Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (1988) by James Finn Garner

Author:James Finn Garner [Garner, James Finn]
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-12-19T00:41:47.718000+00:00

SNOW WHITE

Once there was a youn g princess who was not at al l unpleasant to look at an d had a temperament tha t many found to be mor e pleasant than most othe r people's. Her nickname wa s Snow White, indicative o f the discriminatory notion s of associating pleasant o r attractive qualities with light, and unpleasant o r unattractive qualities with darkness. Thus. at an earl y age, Snow White was an unwitting if fortunate targe t for this type of colorist thinking.

When Snow White wa s quite young, her mothe r was suddenly stricken ill, grew more advanced i n non -health, and finally was rendered nonviable. He r father, the king, grieved for what can be considered a healthy period of time, then asked another wommo n to be his queen. Snow White did her best to pleas e her new mother-of-step, but a cold distanc e remained between them.

The queen's prized possession was a magic mirro r that would answer truthfully any question asked it.

Now, years of social conditioning in a male hierarchical dictatorship had left the queen very insecur e about her own self-worth. Physical beauty was th e one standard she cared about now, and she define d herself solely in regard to her personal appearance.

So every morning the queen would ask her mirror: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, "Who's the fairest one of all?"

Her mirror would answer:

"For all it's worth, 0 my queen, "Your beauty is the fairest to be seen."

That dialogue went on regularly until once whe n the queen was having a bad hair day and was desperately in need of support, she asked the usual question and the mirror answered: "Alas, if worth be based on beauty , "Snow White has surpassed you, cutie."

At this the queen Hew into a rage. The chance t o work with Snow White to form a strong bond of sisterhood had long passed. Instead, the quee n indulged in an adopted masculine power trip an d ordered the royal woodsperson to take Snow Whit e into the forest and kill her. And, possibly to impres s the males in the royal court, she barbarously ordere d that the girl's heart be cut out and brought back t o her.

The woodsperson sadly agreed to these orders , and led the girl, who was now actually a youn g wommon, into the middle of the forest. But his connections to the earth and seasons had made him a kind soul, and he couldn't bear to harm the girl. He told Snow White of the oppressive and unsisterl y order of the queen and told her to run as deeply a s she could into the forest.

The frightened Snow White did as she was told.

The woodsperson, fearing the queen's wrath bu t unwilling to take another life merely to indulge he r vanity, went into town and had the candy make r concoct a heart of red marzipan. When he presente d this to the queen, she hungrily devoured the heart i n a sickening display of pseudo-cannibalism.

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