Fairy tales have been an integral part of our childhood. The castles, the princes and the clearly marked good and evil were the perfect escape from a not too perfect reality. But as functional adults we realised that Prince Charming is not as charming as we thought him to be (or very bright. He had to look through an entire town’s population of women to find the woman he had been dancing with THE NIGHT BEFORE!)
Or that our favourite Disney princess might be a victim of patriarchal conventions of the society (looking at you, all the Disney princesses!) and the villain might not be as bad as we had believed (it’s problematic how relatable Maleficient seems as an adult).
This realisation also makes us think about the terrible message we are letting these classic fairy tales give to young children across the world. But fret not, because British-American sketch comedy duo We are Thomasse have an answer: Feminist Fairytales!
Sarah Ann Masse, one half of the pair, sits down to retell each of our favourite fairy tale in this video series and systematically shatters any illusions that might have been left about them. She speaks about casual sexism, body positivity and consent, amongst other glaring pitfalls of these stories, in a hilarious matter-of-fact-way.
You’ll never be able to read Snow White the same way again.
And this one about Sleeping Beauty is on point!
Don’t miss the one on The Little Mermaid.
Keep up with the rest of the episodes right here.
Also read: Does feminism need better PR?
