ipl-logo

What Are Gender Stereotypes In Fairy Tales

1372 Words6 Pages

Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812) “Cinderella” and “Snow White”, and Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1837) “The Little Mermaid”, shows an existence of gender stereotypes occurring in a children’s story. Although fairy tales are an important part of children’s literature, in what way do they influence them? The debate is endless; however, people think the bad influence is mainly on the women because of the way they are stereotyped. The female’s roles in fairy tales characterize women not having their own independence, power, and voice to represent them. In these three stories, the women’s characters perpetuate the stereotypical gender message that the ideal woman is submissive in different ways. The story of “Cinderella” reflects different …show more content…

The role and especially age do not matter when a female should be submissive. Snow White started at the very young age of seven years old. When the dwarfs notice Snow White in their home and she told the story of why she was there, the dwarfs said, “If you will take care of our house, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit, and if you will keep everything neat and clean, you can stay with us and you shall want for nothing” (252). Once again, the statement insinuates a female should have the ability to do housework and mainly focus home as the main part of their responsibility. It also shows the expectation of being told what to do, to be rewarded at the end. Another example is when Snow White is adding her agreement by saying, “Yes, with all my heart” (252). The role of submissive is shown here because she is obedient to being told what to do to by others, so she will not face any negative consequences. The reader’s gender message tells us that being able to be obedient and taking care of a home could result with good family-oriented skills within the submissive role later in life. Sometimes temptation can intervene with the way a female should carry herself. When the wicked Queen finds out where Snow White is located, she decides to disguise herself and visit the girl. Each time the wicked Queen disguises herself to sell things to Snow …show more content…

The perceptions of being submissive still influence women’s thoughts and daily life today, even though it happened centuries ago. The new angle that submissive roles in a woman should have broader aspects to go with it. The woman 's ability to take care of home is good, but it should not be our main responsibility, having independence, being vocal, along with the strength and courage should be the important aspect a woman should carry in their submissive role to have a greater positive and influential role in this

Show More
Related

Comparing Women In Sir Gawain And The Canterbury Tales

508 Words | 3 Pages

In medieval literature women use men to further their agendas. Women influence men to do their dirty work. For example in the book “Macbeth” Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill his friend, King Duncan, so they could rule Scotland. Her influence being to call his manhood into question.

Read More

Traditions Subordinating Women Summary

486 Words | 2 Pages

In the article “Traditions Subordinating Women”, Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser explore the very strong opinions, theories and beliefs of female subordination within the eyes of various origin cultures through stories, passages and history itself. This article gives a vast understanding of a woman’s role, the purpose of her body, what is expected of her, society’s double standards and how literature and poems portray women. Before Christianity, there existed many old cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Germanics and Celtics, who all came in agreement to preserving the subordination of women. A woman’s main duties were to remain faithful to her husband, to be fruitful and to preserve and nurture her home. A woman was incapable

Read More

Women's Roles In Puritan Society

490 Words | 2 Pages

, this quote gives an example of just how much dominance the men had. Girls acquired how to act from their mother. The women were strictly in charge of cleaning the house and being the spiritual leaders of the house. It was their responsibility to see that their family attended church every week. The women were involuntary subordinate to the men of that day.

Read More

Paper Bag Princess Stereotypes

494 Words | 2 Pages

These stereotypes have always existed but have been passed down to us, precisely, by these stories. They target the most impressionable part of society, children. The purpose of these tales is to teach children how to behave and in which social norms they must fit into. “Fairy tales are a child's world of imagination and pleasure, but

Read More

Oppression Of Women In Grimm's Snow White And Cinderella

809 Words | 4 Pages

It treats women poorly to cause them to comply with gender expectations. Not only do women have to face pressures of conformity in real life, but they also face intimidation in fairytales. Grimm’s Snow White and Cinderella perpetuate society’s notion that a woman is the inferior being whose value lies not only in her beauty but also in her abilities to perform domestic work and satisfy men. Grimm uses the characters of Cinderella and Snow White to perpetuate the idea that women should lead quietly domestic lives. In Cinderella, Cinderella spent most of her time in a kitchen.

Read More

Gender Norms In Cinderella

395 Words | 2 Pages

These concepts are depicted within the classic Disney princess film Cinderella directed by Clyde Geronimi. This film has ‘taught’ and/or shown little girls to stop everything they are currently doing and to become dependent on a man to save the day. Cinderella can be seen as the ultimate example of a “damsel-in-distress” because she gets saved from being “abused, humiliated and a servant in her own house to her stepmother and stepsisters” (Cinderella). However, the film does not fail to mention how despite this Cinderella still remains “gentle” and “kind.” The usage of ‘gentle’ and ‘kind’ rather than ‘understanding’ pinpoints the societal gender norms in action— according to these, a woman should be compliant and quiet.

