Once upon a time, a girl met a boy, they fell in love, got married and “they lived happily ever after.”
This borrowed phrase from fairy tale endings is used time and time again, especially for marriage, to suggest that everything will work out perfectly. For many young girls, social obligations and gender roles become dressed in a gown and fantasize the expectation that finding true love, getting married, and having children is the way to achieve that happily ever after.
Excerpt from 19 is an allegorical representation of my brief marriage at the age of nineteen as well as experiences from those close to me. Like a young girl reading a fairy tale, we were eager to skip to the best parts and ignored the warning signs that were the prelude the reality and happily ever after becoming distorted.
Through monochromatic imagery for the memories that may not be as vivid anymore: the features of emotional abuse, insinuations and eventual isolation from a supposed prince charming impact our stories to this day.
