What if I told you that it was not a prince that woke up sleeping beauty but a king that raped her? What if I told you that in the original tale of Pinocchio, he committed suicide to convey a message to little children about being disobedient? What if I told you that in Cinderella, the stepsisters cut off their toes to be able to fit inside the shoe, and then the birds at Cinderella’s wedding pecked out their eyes in revenge? 

Fairytales seem so familiar to us we assume that we know what is going to happen in each and every tale. So, Ariel marries Eric, Snow White falls in love with Prince Charming and gets married, Beauty transforms the beast and marries him to live happily ever after.  

You probably associate fairytales with a sweeter more innocent time in your life. But what 5-year-old you did not know was that the stories that you were being fed were heavily censored versions of the originals.  

Fairytales can give us the idea of a utopian society, a place where violence and crime does not exist. However, utopian fairytales are created based on imaginary societies and wishes; they are not at all realistic. 

While Fairy tales can be brilliant for inspiring imaginative discussions in children, we must be careful otherwise we could potentially harm their wellbeing. Donald Haase who wrote Fairy Tales and Feminism agreed with this and encourages children to read these stories sceptically, “to confront such ideologies rather than endorse them.” 

There has to be space in the world for girls that travel the world and sacrifice their lives and battle with evil witches—not for a prince, but just because they can?