The Truth About Fairy Tales

Oh princess, Oh princess

Your story was so wrongly told

That made all little girls dream

Of a happily ever after when they’re old.

But to live in our world,

You must be a fighter.

You may be written by a man,

But you can still burn brighter.

I promise to tell

The actual story

Of how Beauty tamed the beast

And of witch hunter Gretel’s glory,

Of how Ariel chose self respect

Before the attention of a man,

And how the prince forgot what she looked like

The night after Cinderella ran.

Merida convinced everyone

You don’t need a man to be a queen.

To prove girls could bring victory,

Mulan had to intervene.

To keep herself safe from men,

Rapunzel chose the tallest tower,

Snow White became a boss

That made 7 dwarfs cower.

Persephone stole a pomegranate

From the God of the dead.

A mad little girl killed the red queen

Who’d say ‘Off with your head’!

Wendy became an author

And turned dream into truth.

Aurora wished an unconsensual kiss

Had never happened in her youth.

you raise your daughters to be perfect princesses

That wait to be rescued by a prince charming

But forget that you’re actually teaching them

That they mean nothing.

Instead tell them they don’t have to

like pink and play dress up,

Tell them that it's okay to prefer a sword

And sometimes mess up.

While society did tell them

That being a girl meant being weak,

The truth is people were afraid

That they were actually fierce and unique.

- Akshaya Pai