I pose a question.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

We all know the community at large is going through the fairy tale nonsense. I've even been using it as new stories for my niece. I need something to shut her up during her cold. 

However, there is a common factor through so many stories. The mother, or step-mother, is often the cruel villain. I ask the community their thoughts on this.

Comments

[worldsnicestguy.livejournal.com]

Old ladies are scary. What's to question?

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

Who said anything about them being old? They're probably middle aged women.

[worldsnicestguy.livejournal.com]

Is that what they call it? o_O

[maraich]

Being betrayed by one's mother is the ultimate betrayal, so it makes it more dramatic.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

I suppose so, but it does get tiring after a while.

[darkling-wind.livejournal.com]

Women in power are a threat to the male dominated human hierarchy. So most women in myths are either cast as intelligent villains, or objects of lust and domination.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

As if men have never become either of those. There needs to be far more myths and stories written by female hands.

[greatgreenbeast.livejournal.com]

Many of the stories are told to children, and as such are tailored to appeal to fears of abandonment, in the death of the original mother, and of invasion, that of the false-mother intruding upon the household. It also neatly sidesteps any issues of nature versus nurture which may be brought up by having one's genetic mother be evil.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

It sounds more like bad influences. Reading all of this junk, a child could think all grown up women are evil.

[lightning-larx.livejournal.com]

It's because they were written by men.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

Sensible reason.

[likesbigguns.livejournal.com]

The writer's revenge for being forced to eat their vegetables as a kid.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

Har har har.

[lunargoodness.livejournal.com]

I don't have a clue...Perhaps the mothers thought that their children were behaving like "monsters"?

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

That's believable. Children can easily turn into the most obnoxious kind of people.

[strong-blue-one.livejournal.com]

Generally the stories are based on old ideas, for example that women should all be mothers, all be in the kitchen, obey a mans words. Those usual stereotypes/ideas are usually somewhere in old stories and cause women who step out of their boundaries (at that time)to be considered an oddity to be mocked.

Or I'm probably over thinking your question, either way it's an interesting topic at least.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

It's a reasonable, although still stupid, answer.

[inky-sword.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of other forms of evil in stories.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

The mother seems to be the most common. But I hardly care what YOU think.

[ttly-an-arab.livejournal.com]

Mother is God in the eyes of children; she gave life to you, she loves you unconditionally, and she is the one person you can turn to when the world terrifies you. A woman is even accepted to take on this role willingly and to nurture her child. What better way to represent evil in a fairy tale--which was written in a time where women had few, if any rights, were subservient to men, and a threat if they were remotely intelligent or independent--than the ultimate betrayal of the one person you believe you can trust and who is suppose to accept a nurturing role so willingly?

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

Logical reasoning, I suppose. Amazing how much burden a mother gets just by becoming one.

[malgrown.livejournal.com]

..."Fairy tale nonsense"?

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

Don't play dumb. That virus going around, making people think they're Sleeping Beauty or Robin Hood or other silly stories.

[openaway.livejournal.com]

I've always suspected that the reason for the evil stepmothers was to prove that blood is thicker than water.
But I was never told many of the stories with them when I was young.

[dime-is-mine.livejournal.com]

You were a lucky chld, then.