I don't know that I think women have to throw out the fairy tale

The words of Shonda Rhimes — “I don't know that I think women have to throw out the fairy tale ending. I just think they have to decide what their fairy tale ending is — and not go with the standard one that everyone's told them they're supposed to have.” — shimmer like a lantern held aloft on a dark road. She speaks to the heart of freedom, to the right of every woman to craft her own destiny, rather than inheriting the script of others. Her voice challenges the false fairy tales handed down by culture — tales that bind women to marriage, children, or dependence — and instead proclaims that the true fairy tale is self-chosen, born of authenticity and courage.

The meaning of her words is not a rejection of dreams, but a reimagining of them. For too long, women were told that happiness was only found in the arms of a prince or the walls of a palace. Rhimes insists that each woman has the right to choose: for some, it may be love and family; for others, it may be career, adventure, solitude, or creativity. What matters is not abandoning happily-ever-after, but seizing the power to define it on one’s own terms.

History offers luminous examples. Consider Queen Elizabeth I, who rejected the “standard ending” of marriage, instead declaring herself wedded to her nation. In doing so, she redefined the fairy tale: not as bride or mother, but as sovereign. Likewise, Harriet Tubman, whose “ending” was not rest in comfort but the liberation of her people. Each of these women claimed a destiny outside of the script written for them, and in so doing, became legends. Rhimes’ words echo their spirit: the greatest fairy tales are those authored by one’s own hand.

The origin of this insight lies in Rhimes’ own life as a storyteller, a creator of worlds where women are complex, flawed, and powerful. In her television dramas, she gave women roles beyond the confines of tradition, showing them as surgeons, leaders, dreamers, and warriors of spirit. Through her craft, she challenged the standard ending and revealed new ones, reminding audiences that imagination itself is a weapon of liberation.

Therefore, O seekers of wisdom, take this lesson: do not throw away your dreams, but do not surrender them to another’s design. Let your fairy tale ending be the one your soul demands, not the one society prescribes. As Shonda Rhimes teaches, the power of destiny lies not in the old stories we are told, but in the new stories we dare to write. And when each woman writes her own ending, the world itself will be filled with new tales of courage, joy, and truth.