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Snow White and the Seven Little People
By AprillBrandon in Pop Goes the Culture
January 13, 2009

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Once upon a time there was a maiden who was the fairest of them all in the entire democracy. Although she was beautiful, the maiden used her intelligence and common sense to get ahead in life.

And although a handsome prince was pursuing her, the maiden knew she didn't need a man to make her life complete. And so she went to college, got a good job, made some friends with seven little people and eventually went to therapy to deal with the issues she sustained from having a highly dysfunctional step-mom.

And she lived happily ever after.

Well, in PC-overdrive news, that's how a lot of parents, at least in the U.K., would have their fairy tales read. According to this article in The New York Times, traditional fairy tales are not politically correct and are too scary for today's children, at least in the eyes of British mums.

Out of 3,000 British parents polled, 50 percent said they'd wait until their children were older (at least 5) before reading them fairy tales and about 20 percent rejected them completely, saying they were out-of-date and would give children nightmares.

Oh, where to start with this one? While I'll agree that fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White don't portray women in a great light, at least in today's culture, I still have to go with my gut on this one and say give me a break.

I grew up on fairy tales and I'm not sitting around waiting on my Prince to come save me. Nor was I scarred for life by Hans Christian Anderson when my mom read me these stories at night when I was 3.

Not to mention, the article makes a good point by stating that the fairy tales we know are actually already watered down versions of the original stories. Who knew that in the original Cinderella, the step sisters actually cut off part of their feet to fit into the glass slipper and eventually had their eyeballs pecked out by pigeons.

And you want to tell me the Disney version is scary?

Me thinks these parents need to chill a bit. There is a reason fairy tales are classics and children love them. Just let them be kids and enjoy it. Not to mention, if we let this PC runaway train go on for too long, pretty soon Romeo & Juliet will be banned because it endorses suicide and teen sex.