Transgenderella

[Tiffany Grace]

In a far away, long ago kingdom, Cinderella is living happily with her mother and father until her mother dies. Cinderella's father remarries a cold, cruel woman who has two daughters, Drizella and Anastasia. When the father dies, Cinderella's wicked stepmother turns her into a virtual servant in her own house. Meanwhile, across town in the castle, the King determines that his son the Prince should find a suitable bride and provide him with a required number of grandchildren. So the King invites every eligible maiden in the kingdom to a fancy dress ball, where his son will be able to choose his bride. Cinderella has no suitable party dress for a ball, but her friends the mice, led by Jaques and Gus, and the birds lend a hand in making her one, a dress the evil stepsisters immediately tear apart on the evening of the ball. At this point, enter the Fairy Godmother, the pumpkin carriage, the royal ball, the stroke of midnight, the glass slipper, and the rest, as they say, is fairy tale history.

What a great story and how I can relate to so many of the dynamics in my personal story. How many times have we had no suitable party dress for a ball? How many times have we not had the dresses and glass slippers of our dreams along with the the dreams of gowns and balls and coming out. The dreams of panoply, panache and princess accoutriments. The perfect scenario of beautify and innocence wrapped in galas and graceful dancing. Can you relate?

How many times have we felt like we were turned into virual servants by the wicked stepmother (society? culture? prejudice? fear? self loathing?) Have you ever felt like a princess locked in an ivory tower whose walls are the constraints of life and society.

Then there is the glass slipper. Ah, the glass slipper, how pretty, how delicate. How feminine. Can you imagine walking in glass slippers : ) ?

Then there is the prince. The handsome hero who resolves and brings our lives together. The prince represents that wonderous place where everything comes together and we find ourselves alive and fulfilled with all the gifts and blessings that come from being who we truly are. The prince represents the resolution to all of our plights. The plight of reaching for what we love and who we truly are.

[docrobbysherry]

Yes, been her, done that. The "glass slippers" I remember quite well. Even tho it was years ago. After walking nearly 5 miles in them, my feet were dead!:doh:

191580

[Tiffany Grace]

Yes, been her, done that. The "glass slippers" I remember quite well. Even tho it was years ago. After walking nearly 5 miles in them, my feet were dead!:doh:

191580

Thanks for sharing. Guess glass does not really give much lol:)

[AmyGaleRT]

Then there is the glass slipper. Ah, the glass slipper, how pretty, how delicate. How feminine.

It wasn't always glass. (Amy puts on her glasses to look all studious :) )

In older versions of the tale, the slipper is made of other substances, and the evil stepmother tries a bit of subterfuge to make it look like one of her daughters is the owner. Specifically, she hacks off first her daughter's toes (!) and then her heel (!!) to make her foot fit the slipper. A little bird, however, alerts the Prince to the deception.

It was Charles Perrault (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Perrault), the Frenchman who collected a number of these folk tales into their first recognizable "modern" form, that made that change. In the version he'd heard, the slipper was made of variegated fur (French: vair); he replaced that with glass (French: verre), realizing that having the slipper made of clear, see-through glass would permit no falsehood on behalf of the stepmother. And so he immortalized the tale as "Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper," in his 1697 collection, Tales of My Mother Goose.

Boy, the trivia you pick up from all the reading you do! :heehee:

- Amy

[Tiffany Grace]

It wasn't always glass. (Amy puts on her glasses to look all studious :) )

In older versions of the tale, the slipper is made of other substances, and the evil stepmother tries a bit of subterfuge to make it look like one of her daughters is the owner. Specifically, she hacks off first her daughter's toes (!) and then her heel (!!) to make her foot fit the slipper. A little bird, however, alerts the Prince to the deception.

It was Charles Perrault (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Perrault), the Frenchman who collected a number of these folk tales into their first recognizable "modern" form, that made that change. In the version he'd heard, the slipper was made of variegated fur (French: vair); he replaced that with glass (French: verre), realizing that having the slipper made of clear, see-through glass would permit no falsehood on behalf of the stepmother. And so he immortalized the tale as "Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper," in his 1697 collection, Tales of My Mother Goose.

Boy, the trivia you pick up from all the reading you do! :heehee:

- Amy

Wonderful background. Thank you, the hacking off the daughters toes.....sheesh

[Beverley Sims]

Halloween 2007 I was Sinderella.
Clear plastic shoes and all.
They were very uncomfortable as they kept slipping on me.
The dress was great though.
It has had a few encores since then with different shoes.