First, they came for the Disney princesses, and I did not speak out, because I’ve always hated Disney princesses. That’s how I feel at least. So here I am, speaking out against the offensive on Disney princesses, because I’ve come to learn the culture war will inevitably come to my doorstep.

In case you missed it, Disney princesses is the outrage du jour:

So, @imkristenbell is right – we need to talk about #consent – and fairytales are an excellent place to start. pic.twitter.com/bO7UZGlo0I

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 19, 2018

Apparently, Prince Charming kissing Snow White is now a lesson in consent and it’s one we should be teaching our young daughters interested in their own juvenile version of escapism. Nothing is sacred, nothing can just be enjoyed, even by children.

It’s not just about losing yet another outlet for entertainment; but a continued assault on everything that is good and righteous about men in our society. This isn’t just a culture war, but a war on men and manliness. Consider the story of Snow White and how Prince Charming saves her: without that kiss, Snow would have been doomed to an eternal sleep. Say what you will about the lesson it teaches a young girl that only a man can save her (that is my primary frustration with fairy tales, and why I try to mitigate their presence in our home); but to make the story of Snow White about … consent? How exactly could Snow have granted this consent, and what would have been the preferable course of action for Prince Charming to take? Let her rot, unconscious?

The only thing for the Prince to do was to give Snow a kiss to wake her from her slumber; it was the only way to save her. Which is what makes it interesting that this is the story Amnesty chose to highlight the importance of granting consent. Is it more important for a man to obtain consent than it is for them to save a woman? What does that look like in the real world, and what does that teach our young men about becoming men? Should they look the other way if a woman falls, because if they attempt to catch her, they may (inadvertently) touch her in a “offensive” manner? If we make the story of Snow White about consent, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.

It’s not enough to tell young boys they can’t save a woman, but that they can’t even be, they can’t even walk through a store. Consider this disturbing story:

Nine-year-old Jeremiah Harvey says he was traumatized after a white woman wrongly accused him of sexually assaulting her in a convenience store. "I was humiliated," he tells @GMA. https://t.co/tNaxkdtmq8 pic.twitter.com/glzazD44NO

— ABC News (@ABC) October 19, 2018

This is the future that awaits us if we let Snow White become a story about consent. It’s not, and will never be, nor should it be. There are age-appropriate ways to teach both boys and girls about sexual boundaries and abuse; and it’s an important conversation to have in order to ensure our children don’t become victims or abusers themselves. Age-appropriate is the key word in that previous sentence and a distinction that escapes far too many adults elbowing their way into the minds of children in order to sexualize fairy tales and convenience stores.

When the most innocent parts of childhood are stripped away in order to score some points in the current culture war fad, we’re left not only with traumatized kids like Jeremiah Harvey, but also kids who have had their childhoods stripped away by adults who really ought to know better.