The myths about women that contribute to legal, medical, economic, social, political disadvantage do not operate independently. We silo them because it’s the only way we can explain and examine the detail of how they harm women and non-binary people. The only names we have for the big picture are patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, etc. Is change possible? How much change have we already achieved in the last 200 years? How to we protect what we’ve already done from backlash while we keep the momentum? The final guest for the series is Emily Maguire, who will help connect all the threads from the series.

Fairy tale princess and romance myths teach boys that their fear and shame can be alleviated by exerting control over women while having no responsibility for their choice to use violence. They teach girls that they are responsible for boy’s emotions and behaviours and that their greatest achievement is to win the love of the Handsome Prince by proving that they are more unselfish than all the other girls. How do these myths benefit men who use coercive controlling techniques? Can storytelling that challenges these myths make coercive control more difficult or less prevalent? What are the systemic changes we need to permanently alter the structure of coercive control?We will dive into these questions with Jess HIll author of See What You Made Me Do.

Unpack the myths about silence and voice with Steven Roberts, Professor of Education & Social Justice at Monash University. Who has the power to speak and be heard? Who listens and why? TLM teaches women and girls that silence is loveable and feminine, boys learn their voices are important and powerful. How is this myth built into the structures (eg schools) that teach us to be adults and how does this impact the adult world?

How does making women passive players in their own stories and consent a barrier to male success impact our understanding of sexual violence? How is the fairy tale princess myth woven into the perfect victim myth, and what impact does this have on the legal system’s response to sexual violence?To answer these questions, Jane is joined by Lauren French, Head of Education at Body Safety Australia.

The crone/witch myth and how it portrays women who have developed power through age, knowledge, and wisdom as the greatest threat to young women. How does dividing women by age impact young and older women? How does this benefit men and disadvantage women? What are the structural aspects that disempower older women? What are the effects on women and non-binary people of all ages and how does this impact wider society? Jane explores these myths and questions with Yumi Lee, CEO of Older Women’s Network.

In this episode, Jane is joined by Wil Stracke, Assistant Secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, to unpack the myth that women’s work is domestic, private, and powerless and that women work because they love it not because it has public value. How does this affect women’s economic safety, the value we put on women’s work, and women’s ability to contribute to public good? What are the policy and political factors at play? How much change has already happened? What do we do to keep this going?

In this 6 part series host and author, Jane Gilmore, explores the myths embodied in children’s fairy tales to examine women’s experiences of poverty, male violence, and disempowerment. Loosely based on the book, Fairy Tale Princesses Will Kill Your Children, each episode will look at a particular myth about women / gender and how it impacts the economic / legal / social / cultural / political / physical safety of women and non-binary people.