**TL;DR - Fairy tales affect young minds in a negative way because they are promote unhealthy relationship expectations, especially when it comes to the role of women**. While it is undeniable that fairy tales help boost creativity and imagination in children, they are also dangerous when it comes to the beliefs they unconsciously help build, such as marriage as an endgame. We always associate fairy tale endings with the happily-ever-after, but what traditional fairy tale actually tells the story of what happens after the young prince marries the female protagonist? Indeed, fairy tales convey unrealistic relationship expectations. As Vanessa Loder says, 'If everyone is living happily once they find their prince, what does that tell young women about how their relationships "should" be?'. These are concerns that make fairy tales as they are problematic. For women in the fairy tales, 'marriage is the ultimate reward', as Olivia Petter rightly observes. Snow White and Cinderella are only two examples of women who married their prince. Fairy tales are also problematic when it comes to representing the role of women. Lauren Suval argues that fairy tales construct the “woman-needing-to-be-saved” fantasy, which of course ties with the marriage as a woman's goal. In fairy tales, we find a certain pattern of representing womanhood that focuses on the woman's relationship to the prince rather than her own self. Even Mulan, who unconventionally assumed a man's identity to go to war in the place of her father, gets married by the end of the narrative. This calls for a need to rewrite many of the fairy tale narratives to make them more positively impactful for young minds. Works Cited Loder, Vanessa, 'Why Fairy Tales Are Bad For Our Kids' (2015) <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-fairy-tales-are-bad-for-our-kids_b_6736634> [accessed 2 March 2021]. Petter, Olivia, 'Five Reasons to Stop Reading your Children Fairy Tales Now' (2018) <https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/fairy-tales-children-stop-reading-parents-body-image-gender-roles-women-girls-sexism-a8067641.html> [accessed 2 March 2021]. Suval, Lauren, 'Pros and Cons of Exposing Kids to Fairytales' (2014) <https://psychcentral.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-exposing-kids-to-fairytales#1> [accessed 2 March 2021].

The popularity of fairy tales has drawn concern from adults who worry they have a negative affect on children. Most of them end with evil triumphing over good, when the real world is much more grayer than that, and they feature blossoming romance between a pretty young woman and a big strong man that solves all her problems, and that the original texts feature violence, such as Cinderella forcing her stepsisters to cut off parts of their feet to wear ugly shoes, are too gruesome. Storytelling does not capture the realities and complexities of real life completely because storytelling is inherently fiction, meaning the worlds set within fairy tales are created by an individual. We should not expect fairy tales to be anymore realistic than, say, a Star Wars movie because they are meant to be portrayals of everyday life. Leilani VisikoKnox-Johnson, writing for the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, pushed the notion of telling fairy tales to children because they "provide a great way of accessing children's imagination by exploring memories of fairy tales and using them to address painful or unsettling issues in a nonthreatening, playful manner". VisikoKnox-Johnson refuted the notion that a fairy tales should be blamed if, say, Cinderella inadvertently promotes the notion that stepfamilies are inherently evil. Notions like this can be easily combated if parents talk to their children about their readings. Yes, children are susceptible. But the benefits outweigh the negatives. VisikoKnox-Johnson points to a study in which an eating-disordered client loved Cinderella because she overcame her social status. The example immediately segues into a quick discussion about how the animals and the forest in Cinderella are meant to be a metaphor for following one's inner drive when logic fails. VisikoKnox-Johnson posits that "the client was possibly projecting her own need to be supported and rescued through identification with Cinderella". Stories are meant to be a product of historical time periods, particularly their struggles. Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale, Inc, writing for the Huffington Post, writes that bad parenting in Cinderella is meant to highlight the history of parents neglecting their children's health and wellbeing. Earlier, I argued in favor of preserving jobs of media critics in the media world because stories, and talking about stories, help us understand ourselves and each other. Fairy tales are a basic start to how a story works. They are not accurate portrayals of how the real world works, but then again storytelling was never meant to. Fairy tales are meant to offer children a way to handle conflicts, and other events life throws at us. So, yes, I argue we should tell our children fairy tales, and talk to them about it if they have any concerns. Storytelling is universal, and fairy tales are a great start. CITATIONS: Rodale, Maria. “In Defense of Fairy Tales.” HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/in-defense-of-fairy-tales_b_6939288. VisikoKnox-Johnson, Leilani. “The Positive Impacts of Fairy Tales for Children.” Hilo.Hawaii, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, 2016, hilo.hawaii.edu/campuscenter/hohonu/volumes/documents/ThePositiveImpactsofFairyTalesforChildrenLeilaniVisikoKnox-Johnson.pdf.

**TL;DR – Fairy tales have always been an integrated part of children's lives. They represent important ways of helping children express their agonies, and share their inner conflicts and desires. What's more, fairy tales and the storytelling thereof plays a crucial role in the normal development of children's lives. Overall, fairy tales have a more positive affect on young minds.** While there are some people, including parents who don’t believe in the importance of fairy tales, research shows that it does in fact bring significant positive results to the development of a young mind. Katherine Wilde (2018) confirms this in her article *What we can all learn from reading fairy tales.* In it she provides us with evidence by psychologist Sally Goddard Blythe, director of The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology and author of The Genius of Natural Childhood: Secrets of Thriving Children. According to Blythe, fairy tales still have a lot to teach children about life, and definitely provides key imaginary experiences that shape us throughout our lives. Additionally, she goes on to say that “Fairy tales are important not because they show children how life is, but because they give form to deep fears and dreams about life through fantasy.” Elaborating on this further, Blythe also points out to us that it’s important for us to recognize that, “…children take on these stories at the developmental level they are capable of. In fairy tales, it’s always clear that this isn’t the real world. The characters might be unfamiliar to the child but the problems and the feelings that are dealt with are themselves often very true to life. Fairy tales give children a way, through stories that are safely set apart from themselves, to understand some of the really confusing and difficult feelings that they can’t yet articulate for themselves.” From here then, we can see that fairy tales are essential stories for childhood and are about more than just happily ever after. They bring about many benefits such as portraying real moral lessons, enhancing creativity and reasoning skills to mention just a few. Moreover, fairy tales are fun. Especially when used as an instructive tool and not mainly for marketing purposes. The bottom line, fairy tales are a compass for children’s healthy development. They bring children to a fantasy land but as they grow, the moral truths of these stories remain in their hearts and minds. What we can all learn from reading fairy tales https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/family-time/benefits-of-reading-fairy-tales/ [accessed March 4, 2021].

