A Voice for the Little Boy

“If you see us all the same, then you can’t tell what makes you unique either.” — Ruth Caraballo 

“Censored” by Khadija Qanoongo claims that —from a female’s perspective — fairytales force the reader to accept certain roles. Like females are meant to be pretty vases and males are supposed to be princes in shining armor and I disagree with both remarks. As far as I know, fairytales don’t have hands, therefore they can’t hold knives against your neck and force you to want to be pretty or to be a gentleman. Beauty can be interpreted in many ways, you just have to look deeper than the surface. 

I think that the author had a biased approach when defending her argument of “fairytales stereotyping beauty standards” and there are various reasons as to why I disagree with the author’s claim.

First of all, the conception that beauty is defined by the color of your skin is not supported by all fairytales. Mrs. Qanoongo states that “Snow White’s reason for beauty is because she is considered to be the fairest of them all,” which is erroneous because there are female characters in fairy tales that have darker skin color; such as Pocahontas and Tiana (from “The Princess and the Frog”). Before you say that those aren’t fairytales… educate yourself: A fairytale is a fairytale because there’s magic and imaginary lands. Both characters are considered to be beautiful precisely because of how they look; Native American and African American. So? Don’t come here hating on white skin just because you don’t like the cinnamon color of yours. 

And just so you know, beauty lies inside. That’s what these fairytales have been trying to tell you all along. Snow White is beautiful, not because of the color of her skin or the glossy red lips, it’s because she’s innocent. She’s a child. And children deserve to be complimented as lovely. By the way, the word children includes boys and girls… BOYS AND GIRLS. We often see in stories that there are princes ready to save the damsel in distress, that’s true. However, what’s that supposed to mean for the public in general? For little boys? 

       The author of “Censored” argued that “women in fairytales are portrayed as dainty and submissive” because the princes are “swooping to save women who are in constant need of saving”. Allow me to rephrase that differently — person A saves person B, and therefore person B is useless. That’s what the author is implying. Throughout the years, women have demonstrated in a modernized way what they are capable of doing. Keyword being modern. Most, if not all, fairytales are set to be in the past, when technology was non-existent and reaching out to other communities was hard. Yet, they found a way to represent the stronghold of women in fairytales. Ariel, Jasmine, and Merida are all examples of women being represented by noble status; they’re royalty. 

          A prince saving a princess doesn’t have to be more than kind actions taught to little boys from an early age to respect and aid women always. That’s one of the truths behind fairytales that the author was too biased to see because she forgot that those handsome princes’ actions are the takeaway for young boys. The story of Beauty and the Beast depicts a lonely individual who hates his appearance until a girl falls in love with what’s inside of him. That’s a girl saving a ‘prince’ and not vice-versa. 

             In addition, I found the author contradicting herself. How can she say that princesses are diminished because they’re saved by men all the time, and then argue that “women are expected to turn into fucking rehabilitation centers” [for men]? Women can’t be helped by men; that makes them weak. Women can’t help men; that makes them weak. STOP TRYING TO TELL WOMEN HOW THEY SHOULD BEHAVE. Growing up means that you’re mature enough to ask for help and give help. 

           Let’s talk about death. Now, I’m not trying to kill anybody, I promise. I’m tempted though because Mrs. Qanoongo’s exploratory paper is turning every one of my brain cells back and forth. On the second page, first paragraph of “Censored”, the author affirms that in Snow White, Prince Ferdinand kissed the main character “not because of her personality” but because “it was love at first sight”. If it was love at first sight, then why did Mrs. Qanoongo asked the rhetorical question “Why must the princesses have near death or traumatizing experiences to fall in love?” in the last page, paragraph one? It’s either they fell in love at first sight. OR, they went through shit together and got to know each other, then fell in love— if that’s what she meant by traumatizing experience. Also, she argued that fairytales are a product of “sexist ideologies written by straight, cisgender, white men” which is wrong. Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve is the women who initially wrote La Belle et la Bête. Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force set the base for Rapunzel. Two great women who came up with world famous stories known throughout centuries. 

        In conclusion, there are many contradictions in “Censored” by Khadijah Qanoongo. She used an imprecise concept of beauty and how it is represented by fairytales, raised feminist arguments against men and the way little boys’ good behaviors are guided by fairytales, and finally contradicted her argument about love at first sight. Therefore, in my opinion fairytales don’t force the reader to be a certain way because the author couldn’t provide enough evidence to support this statement. Next time you plan on hating men, have in mind that they’re not all the same. Some of them were raised to be princes, just like some of us were raised to act dignified like princesses. 

Reference 

Qanoongo, Khadija. “Censored”. 10th May 2023. The City College of New York. ENGL 21001.