ABSTRACT
Across nations, cultures, and linguistic groups, fairy tales in all their media-crossing adapted versions address sex, gender, and sexuality. Their heteronormative reputation leads to the presumption that oral, literary, and other mediated fairy tales deal exclusively with heterosexual relationships. Queer theory deconstructs presumptions of normal and deviant sexualities – understood as social constructions not neutral descriptions – and their manifestations in practices and texts including folktales and fairy tales. Anyone giving public talks about fairy tales and fairy-tale films as queer texts often finds themself defending the very idea of sullying these allegedly innocent stories by suggesting they might not be exclusively and resolutely heterosexual. Intersectional/critical race theory focuses on inequalities and subordination. Intersectionality offers the insight that the interactions of oppression are complex rather than a simple sum of race, gender, class, sex, ability, ethnicity, relation to colonialism, and much more.
