This nonfiction book I had on my radar for quite a number of years, finally confirms for me that audio is the right way for me with this genre.^^

The mission this book tries and, in my humble opinion, succeeds to accomplish is the following: The society needs to finally create the necessary space for a happy ending by changing things within itself and not with the "protagonist".Down with the ridiculous notion that they need to earn their happiness or they're worthy of kindness and good in their life after x,y and z. >...>

The author is disabled herself (Cerebral Palsy), and, while speaking about her experience and the difficulties she sees in the society and how that correlates with storytelling and fairy tales in our culture, the acknowledgment that she cannot give input on other experiences (BIPOC and/or different disabilities / identities) is well noted and very important. Hope to read more books on this subject in the future from more identities!^^

I especially liked how she comes back from important moments in her life (things that altered the course of her life and moments with a huge emotional impact ...good or bad) to a broader discussion on why storytelling shapes a lot of our perspective. And let me tell you...they do shape A LOT! 0_0

An important story well-analyzed is "The Little Mermaid" as the author herself was deeply impacted by it. I really enjoyed seeing in a logical, researched book how children are influenced by everything around them, how they show both solidarity and cruelty without a deeper motif-> and with these, how hard it is for a child deemed "other". Taking all this into consideration, we see how the society benefits from keeping the stories in which oneself NEEDS TO OVERCOME society's shortcomings without ever addressing the real issue. A change in that background narrative would need an extremely big redesign to its core and a lot of re-education on how one's life should look and feel - things not really in focus most of the time for any nation on this planet.

I highly recommend listening to this one!
I feel like I'm more self aware of my privilege as a fully-bodied person and the glaring need to stop celebrating the horrible narative of one disabled person as an example of success despite their "shortcomings"; and the imediate response of pity when making contact with disabled individuals.