Friendship and sisterhood: supernatural folktales of women helping each other

Women who make other women's lives miserable are disproportionately represented in folktales from around the world. Wicked stepmothers and cruel sisters drive the plots of countless fairy tales. Sometimes, the negative woman-woman relationships in the story are offset slightly by the presence of a wise crone or fairy woman who aids the heroine. But stories of mutually beneficial relationships between women who are peers are harder to find.

With that in mind, here are a few stories that meet the following conditions:

1. A woman protagonist but NO woman antagonist
2. Two or more female characters who help each other or work collaboratively (the typical fairy godmother intervention would not count because the giving is largely one-sided)

Family

In solidarity with the parents who are trying to reunite with their children after being tricked or coerced into leaving their children behind when they were deported from the US.

In memory of Marco Antonio Muñoz, a Honduran father who was separated from his wife and 3-year-old son after crossing the United States-Mexico border to seek asylum.

Mr Muñoz became distraught after his son was ripped from his arms. Later, Muñoz was found dead in a Texas jail, reportedly by suicide.

In support of the organizations that are working hard to reunite families, including:

• Al Otro Lado
• ACLU
• KIND
• Womens' Refugee Commission
• Justice in Motion
• Institute for Women in Migration

Sheltering Wings

Second in the "Reappropriations" series. This painting is a response to someone's fantasy painting of a white European-looking angel with a lion. The angel in this illustration has an outfit and coiffure inspired by Ovambo fashions.

The first in the series is Melody.

"What's wrong with painting European characters with lions? Weren't there lions in Europe in ancient times?"

Stories of monkeys who save themselves from water-dwelling false friends

Two similar tales from different sides of the Indian Ocean. "Monkey and the Shark" from the Kamba ethnic group of Kenya:

A monkey who lived near the ocean decided to befriend a shark. From his tree, he threw fruits to the shark, who gratefully ate them. After many days, the shark invited the monkey to a feast at his home to meet his parents.

The monkey was persuaded, and the shark carried it off on its back. On the way, the shark revealed that his father was ill, and a monkey's heart was needed to cure him. The monkey then lied, saying that he left his heart at home. With that, the shark turned back and swam back to shore to pick up the monkey's heart. As soon as the monkey reached land, he escaped up a tree and threw a big branch at the shark, rebuking his false friend.¹

"Monkey and the Crocodile" from the Panchatantra Tales of India:

One day, a monkey living in a jamun tree by the river befriended a crocodile resting under the tree. He threw jamum to the crocodile. This went on for many days. Then the crocodile asked the monkey for some fruit to take home to his wife. The monkey obliged.

After eating the fruit, the crocodile's wife said that the monkey must be even tastier than the fruit. She demanded that her husband bring her the monkey's heart to eat. The crocodile was initially appalled, and refused to do this. But his wife refused to eat anything until she could eat the monkey's heart.²

So the crocodile invited the monkey to dinner at his home to meet his wife. After some persuasion, the monkey go onto the crocodile's back. Once in deep water, the crocodile revealed that his wife wanted to eat the monkey's heart. The monkey then lied, saying that he left his heart in the tree. With that, the crocodile swam back to the monkey's tree. After the monkey escaped into the tree, he scolded the shark for his deceit and faithlessness.

Although the two folktales are structurally similar, there are some differences in interpretations. In the Indian version, the crocodile is described as actually enjoying the fruits. In the Kenyan version retold by Dr Vincent Muli Wa Kituku, the shark's acceptance of food outside of its natural diet is interpreted as a pretense to win the monkey's friendship.¹ Dr Kituku equated the shark to people who present a fake lifestyle in order to win a relationship, only to show their true colors later. (I think we've all met that sort of person at some point)

Notes

1. "Monkey and the Shark", East African Folktales, Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku
2. The Monkey and the Crocodile, Cultural India. Web. 31 October 2017

Bridge of Love

A shout out to all the organizations and individuals that have been working to reunite families.

