We're all familiar with fairy tales - beautiful princess needs rescuing by a strong, handsome prince who ends up sweeping her off her feet and onto on a white horse to live Happily Ever After.
Well, get ready to have the narrative change as author Emma Dodd has taken pen to paper to challenge stereotypes with her new book, titled, ''Fairer Tales: Princesses Doing it for Themselves''.
The book challenges the financial gender gap by showing women can achieve goals without relying on being rescued, putting a twist on traditional fairy tales.
The award-winning author has retold the stories of three beloved fairy tale heroines, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel, in the illustrated book.
Fairer Tales: re-imagining traditional stories to empower the younger generation to think about their future. By Emma Dodd and HSBC UK.
— HSBC UK (@HSBC_UK) October 6, 2018
However, rather than waiting on Prince Charming to save the day, the young women use their own skills to create their own happy ending.
Published by HSBC UK, the tales show that instead of meeting Prince Charming at the ball, Cinderella makes and wears her own trainers, and launches her own shoe design business.
And instead of being rescued by a Prince who climbs her hair, Rapunzel cuts her plait off to use as a rope and escapes the castle, which she then rents out to Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
Sleeping Beauty saves her pocket money and when she wakes up, her savings have grown.
What do Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel have in common? All three have challenged gender stereotypes and taken control of their financial futures in 'Fairer Tales': modern fairy tales co-created with @emmadodd2. Learn more here: https://t.co/SzagScj2n9 pic.twitter.com/Su8bXMtnRd
— HSBC UK (@HSBC_UK) October 2, 2018
Michelle Andrews, Head of Mortgages and Savings at HSBC UK, said, ''almost a quarter of parents reported finding it difficult to talk to their children about money, with half of these saying they didn't know how to explain monetary concepts to their children.''
She continued, ''our hope is that ‘Fairer Tales’ will help inspire confidence and interest in financial literacy and make it easier for parents to talk to their children about money. We believe that if we can engage and inspire young people about financial literacy early on in life, we will see more children growing up to feel empowered and take control of their financial futures.”
What a fantastic idea - what do you think?
