Fairytales are some of the first stories we hear as children, and they have a profound effect on us. These beloved stories, however, have many hidden messages about marriage, agency, power, suffering, good versus evil, who breaks the rules, and who is punished. Author and researcher, Anne Beall, analyzed hundreds of fairy tales and her investigation revealed significant findings such as:

· Male characters have more agency and are more powerful than female characters.

· Men marry up based on their acts of bravery, whereas women marry up based on their appearance.

· Powerful male characters are good whereas powerful females are often evil.

· Male characters are often rewarded for breaking the rules, whereas females are harshly punished.

She also found many significant parallels in modern life. Powerful women are often disparaged. But most interesting, women are punished more than men for the exact same behaviors in the workplace.

The result is that women may feel powerless, may have unrealistic expectations of romantic relationships, may worry about breaking the rules, and may be overly sensitive to the judgements of others. Many of these mindsets set women up to focus on being “perfect” and to feel like imposters. We will discuss how people can look at their lives differently by writing a new fairy tale where they are the hero/heroine of their story.