One would have thought that psychoanalysts would have better things to do than indulge in such destructive activity. Is it relevant that Thomas Jefferson, regarded as one of the greatest US presidents, fathered a black child, or that Oscar Wilde was gay? Why come out with ‘facts’ that Cleopatra was in fact short and ugly, Winnie the Pooh had an aversion for honey or Red Riding Hood’s grandmother was worse than any she-wolf?But such ‘research’ goes on in the West and psychologists of a British university came out with the gem that girls who read the famous fairy tale, ‘Cinderella’, turned out to be sissies in life. University researchers ‘discovered’ that ‘Cinderella’ was not a happy story and that children should not be exposed to such wrong kind of fairy tales.The 67 women interviewed for the project admitted they had read the story and were subjected to domestic violence before they were rescued by ‘strong men’ (as the prince in the tale) in the form of husbands. The researchers were satisfied that the abused women identified themselves with Cinderella. They were victims of domestic violence and accepted submissive relationships before rescue arrived. They also mentioned another fairy tale, ‘Rapunzel’, and wondered why the heroine did not break open the door behind which she was locked instead of waiting for her hair to grow long so that she could make use of it for her escape.I question the value of such research and I can prove my case. We are a quiet couple, but not our two daughters. The elder one was a tomboy who enjoyed stories read out to her by her father but strongly disapproved of Cinderella’s stepmother and threatened to bash her up. She turned out to be a young woman of strong character. No submissiveness here, even after being addicted to Cinderella. The younger daughter was even more independent. While reading ‘Cinderella’ to her I often experimented to find out her reactions by abbreviating some of the names in the book: ‘Cinder’ for the heroine; ‘Gert’ and ‘Gritz’ for the two ugly stepsisters, Gertrude and Griselda, ‘Pri’ for the prince. Her reactions were swift and strong. I would be told firmly to “read properly”. She went on her own way without ever being submissive to anyone, including her parents. I am sure I can identify 670 similar cases as against the researchers’ measly 67!I have fond recollections of my first encounter with ‘Cinderella’. At the Pattamadai elementary school, my teacher, who had just completed his SSLC and was ignorant of western ways, interpreted the ball in the story as a ‘pandhu vilayatu’ (ball game). We nodded in agreement but were too young to wonder how the fairy godmother helped her at a game with an elaborate dress, a chariot and glass slippers. Can you play ‘pandhu’ with glass slippers?Let academic research not take the joy and fun out of fairy tales!
