In the Salvation Army's magazine “Others,” Amanda Merrett has made a case for exclusion of fairy tales from the curriculum, stating that they postulated the view that women are objects or that they are only seen as valuable when with a man.
There are many reasons to challenge this point of view.
One of Merrett's examples was in “Beauty And The Beast.” She stated that it “normalizes a dangerous idea that a man's aggressive behavior can be affectionate.” That does not begin to be the message of “Beauty And The Beast.” The true message of the fairy tale is that a woman has been able to turn a bad person into a good person, which is highly empowering to women and sees them as not being less than men but in many ways men's superior. And another message is that a woman can get away from a powerful man who wants her for an acquisition and is willing to do nasty things in his aggressive wooing of her. Both messages are empowering to women.
Somewhat similar is a message in “Peter Pan.” By kissing Peter Pan, Wendy was able to give him the strength that he needed to defeat Captain Hook. Once again, the message here is that women have power – power that men by themselves do not have.
Another of Merrett's examples was Ariel giving up her voice in order to be with a prince whom she did not know. For a symmetry, we have “Cinderella,” in which a prince chooses for his wife a girl from a humble background whom he knew nothing about. In both cases a huge risk is taken – one by a woman, the other by a man. This is, once again, symmetrical, and there is nothing sexist about it.
“Cinderella” is empowering especially to women from the rough side of town. It shows a woman who was degraded at home by her female relatives captivating a prince. Unfortunately, other females degrading the kinder, prettier girls appears to be in fashion these days. Which means that stories like “Cinderella” will be more in demand.
In real life, one of the most best-selling children's authors of all time was a woman named Beatrix Potter. She did not become famous through men. She became famous through her own efforts. And her accomplishment is far greater than that of women who profane the West's literary tradition without replacing it with anything of nearly the same quality.
Are there fairy tales with themes that are misogynistic? In Russia there is “Baba Yaga,” a witch who lives in the woods and eats children. There is not much of an excuse for that. However in the fairy tales mentioned we do not see misogyny. Once again, in many respects the message here is favorable to women.
To the people who take objection to West's literary and cultural legacy, I pose a challenge. Create something of similar quality to the works that you attack. Create something that compares to “Beauty And The Beast.” For that matter, create something that compares to works of Shakespeare. And then you will be a transformative influence instead of a destructive influence, ushering in something that is better than what it stands to replace.