Or else they will keep destroying the garden of your heart that you painstakingly grew, eating your own rage should not be yet another one of your daily chores.

Women are basically taught to endure everything that happens to them, and the minute they speak up against abuse, there is pushback to silence them once again.'Īltogether, Gill has published eight books of poetry, with her ninth book scheduled to publish in 2021.Ģ5. 'My dear, some people (yes, even if they bear the name family) will do nothing but try to ruin you, and you deserve to take back with fire and blood what's rightfully yours. 'Traditional fairytales bring this concept of women having to be saved by men, that women are incapable of being their own heroes, that kindness and courage are somehow intertwined with taking abuse (Cinderella) and all of this reflects on how women are seen today. She decided to use her poetry to modernize the toxic gender roles perpetuated by traditional fairytales. I also find the concept of masculinity, where men have to be a certain level of stoic which involves repressing emotions.' And not just women but men too,' she explains. 'There are these really detrimental ideas that enforce gender roles, like passivity to the point of sleep (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) and therefore unable to give consent yet are basically kissed when unconscious. 'I think the most interesting things about fairytales is how they bind women to this idea of moral perfection.

Fierce fairytales nikita gill