**TL;DR: Fairy tales have artistic value that young children can benefit from.** While I agree that fairy tales often do present a very restrictive position for girls, often as the “damsel in distress”, for me, fairy tales also include Disney Pixar’s Tangled, and Frozen, which follow a story of both strong male and female characters, and both save the day together. I strongly believe fairy tales help children learn how to use their imagination and escape a reality that may be very difficult, in some children’s cases. Also, I think that the description of costumes and the colourful pages that often accompany the story in children’s fairy tales expose young kids to different ideas and forms of art that could inspire them, and ignite a potential flair for design or illustration through these beautiful books. Many older fairy tales are rereleased with new illustrations in books every year, and these stories continue to inspire new works of art such as paintings and films, taking new and intriguing perspectives on the messages within them. I think young children benefit from some older fairy tales as some are so well-known they are a large part of human’s cultural history. Due to the fame some stories such as Hansel and Gretel account for, and that they have been around for so long, there is a huge bank of diversely stylised art, theatre and film, that children would miss out on as an explorative gateway for imagination and inspiration if they were not exposed to these stories. Therefore, due to the huge artistic platform provided by these imaginative tales, I do not think the potential negative affect of fairy tales outweighs the positive influence they could have on young children. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-the-magic-of-fairy-tales-in-art https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/07/20/best-brothers-grimm-illustrations/

**TLDR - Whilst fairy tales do often deal with unrealistic ideas of relationships, I think most people who grew up with them acknowledge them as just fairy tales, to the point where the term 'fairy tale' refers to something unrealistic and imaginary** The thing about fairy tales is that they are subject to growth and change as time moves on. Our vision of fairy tales as being the stories told in Disney movies is inaccurate, as these stories are much much older and have been through many changes over the centuries. The morals of Little Red Riding Hood have been through many revisions over the years. Sexual readings of earlier versions could see the text as a warning against sexual predators, as there are certain connotations of sexual violence. However, [later versions added the woodsman saving Little Red Riding Hood] (https://fairytalescriticaleditionlu.weebly.com/the-evolution-of-fairy-tales-and-how-they-will-last.html#:~:text=The%20more%20a%20single%20story,were%20because%20of%20oral%20tradition.), suggesting that a lack of trust should not be blanketed over every stranger. Of course, in today's climate, this tale certainly has negative connotations, but there is absolutely no reason why a new retelling of the story can be made. Fairy Tales deal with the magical and improbable. The very beginning 'Once upon a time' is an immediate marker that the story contained is an improbable one of fiction and imagination. There is no reason why this well known verbage would have its meaning dramatically shift in the cultural consciousness, and people would begin to strive to achieve the things contained within the tales. However, I do think there is certainly something to be said about gender roles in fairy tales. Their settings of a fantastical medieval period mean that the women are often princesses waiting for their prince, or some variation of those gender roles. But as I previously mentioned, I don't think there is anything stopping new retellings of these tales with the gender roles stripped out. Disney has certainly made great attempts recently to make strong female characters that anyone, male or female, can look up to, even if it has tended to stick within the archetypes of princess and prince.

**tl'dr Fairy tales allow children to be children. They allow children to have hope for a wonderful future. Fairy tales have the power to let children dream their very own dream. Robbing them of these precious pleasures would be robbing them of their childlike wonder.** Fairy tales are beacons of hope. They are stories that describe a utopian world where endings are happy. These fairy tales transport you to a land of optimism. Children read fairy tales to help their imaginative minds imagine a much different world. Classics such as Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and Pride and Prejudice are stories just like fairy tales. They are stories of fantasy. Fairy tales just give you a guaranteed happy ending. There is nothing wrong with that. If fairy tales are bad, then so is every rom-com that comes out - even brilliant movies such as Notting Hill. There is nothing wrong with escapism, especially for children. Children have a rare privilege. They do not have to worry about grades, relationships, or any other adulting things. They can revel in these magical worlds. Most people believe fairy tales are negative because of gender and societal stereotypes. There is an easy fix - remove the stereotypes or change them. Talk to children about these stereotypes at their level. They can enjoy the magic and also know not all witches are ugly, and not all boys are Prince Charming. When Sleeping Beauty is read in a way that entrances the children and makes their minds travel to a faraway land, it reminds them about asking people if it's okay to kiss them. Remind them that kissing people when they are asleep is not okay. Fairy tales have the power to let children be children. To let them live in fairy tales, to believe they are princes and princesses. Fairy tales allow children to believe they can be whoever they are. Fairy tales allow children to hold on to those beliefs even when they are older. Fairy tales do not teach children life always has a happy ending. It teaches hope, little pleasures, and the idea of not giving up. Most fairy tales also have "the moral of the story" situations. Fairy tales are the gateways to every child's imagination.