Gender Stereotypes In The Forest Bride By Parker Fillmore

Taking chances, trust, and having an open mind will eventually lead to a great reward. In “The Forest Bride,” by Parker Fillmore, a man named Veikko and his older brothers have reached manhood. When they become men, their father sends them out to find a sweetheart. Unfortunately, Veikko was unlucky because he had to go into the forest to find a sweetheart, while his brothers went to farms where very pretty girls lived. It seemed futile for him because there were no indications of any humans residing in the forest. Later, he encountered a mouse who insists she will be his sweetheart. Without much of a choice, he agrees, ashamed that she is not human and thought his family will dishonor him. The story “The Forest Bride” reinforces gender stereotypes

After the three boys have found a sweetheart, the father judged their wives by testing their housewife skills. He requests the boys to bring him a sample of each of his wife’s cooking by baking a loaf of bread and a sample of her weaving. The father’s judgment is stereotyping that a woman’s duty is to serve as housewives by cooking or doing household chores. Veikko’s wife had the best bread loaf and the best quality weave. She had the best set of housewife skills implying this is the example of an ideal housewife. Overall, the story “The Forest Bride” has specific gender roles for men and women, suggesting that a woman’s duty is to cook and do house chores for her husband. Furthermore, the story also highlights the stereotype that men are needy for

In “The Forest Bride” the brothers judge each other based on his wife and the physical qualities of them. This is the false belief of the brothers’ of how a man’s wife should look and connects with the way it determines his masculinity and social status. For example, when Veikko’s second brother boasts that his wife had long yellow hair, his oldest brother brags about how his wife had the rosiest reddest cheeks. When the enchantment finally broke, and the mouse princess turned into a human, Veikko described her as having skin red as a berry, white as snow, and long golden hair. This is the false and unrealistic portrayal of how a woman should look and the way society controls a man’s social status. It supports gender roles of a female’s appearance and what makes a man. Therefore, the story portrays unrealistic expectations of how both men and women should look, and labels a good-looking woman as arm-candy for a man and that image dictates his