3.7 Cinderella: Glass Ceilings and Slippers
Welcome back to The Community Library! This is the second episode in a series on fairy tales and Disney Princesses. This week I’m talking all about that day-dreaming, dainty-footed Cinderella! I discuss the ancient history of the Cinderella story, why dreams are more powerful than hopes, and if Cinderella is actually our unsung feminist heroine.
Listen to the episode here
Download full transcription of the episode here
This month’s book club pick is Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao! It’s an East Asian fantasy reimagining of Snow White, and I’ll be discussing it on Monday the 31st of August.
Interested in more Disney Princess / fairy tale content? Listen to last week’s episode on Snow White here, or hear me read The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen for you here.
Versions of Cinderella I used as reference
‘Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper’ by Charles Perrault
‘Grimm’s Household Tales – with the author’s notes’ edited and translated by Margaret Hunt – George and Bell Sons, 1884
This version of Perrault’s tale has pretty illustrations
Texts I quoted
‘Fairytales and Feminism: “I Don’t Wanna be Like Cinderella”’ by Antebellum – The Artifice, 4th August, 2016
‘The slippery genius of the Cinderella story’ by Constance Grady – VOX, 5th June, 2019
‘The Ever-Evolving Feminism of Cinderella’ by Anya Crittenton – The Mary Sue, 13th September 2018
‘The crazy history of the “cat lady”’ by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie – The Boston Globe, 21st May 2017
Articles I used in my research
‘Mother Goose’s French Birth (1697) and British Afterlife (1729)’ by Christine Jones – The Public Domain Review, 30th May 2013
‘The Walt Disney Company and Its Work During World War II’ by Bill Goswell – Laughing Place, 6th June 2019
‘How World War II Changed Walt Disney’ by LIFE Books – Time, 13th May 2016
‘Disney’s “Cinderella” opens in theatres’ by History.com editors – HISTORY, 13th November 2009
‘Bibbidi-bobbidi-feminist: Cinderella Through A Feminist Lens’ by Nahomy Ortiz-Garcia – Femisplain, 13th December 2016
Videos I used in my research
‘History Of Cinderella – Disney Princess Analysis’ by Shanno McCarter for Network 1901 – YouTube, 12th April 2017
‘Can fairytales be feminist? | Erin-Claire Barrow | TEDxCanberra’ by Erin-Claire Barrow for TEDx Talks – YouTube, 13th November 2018
‘Cinderella: Stop Blaming the Victim’ by The Take – YouTube, 11th November 2017
Aboriginal Lives Matter resources
My Instagram, Twitter, Blog, Goodreads and StoryGraph
The Community Library’s Instagram
Cover artwork is by Ashley Ronning
Ashley’s Instagram, website, and printing studio website