Maria Tatar is a fairy tale scholar and has brilliant things to say about the subject. Listen to this radio program about the dark side of fairy tales and children's stories. I love that she has such respect for pop culture, name checking Sex & the City, Disney, and new fairy tale inspired TV shows like NBC's Grimm and ABC's Once Upon a Time.
It's important to remember that tales change with the times. I had a class in Library School in which some students argued that fairy tales are sexist, racist, classist, and heteronormative and shouldn't be read to children. But they are important history and even when problematic, have moments of beauty. And of course there are plenty of progressive tales as well.
Googling around for information about Tatar I found out about Faerie Magazine and it sounds amazing!