Once upon a time...
“Once upon a time…” Chances are you have heard this familiar phrase before. Almost everyone grew up hearing stories that began with those magical words and knew they were about to be taken on an adventure to the Enchanted Forest. But these wonderful stories we grew up with had an even deeper meaning many people are unaware of. These stories endorse the image of what popular culture and politics want us, the general public, to look like, by controlling our fear of food.
The best example I can come up with is the Grimm’s story of Hansel and Gretel. This story involved two small children going deep into the woods and finding a Witch’s house made from gingerbread and candy. They both proceed to devour the house relentlessly until they are discovered by the Witch. She then invites them in and proceeds to feed them. In more modern versions of Grimm’s tale, she feeds the children until they are nice and plump so that she may eat them, but before she can the Woodcutter bursts in and heroically saves the fat children. In the original, the children discover her plan and Gretel proceeds to push the Witch into her oven. Each version of the story has these underlying that messages that raises the question of if we should really be telling our kids these stories.
To begin, the different versions of the story differ in the messages they portray. For the purpose of relevancy, I will first discuss the modern version as it is more common in today’s culture. There are a few issues in Hansel and Gretel that could lead to poor behavior. The first is the children’s diet. They believe it is okay to run up and start gorging themselves on the sweet treats the Witch’s house is made of. The Witch’s reaction to this is not of anger but of encouragement. She wants them to eat the unhealthy snacks and then she takes them inside and feeds them even more! Before they find out the Witch’s plan, all the story does is encourage young children to eat sweets and be unhealthy eaters. Then after they discover the Witch’s plan, a new message is delivered. That message is to fear food. This is one of the most culturally and politically relevant statements today, an era where obesity is an epidemic. This modern telling of classic is being used to promote a better body image and what better time is there to inscribe a message into a person than when they are a child and their minds are still malleable.
A question of ethics arises when these themes are presented unto children. While yes, a fear of food can be good in fighting obesity, you do not want to scare them to be malnourished. We, the population, seem to forget that eating disorders do go both ways. There is such thing as, "too skinny." While promoting healthy body image through stories is an effective way of teaching children at a young age, it seems over done. We have to remember everything in moderation. If these two versions of the fairytale were combined, I believe we would see a better message. Don't have the children get bloated fat, just have them eat the sweets and feel the repercussions. Maybe it makes them lethargic so they can't easily escape the Witch. This will not promote the idea of over indulgence, but it also won't scare them away from food. Today's society shouldn't be using fear tactics to keep children healthy.
"Once upon a time" should be the start of a story that teaches good morals without inducing fear. We need to keep these stories changing to fit our ever changing culture and do so in an ethical manner. Be brave and read!
The best example I can come up with is the Grimm’s story of Hansel and Gretel. This story involved two small children going deep into the woods and finding a Witch’s house made from gingerbread and candy. They both proceed to devour the house relentlessly until they are discovered by the Witch. She then invites them in and proceeds to feed them. In more modern versions of Grimm’s tale, she feeds the children until they are nice and plump so that she may eat them, but before she can the Woodcutter bursts in and heroically saves the fat children. In the original, the children discover her plan and Gretel proceeds to push the Witch into her oven. Each version of the story has these underlying that messages that raises the question of if we should really be telling our kids these stories.
To begin, the different versions of the story differ in the messages they portray. For the purpose of relevancy, I will first discuss the modern version as it is more common in today’s culture. There are a few issues in Hansel and Gretel that could lead to poor behavior. The first is the children’s diet. They believe it is okay to run up and start gorging themselves on the sweet treats the Witch’s house is made of. The Witch’s reaction to this is not of anger but of encouragement. She wants them to eat the unhealthy snacks and then she takes them inside and feeds them even more! Before they find out the Witch’s plan, all the story does is encourage young children to eat sweets and be unhealthy eaters. Then after they discover the Witch’s plan, a new message is delivered. That message is to fear food. This is one of the most culturally and politically relevant statements today, an era where obesity is an epidemic. This modern telling of classic is being used to promote a better body image and what better time is there to inscribe a message into a person than when they are a child and their minds are still malleable.
A question of ethics arises when these themes are presented unto children. While yes, a fear of food can be good in fighting obesity, you do not want to scare them to be malnourished. We, the population, seem to forget that eating disorders do go both ways. There is such thing as, "too skinny." While promoting healthy body image through stories is an effective way of teaching children at a young age, it seems over done. We have to remember everything in moderation. If these two versions of the fairytale were combined, I believe we would see a better message. Don't have the children get bloated fat, just have them eat the sweets and feel the repercussions. Maybe it makes them lethargic so they can't easily escape the Witch. This will not promote the idea of over indulgence, but it also won't scare them away from food. Today's society shouldn't be using fear tactics to keep children healthy.
"Once upon a time" should be the start of a story that teaches good morals without inducing fear. We need to keep these stories changing to fit our ever changing culture and do so in an ethical manner. Be brave and read!