Gender in Fairytales In today's society, there is a lot of discussion around gender identity and classification. Its meaning has evolved over time and varies depending on the individual. Although gender roles have changed throughout history, conflicts between men and women still exist today. Women are primarily targeted because they are stereotyped as having particular traits. Women are frequently stereotyped as being either only cruel and violent or naive and innocent. The best examples of this are found in fairy tales. Though it is seen a lot in the real world as well. According to PBS, “However, even though we are liberated in our beliefs and attitudes, many of our actions are still influenced by gender stereotyping and misconceptions about …show more content…
Typically, the male is the family's dominant member, not the female. Yet, in "Fulano de Tal and His Children," the children's stepmother has the dominant personality. In contrast to how the father is typically portrayed, she is able to boss the father around and tell him what to do. In “Fulano de Tal and His Children” it said, “Look, today they came home. Tomorrow you have to take them to another forest much thicker than the last one. Don’t let them come back. I don’t want to see them in this house.” (Norton 243). This repeats again throughout the tale in various ways to highlight the stepmother's animosity towards the kids. The acts of the stepmother and her power over the father are distinct from those of earlier societies. But having an evil stepmother is a prevalent element in fairy tales. She has power over the household's dominant male, which is unusual. Typically, the 'man' is the head of the home, but in fairy tales, this is often reversed. No matter how much the father loved his children, the stepmother was ruthless and had the power to dictate how he should treat …show more content…
Both "Snow White" and "Fulano de Tal and His Children" express this in quite different ways. These stories have extremely similar stepmothers. They desire the death of their kids. In these tales, they play the role of the antagonists, with the stepdaughters receiving their cruelty. The stepdaughters are innocent young women who are being singled out by their stepmother out of pure hatred. In "Fulano de Tal and His Children," the stepmother has complete power over the father and can control him. Throughout history, this has not typically been a "normal" gender role. Female dominance over a male. Similar to "Snow White," Snow White is so blind and naive that she fails to recognize the evil that lies right in her path. The stepmother wants to murder her stepdaughter because she is so fixated on being the fairest in the land. These stepmothers' interactions and feelings are powerfully portrayed in a way that is unusual for