GRSJ 224 Paper Proposal: Analyzing the Stereotypes in Cinderella
The original “Cinderella” or “The Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault is a popular fairytale about a girl that transforms from rags to riches and has a happy ending with a prince. Controversially, this tale enforces stereotypes about women. An example includes the female protagonist being dependent on a male character to have a happy ending, This version also highlights physical attractiveness in the female characters over personality traits. Not only are these stereotypes harmful to childrens’ perception of how women are, but it is also detrimental to themselves since they may think it is how they should behave. As stereotypes are inaccurate to reality, including them in storytelling
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No information past this stereotype was explained about Cinderella such as her hobbies or her character
Cinderella had no say in the marriage, the prince decided on behalf of them that he would be marrying whoever owned the shoe
Perrault’s Cinderella did not speak up for herself
Theme 2: Emphasis on Physical Beauty
In order for Cinderella to be noticed by the prince, she had to be fully dressed up
Draw on the Indonesian storybook and how physical beauty is emphasized the most
Step sisters went into detail about what they were going to wear
The King also took notice to Cinderella saying he “had not seen such a lovely young lady for such a long time”
Theme 3: “Damsel in Distress” Archetype
Stepsisters seeking the validation of the prince
The only goal in the story was for the female characters to end up with the prince
Stepmother encourages the sisters
Cinderella’s happy ending is being with the prince
Source 1: The Cinderella Complex: Word embeddings reveal gender stereotypes in movies and
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The author highlights how traditional versions of the tale especially portray women as passive, submissive, and dependent on men for their overall happiness. There are modern versions that continue to depict these stereotypes. The Indonesian children’s storybook called Ketika Rapunzel Menjadi Rapinem (KRMP) plays into female stereotypes relating to physical appearance, personality traits, and occupational roles. However, there is evidence that some retellings of fairy tale stories have attempted to dismantle patriarchal stereotypes by portraying the female protagonist as a strong, independent, and empowered woman. Examples from Koly, a modern Cinderella retelling, and Mirror Mirror, a retelling of Snow White are mentioned (Primono and Nurhayati