Diversity and International Inclusions

People need to feel that they belong.

Something that makes fairy tales special is that they come from so many different places. We have a Chinese version of Cinderella, a Hmong version, an Egyptian version, etc.

Though the tales have taken on, in the US, a very European theme, we can take value in how far they've come in representing people of different backgrounds in many new and inspirational ways even in the European variation of the tale..

In 1997, Brandy played the titular Cinderella in Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Interviewed in 2021by Vulture Magazine's Zoe Haylock about the experience of being the first African American Cinderella, she reflected that she"... knew that it was special, but I didn’t really know how special. When I was able to see it all come together and see the finished product of it, I was like, Wow, this is different. This is something I had never seen. It inspired me." The fact that the end product inspired even the starring actress speaks volumes as one can only imagine the sense of magic it gave young girls of color everywhere to see another POC as Cinderella years before Disney's The Princess and the Frog began production.

Books such as Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves and its revised Chinese Cinderella also show how influential simply the tale of Cinderella is as a child, Yen Mah compared herself to the princess and wished for her happily ever after while experiencing abuse from her stepmother. While her story goes beyond the scope of simply Cinderella, her autobiography proves how one story can provide a world of comfort and hope.