Read More

Fairy Tale Vs. Perrault's The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood

1025 Words | 5 Pages

Perrault, a 17th century French author, wrote about women as damsels in distress in his fairy tales, while Atwood, a 20th and 21st century Canadian author, offers a more realistic and modern approach in her writing. Sharon Wilson, author of the essay “Margaret Atwood and the Fairy Tale: Postmodern Revisioning In Recent Texts”, calls Atwood’s use of fairy tales to talk about current issues in society as “meta-fairy tales”. Atwood’s “meta-fairy tales” offer insight on gender politics in a current patriarchal society. Instead of using generic conventions to tell her story, like Perrault does, Atwood uses them and then dismantles them in order to show the reader the problems within the genre like she does in her poem.

Read More

Cinderella Research Paper

1008 Words | 5 Pages

Positive interpretations of the story focus on the idea of love conquering all and the idea of a rags-to-riches story. These interpretations celebrate the idea of a woman finding happiness and success despite facing adversity. However, feminist interpretations of the story question the patriarchal nature of the story and challenge the traditional gender roles that the story reinforces. These feminist interpretations offer alternative perspectives on gender roles and seek to break down harmful gendered expectations. Anne Sexton's "Cinderella" is a modern interpretation of the Cinderella myth that explores the theme of sexual abuse.

Read More

Beowulf: The Role Of Women In Literature

846 Words | 4 Pages

Maybe the author might not intend to, but the readers engulfed with the male-centered mindset might omit the position of women. It is worth demystifying the thought that women should only be visible to men. They have a fundamental role to play in the pieces of literature that we interact with and the society as a whole. Just as pointed out in this study, the society cannot succeed without the input of women, even if they are not seen in the forefront. Even though it would appear that Hildeburh did not succeed in the role she was intended to perform, the way she manages herself in the whole process is of great significance.

Read More

Marxism In The Little Mermaid

881 Words | 4 Pages

Numerous schools of criticisms have attempted to find the meaning behind most of our favorite childhood stories. From Marxist who pursue the idea of social classes portrayed in literary works, to Psychoanalysts who depict the sexual tensions and desires that are subconsciously embedded behind characters’ motives and actions, to Historicists who try to show the preservation of tradition in stories, many different concepts exist for each fairy tale. The Feminist school of criticism greatly focuses on unveiling the patriarchal system and sexist roles that are displayed in stories, and more specifically, fairytales. Four versions of the well-known fairytale of The Little Mermaid will be compared and discussed while focusing on many distinctive

Read More

Gender Roles In Beauty And The Beast

1351 Words | 6 Pages

“Beauty and the Beast” is an original fairy tale and over time have incorporated social, religious and cultural themes. An analysis of the Disney version of “Beauty and the Beast” exemplifies the stereotypes of the more subtle forms of social manipulation that fairytales undergo to employ. The question of whether these stories are made for entertainment or send a much larger picture, depicting to children their gender roles within a society. In this paper gender roles will be represented showing the typical female and male character within a society. Historian Sylvia D. Hoffert defines a gender ideal as “the cluster of characteristics, behavior patterns, and values that members of a group think a man or a woman should have, a set of cultural expectations.”

Read More

Gender Roles In The World On Turtle's Back

476 Words | 2 Pages

Or when her husband pushes her away from the sky, because she was being annoying. It makes men mistreating women seem like something normal, acceptable, reasonable. Also, it reinforces the desire of war that men have, and how violent they can be, comming to the point of killing their own brother. There is a huge disparity between male and female gender. While ladies are the creators, they still are seen as weak and passive, while boys are dominant.

Read More

Walt Disney Character Analysis

1020 Words | 5 Pages

In Walt Disney, the role of female protagonists have gradually developed from weakness, innocence and dependence to be courage, bravery, and intelligence as time passes by. For example, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora stories which are released on 19th century play their roles as pitiful women who are badly treated by villains. The only thing they could do is waiting for a miracle of true love from a charming prince to get them out of the trouble. Furthermore, they all immediately have love at first sight with a charming prince without any hesitation. However, a character of Disney female protagonists from the 20th century to the 21st century are changed dramatically according to the movement for women’s rights, equality, and democracy.

Read More

Men And Women In A Midsummer Night's Dream

1205 Words | 5 Pages

Today, men and women have equal rights, but that does not mean life has always been simple for both genders. When Shakespeare writes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are roles, behaviors, and expectations for the dominant men and submissive women. This literature portrays the major changes in the lives of both sexes throughout the years, which shows the advances women gain with time. The gender issue of men being dominant and women being submissive used in the drama, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shows the differences in the roles, behaviors, and expectations appropriate for each gender and is an example of an outdated stereotype.

Read More

The Hunger Games Feminist Analysis

1000 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

Read More

More about What Are Gender Stereotypes In Fairy Tales

Related Topics

Open Document