sentences:  Within the novel, Jeanette Winterson utilizes the individual stories of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" in order to make a statement about the usual, subversive nature of femininity in a patriarchal society.In this reclaimed story, the author chooses to give the women princesses a voice of determination, one that undercuts the nature of the usual fairy tale story ending.In each of the stories that the princesses tell, the male figure is oppressive, dominating, foul, and overall a burden to the women.