It is no mystery that feminism plays a huge role in traditional fairytale stories. A female who is royalty in some way, or ends up royalty as the story goes on, almost always plays the protagonist. But, what specific role does feminism play in these stories? The stereotype of a beautiful woman in need of a man for saving in some type of way is prevalent in classical fairytale stories. This topic can be analyzed by first, defining the fairytale; second, looking at examples of this stereotype in fairytale stories such as: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Rapunzel; and thirdly, by looking at a counter stereotype in stories such as: Ella Enchanted. This topic can be viewed as having a negative affect on young girls by predestining them to fit in this stereotype by the time they are young women.
It is important to define what a fairytale story is before analyzing them closely. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales, written by 67 experts from around the world and edited by Jack Zipes, creates an illustrated insight on Western fairy-tale tradition. This book claims that fairytales hold an important part in the imaginations of the Western culture. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales is quick to make a distinction between fairytales and folklore. It makes the claim that most critics confuse fairytales for folklore, or vice versa. Jens Tismar, a contemporary German scholar, differentiates between folklore and fairytales in this book with four main points. First, fairytales are written by a single author; second, they are very elaborate in comparison to folklore which, is mostly based on communities and tend to be simple; third, Tismar claims that these differences do not make one genre better than the other; lastly, the fairytale is not an independent genre, but one that is defined from its relationship to what it is adapted from such as: other tales, novels, or legends. Even though The Oxford Companion to Fairytales claims that there is not a single fairytale story or genre that defines them all, there are certain characteristics that are present in every fairytale story that are well known to all, one of these being, the female stereotype of reliance on a man. Much like, Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction, by Carrie Hintz and Eric Tribunella, the Oxford Guide claims that labeling and dissecting the fairytale takes all of the magic out of it. Reading Children’s Literature also covers this issue in the introduction saying that analyzing children’s literature takes the innocence out of it and makes it unenjoyably. This is not true however, Hintz and Tribunella claim, “By reading children’s literature critically, we can learn much about ourselves, our society, and indeed, our culture, past and present” (Hintz and Tribunella, 1). It is the same with fairytales, The Oxford guide claims, “We want to know more about ourselves by knowing something more about fairytales” (Zipes, 17). Through this we can analyze topics such as this feminist stereotype and see how it affects young girls’ development, and thinking about their role as a woman in life.
Some traditional fairytale stories that this stereotype has a strong presence in are: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. These stories all feature: a beautiful woman, a conflict involving magic or enchantment, and a male hero that rescues them from whatever that conflict may be. In Ritam Dutta’s article, “The Making of the Woman: Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella and Aschenputtel”, he calims that, “[…] the social class of the intended audience is the single most important factor in determining the nature and the extent of stereotype revealed in such tales […]” (Dutta, 2014). Dutta says that this is because in more authentic folk tales the women were less sophisticated and passive than in traditional fairytales. He makes the claim that folktales were used as a means to train as a survival guide rather than for entertainment, and fairytales were used as a means to train in a different way. The beautiful, passive, sophisticated woman in need of a man to save her is the stereotype in most fairytales and was probably used as a means to train young girls to think that this is what they had to become during the time period that it was written. However, these stories lasted many years and even though times have changed and women are more independent now, young girls are still looking to this as a guide to who they should be when they are adults. This can have a negative affect on girls because they may feel like they cannot measure up to the physical attributes of these princesses, and they might not strive to be as successful as they could be in this day and age because they will think they need a man to take care of them.
Some stories such as: Ella Enchanted, a spin off of Cinderella, have attempted to change this stereotype. Ella is a clumsy, independent girl who actually gets her education and fights off huge ogres by her own wits. However, in the end this story also returns to the stereotype by Ella marrying her true love, Prince Char and depending on him for the rest of her life. In the article, “Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking Behind Female Independence” (Gonzalez, 2009), it analyzes the classical story of “Cinderella” and says that it “[…] exemplifies that teaching young girls, […] to believe that they live in a patriarchal society makes changing the stereotype impossible” (Gonzalez, 2009). This may be why Ella Enchanted returns to the gender stereotype in the end of the book.
It remains to be seen if these stereotypes will ever change, and how their affects on young girls will carry on. Teaching girls that being an independent woman will not give them a happy ending in life will keep this stereotype alive and well. Also, teaching young girls that love is most important and beauty is the only way of achieving true love will hurt their self-esteem and needs to be stopped.
