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Some interesting conversation in the Taylor C group. A few thoughts that I want to think more about, and maybe others as well.

There seems to be a lot of "ick" (violence, sex, anxiety) in fairy tales, probably more in earlier and non-western versions (and in Sexton's updating) than in the "Disney" period of western culture. Is the sanitizing of fairy tales a trend or a blip? A good thing of a bad one? What sorts of fairy tales would one be inclined to read to one's one children? Could it be that "ick" is a normal part of life and that mid century westerners got particularly uncomfortable with "ick", wanted to shield children (and themselves) from it, perhaps because of the second world war? And that a renewed attention to "ick" (as per contemporary movies/video games) is actually healthy/desirable?

Why are there so many "evil" female figures in fairy tales relative to males? Does this reflect a period of male dominated writing, and an effort to downgrade women? Might it, alternatively, reflect a greater fear of "evilness" in women than in man because children (people?) have a greater dependence on them than on man, and hence have greater fears about them?

Is the point of fairy tales to teach lessons/morals, or do they serve some other function? Are they relevant only to children or to everyone?

Curious about what other people took from our conversation. And about what was going on over in Taylor B.