How Does Grimm Use Gender Stereotypes In Fairy Tales

Although at first glance, we might consider fairy tales as nothing more than simple fantasy parables aimed at children, often set in extraordinary parallel worlds, where animals can talk – even after being beheaded, as in the case of enchanted horse, Falada, in The Goose Girl by the brothers Grimm– or innocent women facing peril at the hands of envious old hags only for a heroic prince to save the day, they are actually much more complex. As children we grew up with them, often in beautifully illustrated picture books, but rarely did we think in depth about the characters and their interactions or even the message they were attempting to convey. In fact, fairy tales originally began life as morality tales for adults in Italy and France,

Females are generally split into three categories, the passive young virgin, an older, scheming and sexually charged seductress or an evil old hag. The seductress is, of course, jealous of the innocent young girl and the evil old hag is also there to bring about her demise. I found it interesting that these stereotypes still exist somewhat today, as women are often accused of being jealous or bitter towards anyone younger or prettier than them. Luckily, in fairy tales, a young hero is usually available to rescue

He is seen as noble and a man of his word and consequently, although there seems to be no reason why he would honour the deal with the green knight and submit to decapitation, he does because he is a decent young man and that’s what young men do, particularly for their king or leader. Whilst men are rarely depicted as voluntarily passive, they do seem to serve kings and leaders without