Differences in my Counter-Narrative

I found the counter narrative text writing to be surprisingly challenging, but also refreshingly liberating. One difference I made in my story was to change the racial makeup of the main characters. I wanted to make them more identifiable to children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds than the traditional, white Cinderella characters. Therefore, I chose an African-American male figure as well as a Latina female character. Also, I wanted to represent an inter-racial couple, as couples like this are not often seen in children’s stories like these. Another goal of mine was to challenge typical gendered norms, that is, for example, I wanted to have the girl character wear baggy, comfortable clothes rather than a form-fitting dress, and I wanted the “shoe” to be a sneaker rather than a glass slipper. This eliminated the feeling of daintiness one may get when reading the original Cinderella story and challenged what it means to be feminine. Finally, a difference that was important for me to make was in the nature of the conclusion and the idea that happiness comes with ascending social class. I attempted to reverse this idea by having the rich, wealthy character come to live with the character of the lower social class, so as to give the idea that happiness comes from loving someone else, not from becoming someone of high social status. Through these changes, I attempted to create a counter narrative that more children could relate to while opening their minds and definitions of gender, social class, and happiness.