As a lifelong Cinderella fan, I have always encountered those who want to tell me how degrading, anti-female, and disempowering fairytales are. With good intentions (most of the time) they want me to see how foolish I am for loving a story that I was introduced to as a toddler. When I was a child, I always answered the classic “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question with a single answer, “Cinderella.”
Of course, as a clueless little girl, this was seen as adorable. As an adult, it is seen as delusional, and maybe cause for getting into therapy.
In my 20’s, I created a course around the Ten Things We Can Learn from the Cinderella Story. I know it is probably offensive to some people now, but I named it “Cinderella Was No Bimbo” and I’m sticking with that name.
The Queen of the B Moms site is a place for women to grow and develop into everything they were meant to be. It is a place for women to support and encourage other women and gain support and encouragement for themselves. We will be interviewing women of many walks of life, especially those who have balanced or are still balancing the tightrope of life, business, and motherhood. These women have all had some struggles along the way, and they will share how they have turned these struggles into successes in the Queen of the B Moms Blog.
To start the series of stories that will be part of the Queen of the B Moms Blog, I am starting with the Ten Things We Can Learn from the Cinderella Story.
Can we actually learn things from a Children’s Fairytale? I believe we can.
Take a look at the characters and see how they matchup with modern life.
Cinderella- She’s a hard-working young woman who does what she’s supposed to do to get ahead. She follows the rules and conventions for a woman of her time. She dreams of great things if she were in a different situation. But like many women today, she believes that those dreams are destined to remain unreachable.
Cinderella’s Corner – This is her comfort zone. As long as she hides in her corner, she’s o.k. She doesn’t get hurt, but she doesn’t achieve greatness either.
Evil Step-sisters – These are the cranky people we meet everyday. People who are so dissatisfied with their own lives that their only joy is in putting others down. After all, if they can make someone more miserable than themselves, they feel better about their unfulfilled lives. Their power over Cinderella, is that she lacks the self-confidence to get past these negative influences to see her own real strengths. She’s much too quick to believe the bad things they say. She doesn’t see the weakness and insecurity displayed by their evil behaviors.
Evil Step-mother – Like so many nay-sayers in the world, she has a powerful hold over Cinderella. She’s the ultimate dream stealer who will cut down any idea Cinderella has of bettering herself and her situation.
Cinderella’s Father – He is an ineffectual man who has no influence with people of stronger personalities. Out of love for his daughter, he encourages her not to step out of her comfort zone. Not that he doesn’t truly want the best for his daughter. He just doesn’t want her to be hurt. He, like so many well-meaning people in our lives, believes that the pain of accepting our lot in life is less painful than the potential fall if we reach for more and don’t quite make it.
The Towns People – These are the hoards of people who live their lives day in and day out without thinking of how to improve the quality of their lives. They are happy just to exist. They believe they are not meant to have more, so they don’t even bother trying. Complaining about how bad things are takes no challenge. It is the easy way out for the majority.
The Fairy Godmother – She is Cinderella’s mentor. She sees that Cinderella has an innate Princess-ness within her that needs to be brought out for Cinderella to achieve her dream.
The Prince – As I said before, the Prince is not the End. He is the means by which Cinderella can get to her dream. He is the vehicle that has the potential to bring Cinderella the life she wants. Just like Mr. Right is a part of a happy and fulfilling life, he is NOT life itself and can’t make all of our troubles go away just by being in our lives.
The King and Queen – When you find Mr. Right, he comes with baggage. We have to look at all aspects of the person including his family and background. Yes, your relationship is with the man, but he has been influenced all his life by what has happened in his family. Don’t be fooled that he’ll automatically throw off everything that came before you. Remember, Prince Charming’s family loves him and wants to find him the perfect Mrs. Right. If they were interviewing potential brides for the Prince, would they choose Cinderella?
The Castle – This is the goal. To have the life you’ve dreamed of. To have the home and possessions you know you deserve. To have the loving and fulfilling relationship you desire.
So let’s learn the true meaning behind Cinderella’s story with 10 Things We Can Learn from the Cinderella Story.