How would you like to listen to the most fascinating anti-patriarchal, women’s empowerment and liberation podcast episode?
Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History: Little Mermaid Part 1, 2 and 3
(Yes, it’s actually 3 episodes and I listened all in one shot)
The 5 time NY Time’s Best Selling author of The Tipping Point, Outliers and Blink dug deep into the brainwashing of the Disney movie The Little Mermaid and how it affects little girls.
Most fairy tales are “poetic justice” stories; in other words, the good wins and the bad loses.
What’s wrong with poetic justice, however, is there is no redemption.
So as little girls, we learn that if we are bad, we will always be bad.
This has a huge negative affect on our sense of self-worth, and we see this everywhere: women think there is something inherently wrong with them.
Gladwell proceeds to share how this movie goes above and beyond poetic justice. Ariel loses her voice, but she doesn’t use her own agency to get it back. Her dad, the King Triton and Eric, the prince save her. She waltzes in and wins without lifting a finger.
Double whammy.
In part 3, Gladwell invites 3 Hollywood stars and a producer to recreate the ending of the Little Mermaid.
What happens?
Ariel is a badass feminine leader who gets her voice back from her own agency in the most surprising way:
She hugs Ursula, the sea witch, and doesn’t let go until Ursula feels the love.
She empathizes, letting Ursula know that she sees her pain. Ariel understands why Ursula cast evil spells on the merfolk because she was hurt, actually heartbroken.
The witch was banished by the patriarchy, and in her bitterness, did bad things.
Ariel forgives Ursula and gives her power back, demonstrating the moral lesson that someone “bad” can have redemption.
Love wins.
This is the ultimate story of healing the sister wound.
How many times are we hurt as women and stay victim, or continue to perpetuate the violence by getting even?
We have the power to set one another free. We hold the key to each other’s liberation. All it takes is opening our hearts and seeing the truth – that we are not evil and bad, and we deserve another chance.
This is what we do in circle. We witness a sister share stories of shame, and no matter what she did in the past, beam her with love and acceptance so that she can rebuild herself.
We circle to heal the sister wound. To raise one another up. To hold each other accountable. To create a new model of leadership together where we dismantle the patriarchy within our selves and have that ripple out across the world.
We are in the beginning stages of compiling a new book on this topic and need your help.
Would you like to contribute to healing the sister wound on the planet where every woman feels loves, accepted and celebrated as her true self?
That’s the premise of this book.
To contibute, please take less than 5 minutes to fill out this survey:
>> Contribute to the “Healing the Sister Wound Survey“
Please share this email so more women can listen to the revised edition of the Little Mermaid and take this survey!
I look forward to sharing the results with you soon.
Thank you so much!
In sistership,
Tanya
PS. Enrollment for our signature 12 week How to Lead Circle program is coming soon … mark your calendars for Sept 9 if you are interested in our Level 1 training.
