fairytales
this is in response to we have brains
read http://news.uns.purdue.edu/hp/Grauerholz.tales.html first.
i think that traditional fairy tales can be harmful when read to children at the elementry school age, but they are just as harmful as everything else that is unprogressive with gender roles. most fairytales such as cinderella, sleeping beauty, and the little mermaid, tell the old story of a an ugly, weird, lowly creature who is eventually transformed into a beautiful woman, and/or redeemed by a prince. this tells girls that we are ugly until proven not, that we can be happy only if we are beautiful outside, and that we have to have a significant other (charming prince) to make us whole. most of the time, it's up to the prince to take action to "get" the princess (like in sleeping beauty).
reading feminist fairytales to your children would be beneficial, and i know these are hard to find but they are around. reading stories such as cinderalla (my favorite) are not extermely detrimental, but can be harmful if other gender roles are not taught and emphasized.
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