muffy@remarque.berkeley.edu (Muffy Barkocy) (05/01/91)
Title: Don't Bet on the Prince Editor: Jack Zipes This is a book of "feminist fairy tales." I've always been a big fan of fairy tales, and I never really saw them as sexist. Even after reading this book, I'm not sure that I do. I went back and re-read several books of fairy tales, and I think that they, like people, vary widely. However, this book also points out biases towards money, beauty, marriage, etc., and those are certainly visible in the other books of fairy tales. Unfortunately, there seems to be a consistent bias in this book, with the men frequently being portrayed as evil, stupid, vain, etc. It's not unrealistic in the portrayals, but it could have been more balanced. The stories are very enjoyable, though. The book consists of a fairly long introduction, sixteen fairy tales, by various authors, and four "feminist literary criticism" essays. The introduction is well worth reading, particularly for the references to other books, several of which are on my list for my next trip to a good bookstore. The fairy tales vary quite a bit. They're by many different authors; most of them female. Some that I recognize (mostly from SF/Fantasy) are Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, Joanna Russ, and Margaret Atwood. Some of the stories are not what I think of as fairy tales, but I don't know what an exact definition of a fairy tale would be. A non-exact definition is a story which involves magic or monsters, mostly humanoid, such as ogres, giants, elves, fairies, witches, etc. One of the stories in particular, Margaret Atwood's "Bluebeard's Egg" is a story which contains a reference to fairy tales rather than a fairy tale itself. However, this is one of the best (and longest) stories in the book; the characters are drawn very well and I was drawn along by the story; I wanted to keep reading it. One of the other very good stories was also "not a fairy tale." "The Green Woman" by Meghan B. Collins. Again, though, it was well-written and kept my attention. The only story I really didn't like much was "A Fairy Tale for Our Time" by the editor of the book, Jack Zipes. In it, the "message" seemed much more important (to the author) than the story. If anything, this book points out that the messages in fairy tales are fairly subtle, concealed in the story, and in the impact of a series of similarly-biased stories. Anyway, I just don't like stories that try to force their ideas and messages down my throat (or whatever the equivalent is in my brain...*smile*). I suppose the other main deviation from my idea of a "fairy tale" is the rather dark aspect of many of the stories. They are, perhaps, more "realistic" than the standard fairy tales provided for children; I only remember a few fairy tales that seemed particularly dark to me. Actually, on considering it, I'm really thinking of the western European fairy tales as being less dark, but the fairy tales in this book are also from North America and England. The essays were all very interesting. I didn't always agree with the writers, but their ideas were presented very clearly, and not angrily or vehemently, which I would find hard to read and take seriously. Particularly interesting was an analysis, by the editor of the book, of the pictures used to illustrate Little Red Riding Hood over the years. I am not sure whether or not I agree with it (I think I don't), even after reading it several times, but it certainly caused me to think. Reading this book was worthwhile and has encouraged me to read and learn more about fairy tales, particularly the new ones that are being written by people who find the old ones unsatisfactory. I would like to find more stories that strike me as unbiased, both for myself and for reading by my children, if I ever have any. Muffy