LINGUISTICS: DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE

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DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE Amanda Leduc, in her text, On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, writes to challenges the norm of fairy tales where the beautiful pe... ople are seen to have a happy ending. In his text, she seeks to have all bodies celebrated, unlike in fairy tales where the possession of two legs makes one beautiful. She backs her theory with the example of the ogre that never gets the princess showing the problem with beauty standards. Fairy tales are prevalent in the education system, and their adaptations have become popular for children worldwide. Because of this, how can a disabled girl think that they could have a happy ending when the stories do not reflect this. Therefore, disfigured point a new world where people with disabilities are helped to have a place in the story and show that their disabilities are not forms of punishment. Leduc also offers a personal experience with beauty standards. As a child, she says that she was led into the magical world of prince and princess. As a young child, she understood that beautiful people received good things and had good lives while the bad, disabled, and ugly people received hard lives. Just like young Leduc, most people’s fantasies and aesthetics about life carry the same understanding. However, when she got sick and got disabled, she believed that her happy ending would never come because now she belonged to the sidelined individuals. Because of this, she decided to question the representation of beauty in literature and to champion for a space that would make disabled people seen and appreciated. To explore the issue, Leduc explores some of the most famous fairy tales read around the world by Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. She explores characters like the ugly duckling, the beauty and the beast, Shrek, Cinderella, among others, to show the problem with the representation of beauty as the ultimate getaway card from a bad situation. In the contemporary modern world, she represents the problem through modern films like the Lion King, Captain America, Star Wars, among other popular films, to show that the concept has been adopted through centuries, hence the need to change the narrative to make Space for people that are disfigured in the society. In one of the passages in the book, she writes, “Fairy tales are not real, no,” and then goes on to argue that the stories told in the fairy books are not only stories but a reflection of real life. Leduc wishes for the audience to understand that the way stories are presented in the world serves the purpose of entertainment and creates an unknown perspective for viewers where they see beauty as the ultimate fulfillment in life. Instead of making the characters in these books appreciate their physical states, Leduc is disappointed that the authors help them overcome their disabilities, and this passes a wrong message to people who have disabilities and cannot change themselves. [Show More]

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