National Bail Out, which has been working on the #FreeBlackMamas campaign to bail black mothers out of pretrial detention and reunite them with their families. Their work addressesthe issue of lower-income people accused of non-violent offenses (guilt not yet proven) languishing in jail for lengthy periods waiting for their trial, while wealthier people accused of more serious crimes can get out of jail while awaiting trial, because of their ability to post bail.

ColorOfChange, part of the National Bail Out coalition. ColorOfChange has also been a leader in the #NoTechForICE protests against family separation at the border.

Black Alliance for Just Immigration, also part of the National Bail Out coalition, whose intersectional work engaging African American and black immigrant communities to organize and advocate for justice flies in the face of the divide-and-conquer narrative of outsiders who spread the false idea that immigrant issues and black issues are separate from each other and compete for attention. These old tactics to prevent communities of color in the Americas from allying with each other date back to the 16th century, when European colonists adopted policies to separate Natives and Africans and use them to fight each other. (See Chapter 3 of "Black Indians" by William Loren Katz.)

More organizations are listed in the comments.

Available on RedBubble.

Featured on Creative Action Network

Portrait of a Duyung

Close up of the Southeast Asian mermaid in Duyung.

Tales of married women murdered by their stepmothers even after they moved away from their abusive step-family

These 3 folktales from Armenia, India and Vietnam share strikingly similar motifs. But the differences are just as interesting:

The Golden Maiden (Armenia):

There was a young woman who whose father married a widow who mistreated her and her younger brother. The stepmother pressured her husband into abandoning his two children in the mountains. The siblings managed to find their way home, but not before the brother had been magically transformed into a lamb. The stepmother wanted to eat the lamb, so the maiden took her brother and fled once more into the mountains. There, she met a fairy crone who took pity on her and changed her into a golden-haired fairy maiden with golden garments.

The golden maiden returned home with her brother and hid her golden garments. But she could not hide her golden hair. Her stepmother, on hearing how her stepdaughter came by her golden hair, sent her own daughter from a previous marriage to the mountains. But the fairy crone disliked the stepsister and turned her into a hideous being. Because of that, the stepmother hated her stepchildren even more.

Portrait of a Kadal Kanni

Close up of the South Indian mermaid in Kadal Kanni.

Animals that attack their own reflections: Tales from Africa, Asia and Europe

From the Avatime ethnic group of Ghana:

A dog got into its master's house when its master went out and left the door open. It took meat from the table. Then it saw its own reflection in the large mirror in the room. Seeing another dog with meat in the mirror, the dog attacked it to get the other dog's meat. The mirror fell on the dog and killed it.¹

From India:

In the Foolish Lion and the Clever Rabbit from the Panchantara tales, an old rabbit saved itself from becoming the lion's meal by setting the lion against its own reflection in a well.

From Greece:

The Dog and Its Reflection" is one of Aesop's fables.

Notes

1. "The Greedy Dog", West African Folktales, translated and collected by Jack Berry

Portrait of a Jengu

Close up of the Cameroonian water goddess in Jengu.

How NOT to choose a husband: Fairy tales about willful maidens who pursue handsome strangers without parental approval

A recurring theme in supernatural folktales from various ethnic groups in West Africa is an arrogant maiden marrying a good-looking young man who turns out to be a disguised serpent, devil or big cat:

From the Mende ethnic group of Sierra Leone:

There was a young woman Magotu who said that she would only marry the most handsome man in the world. Her parents were worried that she was refusing all her suitors.

A devil, having heard of the matter, disguised himself by borrowing the best features from the handsomest young men. Magotu accepted his proposal and left the village with him. Before long, the devil gave up his borrowed features and showed his true form. A small dog that had followed them along the way encouraged the woman to run away before the devil ate her. The devil pursued them, but the dog and the maiden met a human ally who told them how to shake off their pursuer. They returned to Magotu's village where the elders concluded that "It was not good for a woman to be so particular in the choice of a mate". ¹

From the Fon ethnic group of Benin:

Cat and Stone Lion in Chinese Courtyard

See this kitty on masks, pins, cushions and more!