One of the most striking differences between men and women is their fundamental understanding of what constitutes reality. This, in itself, is something that is too often misunderstood and deserves examination. The claim isn't something ridiculous, like "all men are smarter than all women," or any similar kind of strawman- it's that men are more prone to understanding reality as what actually is (or rather, what is believed to be- as it's difficult to be sure you have a grip of what's real in today's world) whereas women will understand reality as their response to what actually is- in other words, female reality is the response; female reality is the emotion.

Women share this trait with children, who also understand reality as their response to it- their emotion- which boys eventually outgrow. For good reason too- men drive civilization and protect their tribe. Men are burdened with having to put their own feelings aside and understand how things really are. When women actually gave a shit about having babies and raising children, it made sense for them to be highly in-tune with their own feelings and their children's feelings (sadly their empathetic capabilities seem to end there...)- they had to see to it that they survived to a healthy childbirth and ensured the survival of their babies. A high degree of sensitivity made sense in that regard. Of course, in the shitshow of modernity it makes them awful, selfish beasts- but that's a different story for another time.

Fairy tales are so surreal and bizarre because they're stories written in emotional language, where the reality of the story must be decoded. This is NOT AT ALL UNLIKE any story a woman will tell! Where the reality of what actually happened must be decoded through common sense, investigation, and reading between the lines- or else you'll be going solely on her manipulative hyperbole... because that's how it felt to her therefore that is what happened.

Let's take a look at "Cinderella" and decode its emotional language to get at the reality of the story.

[EXCERPT FROM: Horror and Fairy Tales: “Halloween” (1978) and “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” (1994)]

While some fairy tales function as cautionary advice for the pre-pubescent child as they grow toward adulthood, others serve as coping strategies to manage a child’s emotions. Speaking to a girl’s unconscious emotional state, “Cinderella” is meant to diminish a younger sister’s anxiety in seeing her older sisters blossom sexually and attract mates before she has her own chance to do so- before the biological clock has a chance to strike.

“Cinderella” still resonates with girls because it’s written in their own emotional language. What girl doesn’t feel like Cinderella- unfairly put upon and abused- even in-spite of typical living conditions? “Cinderella” can be translated into a far more realistic story once the emotional language is decoded:

Cinderella, the youngest of three sisters, feels alienated from the women in her family due to their fully-realized womanhood- a journey which she is only just beginning. To Cinderella, this feels unfair, at best, and cruel and abusive, at worst. In looking at her older, sexually-realized sisters, Cinderella has anxiety over the possibility that she won’t grow into womanhood and thus will never have the chance to attract a husband.

As time progresses, Cinderella eventually goes through puberty and is allowed to attend local mixers. However, since she is between childhood and adulthood, there are limitations on her freedom- Cinderella has a curfew. Like all teenagers, she hates this and is sure things are “just getting good” by the time she has to go home. No matter, though- despite everything, her Prince still finds her, and like most women, Cinderella gets married and lives “happily ever after.”

For young girls, whom everything will very likely work out well for just by virtue of their own existence, the story of “Cinderella” serves to sooth their emotional state and diminish anxieties over their future. While not every young girl will meet a literal prince, or even a princely young man, it’s best she view her husband like one anyway- “Cinderella” was not written with a divorce-culture in mind.

The take-away of “Cinderella” is for a girl to realize that everything good will come in due time, that a quality man will find her interesting and unique, and their wedding will cause bells to “ring throughout the land.”

Once decoded, "Cinderella" reads just like any story you'd hear a woman tell- what happened at the bar, the incident at work, how her sister is a "bitch"- a ton of drama and exaggeration with a rather boring story underneath when you figure out what really happened.

Some things never change.

Like my post? Check out my blog - Kill To Party - Updated with my analysis on the works of Delicious Tacos: On Writing and "The Pussy" (2016)