Media use gender imagery to define "the cultural representations of gender and embodiment of gender in symbolic language and artistic productions that reproduce and legitimate gender statuses." The heroines and heroes in fairytales present images of women being young, beautiful, passive, and helpless while men are portrayed as strong, powerful, handsome, intelligent, and rich. Through these stories, the ideals of an attractive appearance, especially feminine appearance, are cultural constructions reflecting primarily hegemonic standards. Because children's stories are used primarily as a way to assimilate children into the culture, it is important to teach students to question standards that reflect and respect only people with certain physical attributes. Many different types of courses address issues of self-concept, perception, and identity. This article presents an activity which asks students to recognize the culturally established norms of beauty, gender roles, age, ethnicity, and ability and provides an opportunity for students to reconstruct fairytales to reflect an integrated society consisting of a diverse array of attributes. [Includes combined references and suggested readings.]