Pollsters are saying British parents think traditional fairy tales — particularly those that feature a “damsel in distress” — don’t align with modern sensibilities, as the BBC promotes a woke reimagining of the fables by former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq.
A YouGov survey of 500 parents with children aged between five and twelve-years-old apparently found that 58 per cent of parents felt fairy tales featuring a male character saving a female character were outdated. The same amount of parents thought the stories “under-represented” minorities.
Breaking down the poll by gender, 66 per cent of mothers found the damsel in distress story outdated, compared to 49 per cent of fathers.
The survey did find, however, that 81 per cent of parents still believe that the stories have worthwhile lessons for children to learn.
The BBC has used the survey to push a collection of updated fairy tales that will feature woke renditions of classic stories tackling left-wing fantasies such as the gender pay gap, penned by former BBC presenter Konnie Huq.
Huq, who was a presenter on the kids’ television show Blue Peter from 1997 until 2008, told the BBC that while parents think fairy tales are seen as valuable teaching tools, she co-authored Fearless Fairy Tales because “you don’t want your kids to be instilled with bad messages and values.”
She said the book will “work in conjunction with the traditional stories” but will inject “little tweaks and nods” to modern sensibilities.
Huq said that in her interpretation Sleeping Beauty is recast as ‘Sleeping Brainy’, and that Hansel and Gretel will see Gretel resent her brother for earning more in the sweet-shop, in deference to the widely debunked concept of the gender pay gap.
Huq claimed that she was inspired to pen the story by her experiences of being paid less than male counterparts on Blue Peter.
As a part of the Fearless Fairy Tales series, Huq, alongside James Kay, also wrote a reinterpretation of the Rumpelstiltskin story slamming President Donald Trump, entitled Trumplestiltskin: A cautionary tale of greed, gold and ridiculous hair.
According to the description on Amazon it tells the story of “a vain and gold-obsessed little man with tiny hands who will stop at nothing to become richer and more powerful. Laugh along as the famous fairy tale is turned inside-out in this hilarious cautionary tale about greed, gold and ridiculous hair.”
Huq said that she hopes her work will be entertaining and educational, saying that she sees her role as an author to use “stealth learning” tactics, likening it to “hidden vegetables in a pasta sauce”.
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