Photo: Walt Disney Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Are kings and princes happier than queens and princesses in fairy tales? According to authorAnne Beall, that looks to be the case.
Beall, who wroteCinderella Didn’t Live Happily Ever After: The Hidden Messages in Fairy Tales, explores this possibility in her book. For her team’s research, according to a release, they analyzed 169 of Grimms’ 200 fairy tales (including well-known stories likeSnow White,Sleeping BeautyandCinderella) and found that 41 percent of kings boast happy expressions; the same is true for 56 percent of princes.
In contrast, while princesses exude happiness when they find their princes, next in the emotional bucket were sadness at 26 percent and fear (22 percent).
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Disney’sSleeping Beauty.Disney/Everett Collection
Disney’sSnow White.
The debate about princess stories being positive or negative in their influences has varied among parents, including those in the spotlight.
Kristen Bell(the voice of Princess Anna in 2013’sFrozenand its recent sequel) revealed in an October 2018 interview with Parents magazine that she is especially concerned about some of the plot points inSnow Whitewhen it comes to daughtersDelta, now 5, andLincoln, now 6½.
“I look at my girls and ask, ‘Don’t you think it’s weird that Snow White didn’t ask the old witch why she needed to eat the apple? Or where she got that apple?’ I say, ‘I would never take food from a stranger, would you?’ And my kids are like, ‘No!’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m doing something right,’ ” recalled Bell, 39.
” ‘Don’t you think that it’s weird that the princekisses Snow White without her permission? Because you cannot kiss someone if they’re sleeping!’ ” she added of what she has told her girls.
Cinderella Didn’t Live Happily Ever After.
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On the flip side, many celebs have highlighted the positive side of the princess narrative — likeSavannah Guthrie, whose 2017 debut children’s novelPrincesses Wear Pantsisn’t about tearing down dresses and instead encourages little girls to be well-rounded.
“We wanted our daughters to be okay with their love of princesses, butalso realize that princesses arestrong women with real things to do!” theTodayshow co-anchor, 48, previously told PEOPLE of the message behind the book. “The pants just became a fun vehicle for explaining all the different interests that a well-rounded young lady can have.”
“We are saying, ‘Hey, we love all that girly-girl stuff — but be sure you’ve got some substance underneath, too,” added Guthrie, a mother of two. “We are definitelynotanti-princess. In fact, having lots of funand frilly clothes (yes, including dresses!)was an absolute must for the book. You gotta give the (little) people what they want!”
Cinderella Didn’t Live Happily Ever After: The Hidden Messages in Fairy Talesis available onamazon.com.
source: people.com
