Once upon a time there was a girl who was lost in the dark. For a long time she didn’t know that she was lost. Or even that it was dark. The darkness was the air she breathed and she thought that was enough. There were things in the darkness — normal things. Trees and … Continue reading The Girl Who Was Lost in the Dark (A Modern Fairy Tale)
I’ve written a book! Saving Cinderella: What Feminists Get Wrong About Disney Princesses and How to Set it Right See what readers are saying! “Thanks almost exclusively to ‘Saving Cinderella,’ girls of all ages can enjoy their wonderful princess idols with pride and joy” “This breakthrough triumphant gem of a book is completely and delightfully … Continue reading Buy my book!
Once upon a time there was a girl who didn’t exist. She lived in a room that wasn’t there, surrounded by things that never were. A doll with blonde ringlets that could say the word “mama.” A rocking horse with a unicorn horn. A lovingly knitted pink blanket trimmed with lace. A book of fairy … Continue reading The Girl Who Wasn’t There (A Modern Fairy Tale)
THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR NETFLIX’S THE WITCHER On the one hand, Netflix’s The Witcher looks like a feminist dream come true. It’s wide array of “powerful” women — a queen leading her troops into battle, sorceresses guiding the fate of history, a young girl fighting back against men who want to harm her — … Continue reading ‘The Witcher’ (Surprisingly) Has A Lot To Say About Reality
THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FROZEN AND FROZEN 2 Despite all my best intentions, I didn’t make it to see Frozen II until today. I’d meant to see it immediately upon its release so that I could rant, in a timely manner, about a movie I was sure I’d hate. But illness and a (planned) … Continue reading Frozen 2 (Unintentionally?) Reverses Its Original Message, And It’s Glorious
This is an original ghost story written by me. Scroll down to hear me read the story aloud. Happy Halloween! The maiden lies on the mountaintop, entombed in glass and gathering dust. Her snow-white skin and blood red lips, her hair as black as ebony wood, belie how long she’s slept. Something has gone wrong. … Continue reading Snow White’s Kiss: A Haunted Fairy Tale
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen The Phantom of The Opera. I’m talking about the stage version, mind you, not the 2004 movie version in which you basically had to squint in order to discern the Phantom’s facial deformity thereby negating the entire point of the story. (Sorry, but that really wasn’t … Continue reading What The Phantom Learns — And Can Teach Us Too — About Love vs. Lust
This week I’m debuting a new series called “Princess Origin Stories.” These special episodes will delve into the fairy tales behind the Disney princess movies and examine how and why they differ. I’ll explore the symbolism of the original fairy tales and talk about how it affects — or doesn’t affect — the movies we … Continue reading Introducing “Princess Origin Stories” A Special Episode Of Princess State Of Mind
It’s hard to explain why I love Downton Abbey so much. Objectively, I see that the show was basically a glorified soap opera and that, by the third season or so, it wasn’t even a good one. I see how ridiculous some of the plot lines were and how blatantly anachronistic some of the attitudes … Continue reading Why We Love Downton Abbey — And What That Says About The Culture
Don’t go into the woods. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t eat things if you don’t know where they came from. Don’t touch sharp objects. Don’t get lost. Don’t leave the path. Don’t trust people you don’t know. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. If you didn’t know better, it would be easy to read fairy tales as a … Continue reading What Fairy Tales Teach Us About Growing Up And Letting Go
