Perception of the Prince

As Valentine’s Day arrives this week, the fairytale fallacy of a perfect Prince Charming needs to be corrected.

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As little girls, bedtime stories were often based around “true love’s kiss.” Fast-forward to our teenager days, and we were told time and time again to wait for the man of our dreams. And now, as young women, I think that trying to find our soul mate is what society portrays as the most important  goal in life.

However, I would like to take a leap and say there is no such thing as a “soul mate.”

Now, I love my chick-flicks just as much as the next girl, but I think it is time to recognize that these Disney movies and Nicholas Sparks’ books are just that, fiction.

So often in today’s society, we see young women looking for their true love with expectations that could only be fulfilled if Ryan Gosling himself jumped right out of the television screen.

However, with our distorted reality we become so busy looking for our Prince Charming that we overlook some amazing people.

Because women have this idea of their perfect match, and since an ordinary man would never be able to fulfill this impractical fantasy, it can take a negative toll on the relationship for both the man and woman.

Our hope for this perfect prince puts a burden on this man to be more — and do more — to try to amount to something that is fictional and, sorry to say this ladies, but completely impossible. So it crushes him.

This fairytale mindset affects the woman as well, because what happens when he fails? The Disney prince never fails.

As long as we find someone we truly care about and treat that person with love, grace and forgiveness — although, it will never add up to our fairytale image — the relationship can be a beautiful, lifelong love.

I believe women of all ages need to realize the influence these fabricated stories are playing in our lives, and recognize the difference between true reality and the illusion of Prince Charming.