Tags
fairy tale lobby, fairy tales, mary grace ketner, megan hicks, national storytelling network, storytelling, Vasilisa

Seven years without hygiene … among many other important lessons, Bearskin learned the value of a hot bath.
Simplia had the letter from Beleaguered in Bellingham out of its envelope, rereading it for the umpty-leventh time.
“Whatever are you talking about?” asked Sagacia.
“This person who wonders where the hopeful, uplifting stories for boys are…” said Simplia, “…who questions the preponderance of estrogen-enriched fairy tales in the media and popular culture. Doesn’t she know we’re not trying to be exclusive to women when our protagonists just happen to be female?“
“I wonder if perhaps you’ve missed the writer’s point,” suggested Sagacia. “It’s not about exclusivity, it’s about inclusiveness.”
“Oh. You mean like the pronouns in the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer? And the histories we were taught? Do you know, I grew up thinking only people with XY chromosomes were capable of painting masterpieces and composing great music? Seriously. I don’t know what this Beleaguered in Bellingham is on about. Men have had their chance at heroism and nobility. It’s our turn now.”
“Whoa, tiger!” said Sagacia. “All right, admittedly, our lessons and stories have been lopsided favoring people of the masculine persuasion. But you’re sounding lopsided in the opposite direction. Wouldn’t we all be better served if balance prevailed?”
“Yeah. I guess. But … I don’t know. I just found this napkin that Drea left under her saucer a couple of days ago, and what she wrote on it, in response to Beleaguered in Bellingham, makes a lot of sense to me.”
In library school I was in a storytelling class where one man’s final project was telling the Vietnamese version of Cinderella, which is about two sisters, Tam and Cam. After his family came to America, his mother would still tell it, and he finally complained (as only an eight year old can) that it was a story for babies, and it was a girl’s story. His mother said, no, it’s about courage.
All of us listening were rocked back in our seats by this. Cinderella is about – well, you know what, yeah! It is! Our heroine (or heroines) must go against everything to triumph, relying only on a memory of a mother.
So now, hearing someone ask about stories to tell boys, I have to think that that it’s desperately hard to be abandoned like Cinderella, or plotted against as Snow White was, and how, even without dragons to slay, we all have moments where we can be helped by hearing how to survive sitting in the ashes without friends.
Sagacia read the napkin, nodding the whole time.
“True,” she conceded. “But…well…don’t you feel kind of freed in the general acknowledgement that being a Girly Girl is only one interpretation of femininity? And a pretty limited interpretation at that?”
“Duh. Yeah,” said Simplia.
“Well then, apply the same logic to boys and men. Don’t you think they feel trapped in a culture where ‘manhood’ is manifested in physical strength and power over the will of other people? …a culture where ‘looking good’ is more important than ‘being good’?”
Simplia thought about it for moment and then said, “Oh. I guess that’s why Lance Foster said what he had to say about the matter? This postcard came in today’s mail.”
My two favorite stories to tell a boy are “Bearskin” and “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was.”
“Exactly!” Sagacia agreed. “And further, Tim Sheppard brings up a perspective about story specifically for men…and specifically for women…to nourish a unique culture and code of ethics.”
This division between men’s and women’s tales is long established. And in traditional societies they are still kept separate. For instance a friend of mind researched Romany gypsy storytelling and they said that girls wouldn’t hear the male stories at all, and boys wouldn’t hear the female ones. The magical tales have always been designed to teach initiatic mysteries, and hence differing ones are appropriate. This was possible more in the past because men and women had different work, and would while away their time telling tales during their tasks. Women might be all together while weaving, for example. So tales with weavers and spinning often come from the feminine tradition. A. I. Nikiforov, a Russian folklorist who, back in 1928, developed a theory of the structure of magical folktales – fairytales in other words – before Vladimir Propp’s, decided that he should distinguish between masculine and feminine tales because they had different structures. I presume that when all those male folklorists went around collecting oral tales in the 19th century, there were probably many tales that they weren’t told because of their gender. I think the taboo had probably broken down a lot by then, so they certainly got quite a mixture, but perhaps that’s why there’s been a perception of bias in recent times.
“See,” said Sagacia. “As Beleaguered in Bellingham said, ‘I don’t want women to have fewer stories; I just want men to have more.'”
