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Home / Lifestyle

What's wrong with Disney's Sleeping Beauty? Mum wants ban at son's school

Daily Mail
23 Nov, 2017 08:05 PM4 mins to read

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The boy's mother asked whether the Sleeping Beauty tale was appropriate. Photo / Disney

The boy's mother asked whether the Sleeping Beauty tale was appropriate. Photo / Disney

A mother has demanded her six-year-old son's school bans Sleeping Beauty because the princess does not give consent to be kissed.

Sarah Hall, from Northumberland Park, North Shields in the UK, claimed the fairytale promotes an "inappropriate sexual" message to young children, the Daily Mail reported.

She argued the story is irresponsible because it teaches children it is acceptable to kiss women while they are asleep.

The mother of two said: "I think it's a specific issue in the Sleeping Beauty story about sexual behaviour and consent.

"It's about saying is this still relevant, is it appropriate?"

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Hall is worried about what message the tale, which features a Prince waking up a Princess by kissing her, sends to impressionable youngsters.

The 40-year-old left a comment in her son's record book, and contacted the school to ask if it could be taken out of circulation for younger classes.

She said: "In today's society, it isn't appropriate - my son is only six, he absorbs everything he sees, and it isn't as if I can turn it into a constructive conversation.

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"I don't think taking Sleeping Beauty books out of circulation completely would be right.

"I actually think it would be a great resource for older children, you could have a conversation around it, you could talk about consent, and how the Princess might feel.

"But I'm really concerned about it for younger children, would really welcome a conversation about whether this is suitable material."

Ms Hall said recent coverage of sexual abuse, including the social media 'Me Too' campaign, made her think about the messages being sent to youngsters.

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Tell you what, while we are still seeing narratives like this in school, we are never going to change ingrained attitudes to sexual behaviour #MeToo #consent #mysonissix pic.twitter.com/3g4gyjifi9

— Sarah Waddington #PleaseWearAMask (@Mrs_Wadds) November 19, 2017

She said: "These are indicative of how ingrained that kind of behaviour is in society.

"All these small things build up, and they make a difference."

Ms Hall said there might be problems with other fairytales, but that the is mostly disturbed by the 'non-consensual' kissing in this story.

She said: "I think it's a specific issue in the Sleeping Beauty story about sexual behaviour and consent.

"It's about saying is this still relevant, is it appropriate?"

Ms Hall has attracted widespread criticism after she tweeted about the issue earlier this week.

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Posting a picture from her son's Sleeping Beauty book, she wrote: "Tell you what, while we are still seeing narratives like this in school, we are never going to change ingrained attitudes to sexual behaviour #MeToo #consent #mysonisix"

However, many have disagreed and have labelled her as 'pathetic' and 'sad'.

One tweeter wrote: "Do NOT confuse this rant with feminism - this is harmful to the cause in a catastrophic way, not helpful!"

While another fumed: "Hard to believe and very unfortunate that there are people acting as sad as @Hallmeister and her 'Sleeping Beauty should be banned' nonsense.

"Feel sorry for the kids having to dwell on this c***!"

One woman said: "This is getting b***** ridiculous. I never once watched sleeping beauty and thought 'goodness this is giving the wrong message about consent.

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"Let's ban Cinderella as well whilst we're on the matter; poor gender roles and all that."

Another wrote: "Are you actually being serious hahaha how pathetic #world has gone mad."

One Tweeter posted: "Did the book or film make you believe you go around kissing anyone when you were a kid? Do you do that now because of the film? No? Then what is the problem!"

Sleeping Beauty was raped in original 17th Century tale

Italian writer Giambattista Basile's original version of Sleeping Beauty, called Sun, Moon, and Talia, was written in the 17th Century.

In Basile's original dark work, Talia, the daughter of a lord, falls into a deep slumber after pricking her finger on a magical splinter.

The lord cannot bear the thought of burying his beloved daughter and decides to leave her to rest in one of his estates.

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One day a king is led into the estate and falls is enchanted by Talia's beauty.

He tries to awake her, but after failing to do so, he carries her to a bed and has sex with her while she sleeps.

The king then leaves Talia, who falls pregnant and gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, all while still asleep.

She only awakes when one of her children mistakenly sucks the magical splinter out of her finger.

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