Before My Daughter Sees Disney’s The Little Mermaid…

In the original story, Ariel’s fate can hardly be described as triumphant. She rescues the prince from the shipwreck, falls hard for him, trades her voice for legs, and makes her way to land in search of love- just like in the movie. The prince befriends her, but this is where similarities with the Disney adaptation start to fade.

A romance never develops. Instead, the mute mermaid-turned-human is forced to watch the prince for whom she gave up everything – the sea, her family, her identity, her voice – marry someone else. She dies of a broken heart, dissolving into sea foam upon the waves. Read more…

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Sex: Consent is Not Just a Word

In the original classic Sleeping Beauty, the prince does not wake the sleeping girl up with a kiss. He comes upon her and, unable to resist her beauty, has sex with her, leaving her pregnant with twins. Yep, he rapes her in her sleep.

Of course Disney recognizes this as a horrible narrative, so that doesn’t happen in their 1959 animation film Sleeping Beauty. Read more…

Beware, These 3 Things Will Kill Your Love

The jury is still out on whom or what to blame, but given the mix of movies, talk shows, TV series and books that many young people have spent time with, it’s not surprising that there are several myths about love and relationships that people actually take as truth — including me, once upon a time. We’ve heard these things so much that we’ve come to believe them and end up ruining our chances of building real, lasting love. Here are three of the things I’ve heard recently that bring these myths to mind:

“I’m just not excited about her anymore.” Err…that high wasn’t meant to last forever! “A good relationship = great romance” is a myth. Nobody rides on that high permanently, so it’s a huge mistake to think that when the passion fades, you’re not in love anymore. Many people leave a relationship at this stage and get into another one where, of course, this new person gives them that emotional high they’re looking for. Read more…