d_aulnoy | (no subject)

Aaaaaaaaaaand, today, I teach Deerskin. I'm starting us off with a few cultural referents (helloooooooo, Purity Balls!) (also, Marilyn Monroe's "Daddy," of "Let's Make Love" fame: I remember watching that movie as a kid with my father, and thinking, even at age 7, "Okay, I know from daddies, and that? Is creepy") before carrying us into statistics and Terri Windling's astonishing, heart-breaking, beautifully honest essay, "Surviving Childhood." These two works, Deerskin and "Surviving Childhood" are two of the most compelling arguments that I'm aware of for the continuing prevalence of the fairy tale, no matter how many issues I have with Princess Industrial Complex. Here's hoping my students agree ....

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mine seem pretty terrific this term: it's a grad class, which helps, and a lot of them have a focused interest in the topic, coming from a variety of topics, from Disney to the Grimms.

And, yikes ... I am trying to imagine what we'd talk about if we pussy-footed around the sex and violence (or, as Tatar puts it, the heart of the fairy tale). Grr to censorship, however well-intentioned ....