly altering the fairy tale formula in our modern interpretations?

Edmund Dulac, Illustrations for Andersen's "Snow Queen"

Having two strong female protagonists was also a strong point for a more feminist culture, but it's ironic because Andersen's original "Snow Queen" is, arguably, much MORE feminist. It's essentially the story of a young girl who goes on an adventure to rescue her male friend, a complete inversion of the classic heroic-male-rescues-damsel-in-distress, and she meets many strong female characters along the way of all ages who help her in her quest.

2. Girls like superpowers too. I think this point shouldn't be underestimated when looking at the success of the movie. I know many young girls who love Frozen, and Elsa is ALWAYS their favorite (with maybe one exception being a girl whose name is Anna). Superheroes with special powers are marketed pretty exclusively to boys, but girls like to pretend to have special abilities just as much. I can think of multiple young girls I know who are half convinced that any time it snows it's because of their spirited renditions of Let It Go, and Heidi Anne Heiner of Surlalune says its the same with her niece as well.

I've been surprised when stores like Walmart and Target still prominently feature Frozen, it's like no other kids movies were made this year. But for me, it was a childhood obsession with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" that led to my ultimate desire to research fairy tales. Who knows-maybe in 10-20 years we'll see an increase in young women who start to look up the history of Snow Queen, their own favorite Disney movie's inspiration, who will through the film discover for themselves the wonderful, enchanting world of fairy tales? Here's hoping-