#sleeping with their wives; bothering their children; taking occasional revenge against those who had harmed them (end quote)

[senadimell]

Just going to put a link here to Ash Girl, by Emily Portman (be aware that the album cover has artistic nudity so nsfw). There is also ambiguous language about self-death. The song's wrapped around that theme because it goes hand-in-hand with dehumanization.

The song's based on Aschenputtel, and I really like how it's framed around gift-giving as reclaiming stolen humanity. It emphasizes the tragedy of the injustice the protagonist faces at the hands of those who should have been her care-givers.

Ash girl, ash girl with your coal-black eyes Coal-black eyes that have given up burning Go down, go down to your father's yard Help will be at hand

For the little red calf will give you milk To wash the soot and the scars away 'Til your skin is soft as silk Changed from its color of ashen grey

Ash girl, ash girl with your mouth that's forgotten Your mouth that's forgotten about upturning, Go down, go down to your hazel tree Help will be at hand

For the little white dove will peck at her breast 'Til the ruby blood in torrents runs down Down onto your waiting skin Then it will change to a crimson gown

Ash girl, ash girl with your feet that are tethered Your feet that are tethered with no hope of leaving Go down, go down to your mother's grave Help will be at hand

For the grave will open, inviting you in To feel the worms against your skin Don't let the fears pull you down For brave ones there's treasure to be found

Step into her grave and cut all your losses The worms will turn to rubies rare The grave will change to a carriage and horses Ready to take you the devil knows where

Ash girl, ash girl with your coal-black eyes Coal-black eyes, so brightly they're burning Remember the name your mother gave Before she let go of your hand

Remember the your name and pull at the reigns Your hour is calling, there's no time for stalling Remember your name and pull at the reigns They'll follow the turn of your hand

Now the little red calf can sleep in the hay The little white dove can sleep in her nest The fire will sleep, they can tend it themselves And under the earth your mother can rest

It’s just that the main drive, the nature of suffering is that it is dehumanizing! They are so tied together, oppression and sorrow and bad things work to make you seem Not Human, and the only way to fight against the actual evil of the bad situation, is to fight to remain human in the middle of it, and that means fundamentally to choose to live in the middle of it, to be brave and be kind and forgive and turn the other cheek without ever saying or thinking the thing is right, to love despite it all! And that’s what Cinderella is about. It’s always about identity but it’s always specifically about her identity as a human being. The stepmother and sisters and grief and cruelty work so hard to cover her up in ashes, to make her a creature, to strip her humanity from her—there IS no one else here your grace, because we’ve taken even her name from her, we’ve made her a thing not a human being—only they haven’t actually! From the ashes from the misery and the cruelty she is still recognized! She is still seen as a human being! Because she fought so hard to be one despite it! She rehumanized herself by loving and caring and forgiving even as they dehumanized her. She even humanized the animals they were trying to make her into while she was at it. The suffering could have made her incapable of love but she fought so so hard to keep it and she WON