The Prince Charming Syndrome

Every girl is a target, being a victim is inevitable.

Generation after generation, the compelling power of Fairy Tales had placed an overpowering spell on young girls; swept them off to a fantasyland and held them captive ever since. Hidden behind an innocuous mask, fairytales perpetually enraptured and entranced young maidens of the world without relent. It only took the first Ð''Once Upon a TimeÐ'...' bedtime story to spellbind each little soul; casting them into a sanctuary of dreamworld fantasies.

I myself was once a fool for fairy tales. I followed Hans Christian Andersen into the fathoms of the ocean and swam with mermaids; climbed down a high tower along Rapunzel's hair; danced merrily with Snow White and the dwarfs, witnessed the miraculous metamorphosis of the Swan Princess and strolled into the woods with the Little Red Riding Hood. Fairytales had me helplessly mesmerized.

NaÐ"Їve young girls like me planted complete faith and ingrained credulity in fairy tales. Unfailingly, every girl had fabricated childhood imaginations of a white knight on a fiery steed carrying her away to his shining castle. But as young earthlings begin their embarkment of the real world, their innocent childhood fantasies dangerously evolve into fatuous hopes of finding a perfect Prince and a happily-ever-after. In other words, they become victims of the Ð''Prince Charming Syndrome'; hoodwinked by the utmost deadly trap of fairy tales Ð'- the Ð''Prince Charming' illusion. The Prince Charming Syndrome is a spell for disaster essentially because it propels women to attempt to fit men into predetermined fantasy criteria and implausible standards.

A key factor in the fifty percent divorce rate of today's society attributes to women's high expectations of men. One of the current Seven Most Common Causes of divorce is Ð''failed expectations or unmet needs'. Could it be that the Eves in today's world are driving away their Adams by raising the bar too high into the stratosphere? While ladies are desperately seeking their impeccable Prince Charming, they are simultaneously running the high risk of letting great men slip by simply because they may not measure up to predetermined visions. Parallel to Newton's Laws of Motion: for every action, there is an equal opposite reaction; a successful relationship is hard work and takes commitment from both parties to make it a happily-ever-after. Judging men by Prince Charming standards is futile and unrealistic.

Another sympthom of the Prince Charming Syndrome is the painful strike of disappointment. I experienced such consequence over the bitterness of my first break-up. Long story short, my Prince Charming abandoned me, rode to another castle for another princess. I was devastated by my first boyfriend's unfaithfulness and felt worthless and helpless. I never imagined white knights could be more pernicious than dragons that breath fire. As my Prince Charming rode off, I was left with only hoof prints in the dust and teardrops in my hands. I desperately attempted to ensnare myself a new Prince Charming as I suffered greatly from the Prince Charming Syndrome - needing guys to define me, to complete me. I was a lost soul, stuck in the Prince Charming cul-de-sac and unable to find a way out.

One day, I was carelessly flipping through Cinderella; but as I read the tale of this dainty-feet protagonist whom I once highly admired, I