The classic tales have been part of the culture since ancient times, being transmitted from generation to generation. Let’s imagine for a moment that those same stories had bequeathed other types of messages to our sons and daughters or, better yet, that the protagonists, generally princesses , had been able to unfold from their role in fiction, as if they were actresses, warning that only That was what it was all about, pure and sometimes shocking fiction.
But the truth is that this is not the case, and many of the messages that traditional stories have left as testimony to the time in which they were written, offer little or nothing positive to our society today, as they highlight such themes. complexes such as child marriage, the role of women as a bargaining chip in commercial exchanges and political agreements through marriage, or that the happiness of life and the ultimate goal of it is to find love and promise faithfully in marriage .
Our role as parents and educators
For all this, in the Forest of Fantasies we have wanted to dream beautifully and we have started to imagine how it would be if the princesses, protagonists of some of the favorite stories of literature and children’s animation, could communicate today with all children and, especially , with the girls of the world. What would be the phrases you would like to say to them so that, when dreaming about their stories, they will remember what is the main message that they send them from fiction. Messages spoken with the head and the heart so that the word princess is filled with goodness, wisdom and real and true benefit, and not with fables and banal and merely corny illusions.
And it is that, if something has transmitted children’s literature with the passage of time, it is that keeping the illusion and hope alive is something very important, which also means that things can change if we want them to change.
We cannot forget either that idols, referred here to some of the most prominent classic characters, such as Beauty or Cinderella , have an important role in the development of childhood, marking dreams, illusions, or aesthetic and behavioral patterns. that today it would be good to rethink.
A project against gender inequality
Obviously the classic stories will always remain as they are, despite the fact that new versions or new stories are written with completely different approaches and giving priority to stronger and more determined female protagonists; but it is still beautiful that we think and imagine around what these princesses could be wanting to shout from the rooftops. And that, precisely, is what we wanted to show in this simple project with ideal educational cards to download , print and apply in the classroom or enjoy in free time: words of the princesses of all time, for today’s boys and girls.
A project that from here we invite you to share, so that the idea spreads everywhere, with the aim that being a princess, in the future, is something so powerful … as positive and real.
By Almudena Orellana
Co-founder of Bosque de Fantasías
I think it is very positive to include messages for girls and boys but it could be more extensive in terms of characters. Currently there is a great variety of them; could include: Jazmin (who wanted to travel), Tiana (very hardworking), Mulan (nationalist), Pocahontas (respectful of nature) and Merida (who learned to communicate with her family) for example.