Archive for December, 2003
Fairy Tales May Cause Low Self-Esteem
A study by U.S. social scientists published in the journal Gender and Society indicates that traditional fairy tales could cause low self esteem in children.
Classic stories, which have been passed down the generations contain so many stereotypes they could be just as harmful as the sexual images paraded in pop videos, it was suggested.
�There is a lot of association between beauty and goodness and then conversely between ugliness and evil and laziness,� said study co-author Liz Grauerholz.
…One in five of the stories linked being ugly with being evil and in many stories ugly characters were punished as part of the plot.
Among the offending stories: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel.
If you know me or are familiar with razzberry, you know that I passionately agree with this research. In fact, the very first razzberry topic back in May 1997 was about this very topic.