In recent years there is a lot of discussion about sexism in different folk tales, and in my humble opinion I think we are just simplifying a rather complex question. On the other hand, I know that although releasing these stories of gender roles (and violence) could help the development of children, it is not the only way, and in this I believe that we can all agree. There are times when adult interventionism goes so far as to “look” at a book with our eyes and insist that children see the same thing, and therefore we want to change it.
And for the record, in the eagerness to "change" the fate of the stories (as they do marvelously in "Once upon two times") very beautiful products are obtained and worthy of being read and transmitted. But look: oral tradition fulfilled its function, the brothers Grimm had their motivations to collect in writing stories that they had not invented; the invention of the printing press made it possible for Perrault's fairy tales (and other tales) to reach infancy; and if I go a little further south, Carlo Collodi used his pen to give us a heartbreaking and emotional work (which has later been cut, sewn and softened by the Disney factory); ... In some of the books that I have read to my children there is cruelty and women who submit to the wishes of men ...
However, these characteristics also exist outside of the pages of Rapunzel or Cinderella: turn on the television at the time of the news or to see a series that airs on Tuesdays at 22,30:12 p.m. and all the companions of my son of XNUMX come with the permission of their parents (well, not all of them, you already know what children are like: “they all do it, let me do it”). What are we talking about then? Equality has not been achieved anywhere near, and we do not live in human relationships in which conflicts are resolved peacefully, I hope it is possible one day! But the fact that a child hears from his father's lips how the prince saves Sleeping Beauty is not going to make him the hero of any princess who will stay home to wait for his return every day, or so I think.
Also, as he told us Alba Alonso in this interview, we are witnessing a worrying 'rosification' of girls' books.
Read stories to read, and read them critically.
From the time my firstborn was 3 months old until the little girl was 9 years old (and she no longer wanted mom or dad to read her stories) many years have passed of reading EVERY night (and this is 'literal') children's books. We have read classics, popular, poetry, theater, Shakespeare adaptations, comedy, comics, mystery, horror, princesses, stories of everyday life ...; it's many days. Time has given so much of itself that some nights we have simply deciphered the letter code that we had before our eyes, others we have debated, and some more we have made faces or Chinese shadows, to accompany the sentences.
The kids have given their opinion, we have ours, they have given to educate in values, and the result has been engraved in our minds and souls.. What have my daughter and son gotten out of all this? Well, you ask them that, but as a button shows, the girl will be about 3 weeks ago commented: “It is not clear to me that a woman falls in love with a man as soon as she sees him, without knowing what he is like, and without knowing if he will respect his decisions in the future; And by the way, the prince of Cinderella I don't know who he believed to attract the girls of the town as if they were won to a dance to choose a wife " (homegrown 🙂).
I have never been obsessed, because variety, and respect for your wishes they have been the keynote in the books that have passed through the house.
From word of mouth to engaging literature.
The most modern adaptations of popular tales, they fight cruelty with morality, and I'm not sure if that's appropriate; they resolve thorny issues but others are left in the pipeline. Is it better for the child to get angry at Cinderella's cruel stepsisters, or to find out that their feet were originally cut off to fit their little shoes and thus marry the prince? Do we insist on censuring Snow White for playing the dwarfs' maid and forget that the original stepmother was actually her mother? (A mother trying to destroy her daughter!).
However, not all popular stories are heartbreaking nor are all based on the domination of the boy over the girl: "The Bremen Town Musicians", "Ali Babá and the 40 Thieves", "The Emperor's New Clothes", ...
And the current literature? What's wrong with her? It is also a reflection of the time, and tries to accompany society in its evolution, but make no mistake because “all that glitters is not gold”; For example, 3 years ago, books aimed at teenagers with sexist content were requested to be withdrawn from bookstores. I would also like to point out that we are witnessing a proliferation of children's literature titles, and of course among them there are many written by people who do not know what a child is like. Let's find the balance then, and let's be critical, because this is how we help our children in any aspect of their lives.
The effect of cruelty on the development of children.
Although it is a topic that we will expand on these days, I must anticipate that we cannot / should not censor, especially if it is our children who ask for them, the books; rather look for literary quality and illustrations. We do not live in a paradise, but in a place called Earth, whose inhabitants (or part of them) destroy themselves and do the same with the environment.
There are books that seem inappropriate to us, but they can help the little ones understand themselves, and especially, understand their emotions (my oldest understood jealousy more listening to Cinderella than when I read a book on Emotional Education that dealt with the topic explicitly). I have come to the conclusion that sometimes it is more important to attend to the content according to the evolutionary development (for example, to look for stories free of irony or sarcasm if they are aimed at very young children) We have to mutilate them, because at least the latter we can analyze it together with the kids, and turn it around if necessary.
To conclude: it is obvious that children's books have evolved, but I don't think the best way is to inhibit our children's contact with folk tales; To do so would be like denying history, wanting to return to cuneiform writing, or telling a young passionate about music not to listen to Wagner for being too warlike.
Images - Neil tackaberry, gminguzzi, Iu Bohigas-Salt Public Library