Who Does the Rescuing?

In typical fairy tale fashion the prince is to rescue the princess. There's a dragon to slay or a witch to get rid of or both. But if you'll notice, fairy tales aren't realistic. Most women aren't actually locked away in a tower guarded by a dragon nor do we live with seven short-statured men. Personally, I'm not looking for 'typical'. I don't like the fairy tales with a damsel in distress who needs their knight in shining armor to ride in on a white horse and rescue them from the impending doom. I am not denying that I need to be rescued, nor am I saying that I don't want my knight in shining armor to come in on a white horse, because I do! What I am saying is that sometimes the prince needs to be rescued before he can do the rescuing, and why can't the princess be the one to do that? She's not always holed up in a tower!

My favorite fairy tale is Beauty and The Beast. Belle's imprisonment was by choice, her sacrifice set her father free; it was a gesture the Beast could not even begin to understand. Initially her mission was to rescue her father and then because Belle chose to take Maurice's place, her mission became about rescuing someone else. What I love most about Belle is not her bravery, though it's inspiring; it's that her physical imprisonment did not imprison her character. Locked away in the castle Belle managed to hold onto what she was worth as a person, as a woman. She did not bend to the blatant rudeness of the Beast, her steadfastness ultimately made him bend to her. Belle was forward, she was firm, but compassionate, and that compassion moved the Beast. And yes, I am well aware that I am talking about a cartoon, drawn by human hands, but the story line came from someone's heart; someone who knew that men needed to be reminded compassion is not cowardly and sacrifice is not a weakness. Someone who knew that women needed to be reminded that we can be strong and beautiful and eloquent.

Beauty and The Beast is a beautiful love story of sacrifice and seeing past the exterior, of love and overcoming the odds, of relationship being a two-way street. More than anything that's what I want. I don't want to be locked in a tower waiting for my prince to come, and I don't want my prince to be waiting for me. I want us to rescue one another. I want to save him as much as I want him to save me. I don't want the fairy tale, I want real life, and real life means that some of the risk has to be mine. More than anything I want that!