GRSJ 224C Notes
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University of British Columbia**We aren't endorsed by this school
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GRSJ 224C
Subject
Arts & Humanities
Date
Dec 22, 2024
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4
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GRSJ 224C NotesWeek 5: CinderellaCont. of Beauty and the Beast:-Did the best really change? Or did he just transform and go back to the way he used to be?-There’s no true opportunity to change because he’s rewarded with what he wanted in thefirst place; Beauty ends up learning more about falling in love with someone despite theirphysical appearance; pre-conditioned love;-Romanticising stalking / violenceCinderella:-Has its own ATU classification; persecution; heroine is persecuted to show that she’s deserving ofwhat she gets at the end-Father is absent in all versions to some capacity; killed in later retellings to make sense of theabsence vs mother isn’t alive but is very present-Takes up the trope of the dead mother + evil stepmom-Perrault-1697; was likely familiar with “the cat cinderella” - the earliest known european version ofthe taleDiscussion points-Character of cinderella-she’s thought to be clever, but she never uses her intelligence to tryand escape her abusive household, instead waits to be rescued by religion / men-Portrays feminine identities as a binary: good or evil + the only thing they have in common isfighting for the attention of an upper class white man→ negative representation of matriarchalfamilies; suggests that social mobility is the only solution to your misery + marrying into awealthier family solves all your problems-disguises the toxic masculine need to ‘own’ women as romance/love→ being possessive andtrapping her isn’t ‘sweet’ or ‘romantic’-The ‘rags to riches’ trope is very present in contemporary media- e.g. celebrity interviews, realityshows, social media influencersLittle Red Fish and the Clog of Gold-In Cinderella tales, she’s always passive + endures a lot, even the absence or abuse of her father-In this tale, the father doesn’t really see the abuse she endures + she hides some of it from him→his absence isn’t interpreted as negligence, he simply isn’t there
-Her label as ‘the fisherman’s daughter’ continuously reminds us of her low status + ostracisation-Marriage isn’t viewed as an opportunity to escape her status-She’s seen as beautiful because she’s kind→ not described as beautiful from the beginning,rather she grows into her beauty as she matures-The fish becomes her magical helper after she saves its life; ties to the trope of nature being herprotector-She doesn’t go seeking the prince, she simply goes to a bridal party + gold shoe finds its way tothe prince by accident → he falls in love with the object and who he imagines it belongs toWeek 6: Snow WhiteGrimms’ version-Very specific beauty standards: white skin, black hair and red lips, which seem to be deeplyrooted in racism “who’s the fairest of all”-women ‘s characters are binary-Sends the message that women cannot be independent; snow white has to live with the dwarfs tosurvive-Prince charming + necrophilic??-Snow White owes her life to men→ from the huntsman who spares her to the dwarves and thenPrince Charming-Sexualisation of Snow White with the colour redFeb 15th Notes-Grimms’ “Little Snow White” - ATU 709- Snow White, tale was popular before this version waswritten; first published in 1812- evil queen is snow white’s mother + the prince is obsessed withSnow White and has his servants carry her everywhere he goes; and republished in 1815-mother dies, stepmother is evil queen, snow white is woken up when they trip carrying the coffin-In some versions, the father wishes for a daughter white as snow etc + the motherinterpretes is as ‘the unnatural father’ trope so is jealous-The tale portrays a rivalry between snow white and the evil queen, but it's never clarified why;Snow White is 7 when the stepmother first talks to the mirror + it says time passes, but it nevermentions how long-Snow White’s beauty is attributed to her character + its her beauty that saves her from deathmultiple times, with the huntsman and the dwarfs-The story implies that the mother dies in childbirth, thus further implying that two beautiful ‘perfect’women can't exist at the same time + its snow white’s responsibility to live up to her mother
-Snow White’s 3 deaths are related to the assumption that she’s aware of her beauty and wants toenhance it (the comb + corset) + aids to socialisation; disobedience → also the thing all threedeaths have in common-Disobedience also alludes to needing authority in order to survive; eg. in sleeping beautyaurora goes to sleep for a long time + is woken up in time to be married and becomequeen, suggesting that women shouldn’t be allowed any autonomy in their thoughts oractions until it's time to move into another role-Desire for snow white = desire for a dead child in a coffin; the fact that the prince reads who snowwhite is in gold letters on the coffin suggests that he’s aware that he’s the king’s daughter, andtherefore she is worthy of his love/attractionSnow White Discussion Points-Snow White is known for her fair skin, red lips and black hair. What do thesecolours symbolise and how are they used in each story?-Not only does this contribute to the socialisation of children into gender norms bycreating very specific beauty standards, it’s also culturally insensitive→ idea ofhaving white skin and black hair as the pinnacle of beauty leaves children with adeeply embedded idea that you can’t be beautiful if you’re not white + this idea isincessantly reinforced every time the evil stepmother + mirror sequence isrepeated-The concept of ‘red lips’ covertly sexualises Snow White as well… when we werereading Little Red Riding Hood we discussed her ‘red hood’ contributing to hersexualisation because of the symbolism and sexual connotations associated withthe colour red → so holistically, this tale just does a bang up job of telling younggirls that if you’re not white and aren’t willing to be sexualised, you aren’t worthyof love-In the Grimm’s tale, beauty, looking and seeing are central (mirror). Why are theysignificant?-Symbolises vanity / superficial idea of-The Grimm’s version of Snow White has been analysed as a text that focuses onrivalries between women and a polarising of women as eithergood/passive/domestic or active/evil. Discuss this idea.-What is the significance of the dwarves in the Grimm version?
-The Dwarves have no names or personality in the Grimms’ version; I think that ina way, the Dwarves play a role in conveying the message that as long as you’regood (which in this context is beautiful and innocent), the universe will try toprotect you; but i think that they exist to allude to Snow White’s transition intowomanhood by showcasing that she is capable of handling domestic tasks, sincethe tale doesn’t give a clear timelineMaleficent notesAppeal of the storyObjectification/sexual assault-Sexual assault-Stefan drugging and severing Maleficent’s wings, and in doing so,robbing her of her innocence and individuality, is surely a symbol of sexual assault; thisalso casues her not to believe in true love-The objectification of Aurora remains quite the same in this film as it does in the textswe’ve discussed in class; her defining characteristic remains her beauty + she doesn'tseem to have any individuality or personality in this filmPatriarchy/ misogynyMaleficent/aurora-She’s portrayed to be this strong and kind fairy, but is oblivious to Stefan’s desire forpower and its potential harm + endures his abuse when he leaves and returns as whenhe pleases-If Maleficent truly wanted to avenge Stefan, why take it out on his daughterFeminism-When i first watched it, I interpreted the film to be more feminist than the tales we’veread because it gives Maleficent a motive that isnt just envy or being evil for the sake ofit, instead shes sexually assaulted by Stefan which gives her motive to curse Aurora.Though this makes the story slightly more feminist and humanises Maleficent’scharacter, it also villainises victims of sexual assault-However, it doesn’t change the fact that Aurora can only be woken by true love’s kiss,that narrative stays the same-The fairies who are tasked with caring for Aurora are portrayed as incompetent and areunseccessful in caring for her, thus Maleficent herself has to instead