She Saved Herself

 Olivia Gatwood - "Alternate Universe in Which I Am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me"

    Ever since we were little girls, we had always been told the stories of the princess who was saved by the prince. We hear the tale of her sleeping for 17 years, only to awoken by true loves kiss. We hear the tale of her being locked in a tower with hair that can stretch the Nile River, yet she can only be saved by a thief who happens to be male. We hear the tale of her having to clean the house that holds 7 men, being poisoned by an apple, and waking up to a kiss from another male. Our who lives we have been told that in order to be saved as a woman, we need a man to come and take us away from the danger. We were told that a man would be our hero, but what if this man was the danger? What if this man was the reason we were locked away for years or put to sleep by a pill in our cups? See? You don't think of it that way do you? You don't ever stop to think that maybe Rapunzel lost her beautiful hair that she cherished because a man cut it all off. Snow White was a maid to 7 men, and then she was kissed by another while she laid on her deathbed. Sleeping Beauty was cursed, and her only was out was through a man twice her age. We don't realize what we are telling our little girls until we see them grow up and move into relationships that contain toxic males. We don't think to tell her a fairytale when she is crying in our laps because (he who shall not be named) cheated on her. Why not? Because this is not a moment where a woman should be told that the only way to stop her hurt is through a man. What if we lived in a world where women didn't feel the need to have these "fairytale endings?" What if we read our daughters stories where the woman saves herself? Yes, a story where she finds herself in danger, but she's the one who runs out of the burning building. We don't realize what we put into other women's minds when we read these stories, and the fact that when we tell them these tales, we are saying that they must depend on men to be happy. Now, I am not trying to bash men, but I am trying to say that a woman does not need a man to be saved. She does not need to justify herself to a man. She does not need a man. This way, when she grows up and tells her own fairytales to her young ones, Rapunzel uses her hair to climb out of the tower, Snow White runs away from the dwarves and the old lady never finds her, and Sleeping Beauty... well she can finally get some peaceful sleep. We need to learn that all these women could have saved themselves, and I hate to spoil it for you, but so can you. So the next time you are in the need of saving, think of what you can do first. Because, honey, you are a strong woman who can burn cities down. You are dangerous, and yes, you are the danger because no one has the abilities that you do. But if you feel as though you need a man in order to be a woman, rethink the example you are setting for younger girls around you. That way at the end your story, you can close the chapter and say, "Not trying to spoil the ending, but she saved herself."