Simplia squinched her nose, the way she did when she was trying to think deep thoughts, and said, “Yeah. Vitamins to keep a culture healthy. Older sisters need their stories. Younger sons need theirs. Kings need theirs. Wealthy millers need theirs.”
“And Simpletons,” Sagacia said, “…we need ours as well.”
*****
(Illustration: Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Charles Folkard, illustrator. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1911.)
I’m a bit late to the party here, but I think I do understand where this is coming from. When I was growing up, because of the pull certain Mouse-Eared corporations had on our culture, I often felt that fairy tales were a bit of a “girls only” area populated by pretty pink princesses (and the occasional Goldilocks or Riding Hood).
Anyway, I’ve since found that the well is deeper than that. I would like to suggest “How Six Men Got On in the World” as a favorite male-oriented story. It’s filled with adventure, cunning, narrow escapes and five male characters with super-powers. I’d also suggest “The Water of Life” as a tale featuring a prince who does more than dance and kiss sleeping maidens. Also, I’d be remiss to forget the Japanese story of “Momotaro”. That one may lean more to the violent side than Beleaguered wants (it’s a monster slaying story) but Momotaro’s conviction, courage, cleverness and leadership skills should not be overlooked.
Thanks, Adam! Adding these memorable choices to my list!
When you mentioned Momotaro, it made me wonder if, when we think of a *strong* fairy tale character, we forget that magic or magical friends also came to his aid and made him strong–or stronger.
Sometimes the greatest power a character can have is the ability to make friends. Anyway, glad to see you include Momotaro. Maybe it’s my more “otaku” side, but I think that if there is a next big thing in fairy tales, stories from east Asia should be it. After all, “Aladdin” and “Ali Baba” were once exotic to us westerners and now they’re household names (hey, those might not be such bad choices either). Anyway, I rather appropriately geek out about a couple of these stories on my blog http://www.fairytalefandom.com.
Beleaguered in Bellingham calls for
“Stories that affirm boyhood, manhood, elderhood for the xy chromosome. The male version of the metaphor seems to be in short supply these days.”
We are not given the ratio of male/women centered tales he has heard, or who is telling them, just that he feels that there are too many being told. I would have liked some examples, not subjective perceptions.
There is a contradiction in some of his statements:
“I don’t want women to have fewer stories; I just want men to have more.”
“I need a time-out from all the girl stories. A King’s X, for us kings!”
I am a bit confused as to what Beleaguered wants to have; more male centered stories told or where these stories can be found.
There is no shortage of printed tales that do answer his needs.
In my library I have about 14 collections of woman’s tales. The other 3,000 or so are dominated by male centered tales. In these collections he will find many tales of
“brave and bold and wise and tricky and persevering princes and kings and tradesmen and shepherds”
Though there IS a scarcity of collections that focus on male protagonist’s that answer Beleaguered’s request, one collection does fit the bill,
Mightier Than the Sword: World Stories for Strong Boys
collected by Jane Yolen
Quote from her “Open Letter to My Sons and Grandson”
“This book is for you.It is for you because this book did not exist when I was growing up.
This book is for you because for the longest time boys didn’t know that being a hero was more than whomping and stomping the bad guy.”
These collections put out by Barefoot Books may also help those wanting to find stories that fit Beleaguered’s request.
If time permits I will find and post titles of more stories if requested.
Father and Son Tales Josephine Evetts-Secker
Mother and Son Tales Josephine Evetts-Secker
Father and Daughter Tales Josephine Evetts-Secker
Brother and Sister Tales Mary Hoffman
Thanks so much for the itemized list, Norman! I think that is *exactly* what Beleaguered in Belfast wanted. (But then, how would *I* know!!?)
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the problem, but it seems to me that there are plenty of tales for boys that are not about the brave, fierce handsome prince winning the day. If you look at the Irish stories collected by Seamus McManus, for example, many of the tales with male protagonists feature the intelligence, wisdom and caring over brute force.
Irish lore: LIke it! Thanks, Nick!
Lots of interesting stuff in this post. Thanks! On a slightly related note, when I tell animal stories, I pay attention to which gender I assign them. Not all animals are boys! (Nor are all puppets, but that’s a whole nother thing.)
i do the same thing, ‘cepting Br’er Rabbit tales:)
Good point, Priscilla! The original versions do tend to have a preponderance of masculine pronouns!