Unlike little girls my age, I never liked reading fairy tales. I hated reading about princesses or ladies in distress waiting for their prince charmings or knights in shining armor to save them from evil stepmothers, witches, beasts and whatever peril that would befall them.
Girls or women are not helpless. Some may like being saved or love the feeling of security that a man's protection brings but some women are capable of looking after themselves, even of protecting the ones they love.
That is why among all Walt Disney cartoons, my favorite is Mulan. Mulan is not your typical heroine. She was too headstrong and spirited. Hers was not the typical heroine beauty either - all dainty and delicate, as hers is a beauty that mirrors her strength of character while remaining charmingly feminine. Mulan did not need a prince to protect her or save her. In an era when women were undervalued, she proved herself and showed to the world that a woman is more than just an adornment or a vehicle for child-bearing.
Call me a feminist harridan, I really do not care. I'm strong-willed, independent and a woman empowered. I have my monsters and demons to slay but I don't need a prince or a knight to vanquish them.
Happy endings don't require princes or knights. They are what we make them.
2 comments:
haha, i love fairy tales. not for the damsels in distress and the dashing knights, rather the magical world of fairy tales -- of talking mice, pumpkin carriages, flying carpets, magic shoes and three wishes from a genie =)
i guess i was just melancholic and cynical even as a child.
i was born sad, so i'd like to think...
flying carpets, magical creatures, magnificent palaces and whatnot do amaze me but i guess they never blurred my visions of reality.
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