I think perhaps you misunderstood my "offended" comment. It's not that I think these stories are OMGEVIL and should be banned. It's that I can't identify with the characters and I find them monotonous and tiresome, and I think there ought to be alternatives. Which, in Perrault's world, there aren't. In many American fairytales there are strong, smart, funny girls who are heroes, and I find these stories a lot more enjoyable because I identify with the characters.

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I think I rightfully misunderstood it then. You said they "offend [your] feminist sensibilities". That implies that the stories offend you because of an unfair treatment of women in them. That's a horse of a wholly different color from finding a character monotonous, tiresome, and not being able to identify with them.

I maintain that there is nothing to object to with respect to Rapunzel. She quietly bears the punishment for her father, meets and falls in love with the prince who hears her song, grieves when the enchantress finds out about the prince, survives when she's thrown out into the woods, and manages to heal the prince because she feels so strongly for him.

She makes the best of circumstances beyond her control, falls in love with someone, shows remorse when he's endangered, and finds the ability to love despite the prince's disability. All in all, a very noble person.

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