February 21st

     The story of Cinderella is one that is seemingly romantic. From a young age, little girls are taught that their prince charming will one day come for them and sweep them off their feet. However, in the true versions of the tale, the fate of Cinderella is quite sad and she is never shown true forms of love. Her father remarries a villain whose daughters are evil, only to be loved by a man who is obsessed with a singular shoe and the "done up" version of the girl he danced with. In truth, the version of Cinderella that we grew up with taught young girls a version of love that is not only unattainable but is also unhealthy and coercive. 

    More specifically in Perault's version of Cinderella, the father who is the king wishes to marry his own daughter. Her Godmother tells her to give him ridiculous asks, making him stretch to the far reaches of the kingdom to please her for her hand. The daughter is scared, and flees into the wilderness only to be known as "Donkeyskin". While this version might seem ridiculous, as the king wishes to marry his own daughter (incestually), this version strongly resembles what we see in other versions of the story that are more readily available to our children today. This unhealthy, unnatural and quite disturbing version of the tale is equal to that of the torture and abuse that Cinderella in other versions endures, but is seen as "worse" because it is coming from her own father. While I agree it is bad, I do wonder if it is seen as worse because the other versions make the Stepmother and Step-siblings the villains? Does the frequency of these characters being portrayed as evil and narcissistic undermine other stories with different characters or genders in similar roles? 

    On top of this, I do wonder why this version of the story, as well as the version where the son was the more prominent figure, are not more available to audiences today. While I understand that some of these are from different countries, I have to wonder if the perpetuation of the "damsel woman" and "evil stepmother" is far too important to replace in modern society and thus makes it virtually impossible  for other versions of the story to coexist. 

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