Jack Loja Loja 1 

FIQWS Fairy Tales 10005 

Anna Voisard and Kylee Pastore

6 November 2022 

Stepfamilies are a Cause for Disaster 

Family is the strongest bond every human being would have in their life. They would be there for you, through thick and thin. However, there are many people who have the dissatisfaction to be a part of an existing family and that is the term of being a stepparent or stepchild. First off, fairy tales, something that everyone has experienced during their childhood and enjoys without a doubt. But as we grow older, we realize the deeper meaning and why the things that happened to Cinderella occurred. The story Cinderella is an iconic fairytale about a young lady who is forced to live in terrible conditions and help her mean stepsisters and evil stepmother. We never thought about the motivation the stepmother and stepsisters had just to be cruel to Cinderella when we initially read the story. But as we are older now, we realize it is all in her name. She is a stepmother towards Cinderella; she has no reason to take care of her since Cinderela is not her flesh and blood. So why are stepparents so cruel to their stepchild? Based off Cinderella and the lives of actual people, being a stepparent is unstable, compared to being a biological parent or single parent.

In Brother Grimms fairytale of “Cinderella,” Cinderella does not have a well relationship with her stepmother due to her stepmother being jealous of her and wanting her kids to be better 

than Cinderella. The stepmother knew Cinderella was better than her own daughters because they never had the proper manners. The stepsister would bully Cinderella and make fun of her 

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for not having the luxury they have. We cannot deny that the stepsisters are cruel for their behavior, but the more devilish the person is their mother. She could have helped Cinderella, but since she was not her own flesh and blood, she treated her like dirt. Cinderella not being the stepmother’s biological daughter causes issues for her because the stepmother tries to make her own daughters flourish while ruining Cinderella. When the prince looks for the rightful owner of the slipper, the stepmother says to the eldest daughter, “here is a knife, and if the slipper is still too tight for you, then cut off a piece of your foot. It will hurt a bit. But what does that matter? It will soon pass, and one of you will become queen” (Grimm Brother’s 75). The fact that she was willing to sacrifice her own daughter’s foot just for her to be queen makes her selfish and jealous towards Cinderella. Furthermore, Bruno Bettelheim’s Critical article, Cinderella from The Uses of Enchantment describes a relationship between the stepsisters who have animosity towards Cinderella, rather than a relationship of biological sisters would not have the issue. (237). If this can happen with the stepsisters, it is safe to say that the stepmother feels the same way. While people who know the story of Cinderella will say that Cinderella just had bad luck, there are other families that do not have a good stepparent and stepchild relationship.  

Deconstructing the Myth of the ‘Wicked Stepmother’: A Self-Study of a Stepmother/Stepdaughter Relationship created by Cheryl Strawn Knox talks about how it is more difficult to live with Stepparents over your biological parents. Knox elaborates that stepparents are increasing with 50 percent of children having stepparents and 93 percent of stepparents are male and the other 7 percent are females. With more step parents being involved, the more unsatisfaction there is between stepparents and children. For instance, “most of the information 

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describes a difficult life for stepchildren who score 6 to 8% lower on standardized tests at age 14 (Dronkers, 1994), complete six months less of schooling (Sandefur & Wells, 1997), and 

are 8 % less likely to finish high school (Garasky, 1995). Furthermore, stepchildren are three times more likely to be incarcerated by age 18 (Mclanahan & Harper, 1998), five times more likely to leave home due to conflict (Mitchell, 1994), and 70 times more likely to be killed by their mother’s male partner (Daly & Wilson, 1988; Evenhouse & Reilly, 2000). ” (Knox, paragraph 6). This shows the fact that stepparents cause a more challenging time for children compared to biological parents since the stepparents’ stats were compared to biological parents. The article Stepping Through for Stepparents and parents “The Relationship Difference” develops the fact that children prefer their biological parents over their stepparents. The reason for this is because the children know their biological parents over their stepparents who live less time with them. That can be a challenging task letting someone new to your life have a connection with you when you already have that kind of connection with your biological parents. However, I have a stepdad and my experience with him is positive since he was there when I was born, so he is technically my real father. Besides that, it is difficult to have a stepparent and a stepchild because to get used to a new parent is quite difficult.  

 Cementing the Stepfamily? Biological and Stepparents’ Relationship Satisfaction After the Birth of a Common Child in Stepfamilies by Balbo show the fact that relationships between a stepparent and a stepchild will not always be perfect and will not last forever. Balbo talks about stepparents who have entered a relationship with an existing child and that it does not stop that stepparent to produce their own child with their existing partner. (Balbo) Furthermore, Balbo’s study talks about how stepparents lose closer in touch with their stepchild the more time they 

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spend with each other. Being a stepparent is a perplexing task because interest will be lost to the stepchild and the parent would want to have their own child, if one does not currently exist. Blood is Thicker than Water: Stepfamilies raising biological, and stepchildren just goes straight to the point that blood is thicker than water. The family that you shed blood for is a better relationship than a stepfamily that you do not share blood with. This shows why the story Cinderella ties with all the issues of being a stepparent and stepchild. Blood will be stronger than anything else and that’s why Cinderella is treated horribly. 

All in all, anyone who has a new parent involved in their life has it harder compared to biological parents who have it easier. The story Cinderella shows abusive stepsisters and a cruel stepmother that do not like her for many reasons such as jealousy about her beauty and that she is not their biological family member. With that concept, they would use her for difficult tasks that would make her feel weak. Besides the story of Cinderella, stepparents that were talked about in the articles would want to have their own child and they do not know how to interact with your existing partner’s child. While the child who has a stepparent cannot be able to trust them with their biological parent. Children who have stepparents will face too many issues, such as depression, lack of motivation in education, and higher risks of having an abusive life. Therefore, stepfamily is not that powerful due to all the issues that give being a stepparent too many challenges to overcome. 

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Work Cited

 Bruno Bettelheim, Cinderella from The Uses of Enchantment  Bettelheim_Cinderella.pdf 

Grimm, Jacob, et al. The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition. 1st ed, Cinderella. Princeton University Press, 2014. 

 Ivanova, K., and N. Balbo. “Cementing the Stepfamily? Biological and Stepparents’ Relationship Satisfaction After the Birth of a Common Child in Stepfamilies.” Journal of Family Issues, vol. 40, no. 10, 2019, pp. 1346–63, https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X19836456. 

Renewed Beliefs, “Blood is Thicker than Water: Stepfamilies raising biological and stepchildren.” June 6, 2021 https://www.renewedbeliefs.com/blood-is-thicker-than-water-stepfamilies-raising-biological-and-stepchildren/ 

 Strawn, Candace A., and Cheryl Strawn Knox. “Deconstructing the Myth of the ‘Wicked Stepmother’: A Self-Study of a Stepmother/Stepdaughter Relationship.” Advancing Women in Leadership, vol. 25, 2007, p. N_A–. 

Stepping Through for Stepparents and parents “The Relationship Difference.” https://www.steppingthrough.com.au/relationship-difference/