“Mum-of-two Sarah Hall said she was disturbed by the ‘non-consensual’ kissing in the classic fairytale, saying the subtle message could undermine conversations about consent.”
Being the one that makes girls desire to grow up and passively kiss a prince rather than a frog and generally be treated like the princess they may have be told there were, a sense of which, alas, reality takes a right royal dump on during or after teenage years.
“Sarah said she might not have given the story a second thought, but recent coverage of sexual abuse and consent, including the social media ‘Me Too’ campaign, made her think about the subtle messages which, say says, help create a culture where consent isn’t seen as important.”
Well, some might suggest it’s part morality tale to assist anxious parents suggest there should be a one rather than many before effective contraception and and that true love conquers all—the modern telling of it at least: Sleeping beauty, themes, motifs, and symbols (sparknotes.com).
But, rather than take it out of circulation completely, it is to an older audience who would likely smirk at same to whom she feels it is appropriate:
“I actually think it would be a great resource for older children, you could have a conversation around it, you could talk about consent, and how the Princess might feel.”
I’m not sure she felt anything until handsome Prince’s lips had touched hers, that being the nature of the curse that befell her with the only prick she’d had was from a spinning wheel that put her into a perpetual slumber in which she would have remained unless….
Yes, it may be a stale patriarchal tale for good girls but, that’s that modern telling we are talking about and not quite what the Brothers Grimm had actually penned over a hundred years ago which is actually more disturbing to today’s societal mores as a throwback to pre-consensual marriage when the minimum age for “women” was 12, consummation was more important than consent and royalty dynasty, succession and alliances via marriage was more the issue:
“The original fairytale that Sleeping Beauty is based on is even more disturbing, with the prince unable to wake the princess up when he finds her in the forest. According to the tale, he then ‘lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a bed, where he gathered the first fruits of love’.”
With princess then awoken by giving birth to twins. And Vampire fiction queen Ann Rice added in BDSM and sexual slavery in her The Sleeping Beauty Quartet series (wikipedia) of erotic novels under the penname of A. N. Roquelaure in the ’80s after getting short shrift for her historical fiction. For sure, in that sense the mere kiss by handsome prince does not seem so bad.
Recent/related stories
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- Will Elsa get a girlfriend in Frozen sequel? (Latest Picks 24th May 2016)
- Richard Dawkins claims fairy tales are harmful (Latest Picks 5th June 2014)
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