Stories Men Tell Against Women

Stories are very powerful. Much of who we are today is shaped by the stories that we read when we were growing up. These stories teach us what values we should aspire to, and who we can be when we grow up. So what do these stories tell us about women? Let us see.

There is much to love about this compelling tale of a brave and young king, who together with his group of gallant and loyal knights, restores hope and goodness to his kingdom. There is adventure, there is magic, there is romance, there are wars, and there are betrayals. One cannot help but fall in love with the many colorful characters in this tale including Merlin the wise and magical advisor, Lancelot the shining knight and loyal servant to the king, and his son Galahad who is both chivalrous and pure.

But what of the women characters? There is beautiful Guinevere, Arthur's queen. She betrays Arthur by having an affair with his chief knight Lancelot. Their adultery ultimately brings about Arthur's fall. There is Elaine, Galahad's mother, who tricks and seduces Lancelot into bedding her by pretending to be Guinevere. Then there is Mogana le Fay, Arthur's half-sister and a powerful enchantress. She is often portrayed as a key architect to Arthur's downfall. In some stories, she is even cast as Mordred's mother. She uses magic to seduce Arthur, then uses the son (Mordred) from their incestuous union, as a pawn to bring about Arthur's end.

So there is Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, and Merlin; all good, able, and special in their own way; helping to build a strong, just, and peaceful kingdom. Then there is Guinevere, weak at best, treacherous at worst; and of course the villainous, over-ambitious, Morgana. They both bring about Arthur's fall, and the fall of Camelot.

This story starts with a goddess called Eris. Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, was bored. So she came up with a plan to have some fun and create some strife and discord. She presents a golden apple to three goddesses, Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. The fairest one of them would claim this golden prize. Their subsequent bickering over the golden apple put into motion a series of events which then led to the Trojan War.

In essence, Aphrodite, the goddess of love made this extremely beautiful lady, Helen, fall in love with a visiting prince of Troy, Paris. Helen seduces the prince, betrays her husband Menelaus, and runs away with her new lover. The husband, Menelaus, is outraged, and together with his brother Agamemnon, goes to war with this foreign prince to reclaim his bride and regain his pride and dignity. Menelaus and Agamemnon wage a war that lasts for 10 years against Troy that resulted in the deaths of many heroes. Troy finally falls as a result of a ruse that smuggled troops into the city with a Trojan horse. In the end, there is sadness, there is destruction, and everybody dies. So just like Guinevere, Helen betrays her husband and brings about the fall of a nation.

Finally, no childhood for a girl is complete, without reading the fairy tales of princesses in faraway lands. There is Snow White, who is both beautiful and virtuous. In fact she is so beautiful, that her stepmother, the Queen, becomes jealous of her beauty, and hires a huntsman to kill her in the forest. The huntsman, however, is unable to perform that evil deed, and Snow White ends up hiding in the forest with the seven dwarfs. The Queen discovers this, and manages to trick Snow White, and render her unconscious a total of three times. Snow White, for all her beauty, was not the sharpest girl on the block, and keeps falling for her stepmother's traps. Finally, she is saved by a handsome prince, who sweeps her away, marries her, imprisons the evil stepmother, and they live happily ever after.

There is Sleeping Beauty, who is cursed at birth by a jealous, evil, fairy. She is carefully protected by her father, the King, for most of her life. Unfortunately, before she celebrates her sixteenth birthday, she gets tricked by the wicked fairy, and falls into a deep sleep, as does the entire kingdom. Many years later, a prince comes to the castle, and breaks the evil curse with a kiss. After saving Sleeping Beauty, they get married, and live happily ever after. In addition to Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, there is also Cinderella, and many other princesses in distress.

Apparently, a proper princess spends her days sitting around, usually in hiding, because her evil stepmother is wicked, jealous, and up to no good. Princesses are pretty, but unfortunately not very clever, so they easily get tricked by their stepmothers. Once tricked, they fall into a deep, helpless, swoon. Finally, the prince arrives and saves the princess. Then life begins, and she lives happily ever after.

I don't know about you, but it sure seems to me that there is a common theme running through many of these classic, popular tales, about men and women. Here is what we learn:

1. Men are usually trying their best to do the right thing (e.g. Paris, Menelaus, Lancelot, Arthur, and even Mordred).
2. Men may sometimes lose their way, and inadvertently rape, pillage, and war, but that is because they are driven to it by seducing, treacherous, weak women (Guinevere, Helen) who betray them; or seducing, treacherous, strong women (Morgana) who betray them.
3. Women are either too weak, or too strong. The ones that are too weak give in to their baser instincts and cause the fall of man; the ones that are too strong, give in to their vanity and lust for power. Ultimately destroy everyone and everything.
4. Proper women (princesses) are very pretty but not very clever. Therefore, they should stay home, hide, and wait until the moment when they will be saved. This happens when the man, i.e. "prince" arrives to save them, marry them, and make them happy.
5. Non-proper women, i.e. women who act for themselves, are jealous, and wicked. These stepmothers and stepsisters will often hatch evil plans, and bring down calamity upon us all because they are selfish and over-ambitious.

Until we change some of these powerful childhood stories and legends, it will be difficult to attain true equality for women. We often wonder why girls have confidence issues, and why many women do not really believe they can achieve as much as a man. These stories, that men tell, are a big part of the problem.

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