In this series I make feminist reinterpretations of fairy tales and nursery rhymes to give traditional female characters more agency. Though many of these stories are centered on female protagonists, their fate is often determined by the men who act around them. When I retell these stories, I use the deconstructed tropes of the original stories to reframe women as being in control of their own destinies. No longer are their futures decided by men, or in service to men as a wife or daughter. These new narratives defy stereotypes by turning the stories and characters we all know on their heads and redefining the feminine as powerful and worthy.

 

Fairy tales and nursery rhymes have always interested me for what they tell us about gender roles. Even when the female protagonist is shown as a passive participant in her own story, these traditional fairy tales remain popular. In this series, I aim to overlay feminist messages against old-fashioned rhymes and story-telling, using both text and imagery to highlight the often complex and contradictory lessons we teach our children.