What do fairy-tale heroines teach(learn)?

This issue of Sreda online magazine introduces a new series of podcasts dedicated to folklore, legends, and fantastic stories, produced in collaboration with the Tolk audio platform. Each issue will feature readings of fairy tales from different cultures and explorations of the meanings with which they are filled.
In this episode we turn to “Stepdaughter,” a Bashkir folktale. One meets the figure of an innocent, persecuted heroine in many folk stories, but what does this figure actually represent? Which coming of age and initiation rituals are to be found in culture? And what traits help heroines overcome difficulties?