Expert says Children should be read gender-equal books instead of fairy tales of knights and princesses.
A mum has called for Sleeping Beauty to be banned because it sends the wrong message to children.
A few months ago, we shared that Mum-of-two, Sarah Hall, said she was disturbed by the “non-consensual” kissing in the classic fairytale, saying the subtle message could undermine conversations about consent. Read an update below on another reason why we need to ban fairytales.
The mum said: “I think it’s a specific issue in the Sleeping Beauty story about sexual behaviour and consent.
Sarah said she might not have given the story a second thought, but recent coverage of sexual abuse and consent, including the social media ‘Me Too’ campaign, made her think about the subtle messages which, say says, help create a culture where consent isn’t seen as important.
She added: “These are indicative of how ingrained that kind of behaviour is in society.”
“All these small things build up, and they make a difference.”
Tell you what, while we are still seeing narratives like this in school, we are never going to change ingrained attitudes to sexual behaviour #MeToo #consent #mysonissix pic.twitter.com/3g4gyjifi9
— Sarah Hall (@Hallmeister)
Further calls to ban fairy tales
A former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who believes exposing children to gender-neutrality at preschool could help solve issues of pay disparity and violence towards women later in life, shared Daily Mail.
‘A lot of what our children see and are taught is subconscious gender stereotyping and what we have to do is really shift that, and we won’t shift that until the social norms change,’ she told The Sunday Telegraph.
Sam Page, CEO of Early Children Australia, applauded Ms Broderick’s call to introduce children to gender-equal ideas through books at school and wants parents to get board too.
‘We’ve had examples where parents and dads have been really upset when boys dress up in dresses or traditional girls clothing as part of their normal play.
‘While I don’t think we should get rid of fairy tales altogether, we do need to contextualise and balance them with contemporary stories as well,’ she said.
Of course, critics have slammed Ms Broderick saying it is ‘political correctness gone mad’.
Do you think she makes a fair point?
Share your comments below.
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