Rumpelstiltskins Secret: What Women Didnt Tell the Grimms

Everyone knows Rumpelstiltskins storyor thinks they do. But this innocent-seeming tale hides generations of womens shrewd accounts of their relationships with men. And the verdict is not flattering. The fairytale may count among the worlds oldest dirty jokes. The theme of the tale, an observation repeated and varied throughout, mocks male inadequacy in many forms, beginning with sexual failure. The punchline misplaced, over time its wickedly funny insights about adult life passed for childish nonsense. The story hides, in plain sight, criticism of workplace sexual harassmentcenturies before society took notice of the indignity. Rumpelstiltskin tells a feminist tale with lessons for men and women, about what women said to each other when they thought their private conversation and complaints passed unnoticed. In the storys different versions, the Brothers Grimm, who recorded the tale, missed womens wry observations.