References:
Dutta, Ritam. "The Making of a Woman: Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella and
Aschenputtel." Academia.edu. Academia, 2014. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. http://www.academia.edu/246014/The_Making_of_a_Woman_Gender_stereotypes_in_Cinderella_and_Aschenputtel/.
Gonzalez, M., & Rodriguez-Martin, M. (2009). Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking
Behind Female Independence. At the Interface/ Probing the Boundaries, 57199-
209. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~samhurl/References.html/
Hintz, Carrie, and Eric L. Tribunella. Reading Children's Literature: A Critical
Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Zipes, Jack, ed. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.
Scribd. Scribd Inc., 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. http://www.scribd.com/doc/64830809/Jack-Zipes-The-Oxford-Companion-to-Fairy-Tales-Oxford-University-Press-2000.
It is important to define what a fairytale story is before analyzing them closely. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales, written by 67 experts from around the world and edited by Jack Zipes, creates an illustrated insight on Western fairy-tale tradition. This book claims that fairytales hold an important part in the imaginations of the Western culture. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales is quick to make a distinction between fairytales and folklore. It makes the claim that most critics confuse fairytales for folklore, or vice versa. Jens Tismar, a contemporary German scholar, differentiates between folklore and fairytales in this book with four main points. First, fairytales are written by a single author; second, they are very elaborate in comparison to folklore which, is mostly based on communities and tend to be simple; third, Tismar claims that these differences do not make one genre better than the other; lastly, the fairytale is not an independent genre, but one that is defined from its relationship to what it is adapted from such as: other tales, novels, or legends. Even though The Oxford Companion to Fairytales claims that there is not a single fairytale story or genre that defines them all, there are certain characteristics that are present in every fairytale story that are well known to all, one of these being, the female stereotype of reliance on a man. Much like, Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction, by Carrie Hintz and Eric Tribunella, the Oxford Guide claims that labeling and dissecting the fairytale takes all of the magic out of it. Reading Children’s Literature also covers this issue in the introduction saying that analyzing children’s literature takes the innocence out of it and makes it unenjoyably. This is not true however, Hintz and Tribunella claim, “By reading children’s literature critically, we can learn much about ourselves, our society, and indeed, our culture, past and present” (Hintz and Tribunella, 1). It is the same with fairytales, The Oxford guide claims, “We want to know more about ourselves by knowing something more about fairytales” (Zipes, 17). Through this we can analyze topics such as this feminist stereotype and see how it affects young girls’ development, and thinking about their role as a woman in life.
Some traditional fairytale stories that this stereotype has a strong presence in are: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. These stories all feature: a beautiful woman, a conflict involving magic or enchantment, and a male hero that rescues them from whatever that conflict may be. In Ritam Dutta’s article, “The Making of the Woman: Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella and Aschenputtel”, he calims that, “[…] the social class of the intended audience is the single most important factor in determining the nature and the extent of stereotype revealed in such tales […]” (Dutta, 2014). Dutta says that this is because in more authentic folk tales the women were less sophisticated and passive than in traditional fairytales. He makes the claim that folktales were used as a means to train as a survival guide rather than for entertainment, and fairytales were used as a means to train in a different way. The beautiful, passive, sophisticated woman in need of a man to save her is the stereotype in most fairytales and was probably used as a means to train young girls to think that this is what they had to become during the time period that it was written. However, these stories lasted many years and even though times have changed and women are more independent now, young girls are still looking to this as a guide to who they should be when they are adults. This can have a negative affect on girls because they may feel like they cannot measure up to the physical attributes of these princesses, and they might not strive to be as successful as they could be in this day and age because they will think they need a man to take care of them.
Some stories such as: Ella Enchanted, a spin off of Cinderella, have attempted to change this stereotype. Ella is a clumsy, independent girl who actually gets her education and fights off huge ogres by her own wits. However, in the end this story also returns to the stereotype by Ella marrying her true love, Prince Char and depending on him for the rest of her life. In the article, “Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking Behind Female Independence” (Gonzalez, 2009), it analyzes the classical story of “Cinderella” and says that it “[…] exemplifies that teaching young girls, […] to believe that they live in a patriarchal society makes changing the stereotype impossible” (Gonzalez, 2009). This may be why Ella Enchanted returns to the gender stereotype in the end of the book.
It remains to be seen if these stereotypes will ever change, and how their affects on young girls will carry on. Teaching girls that being an independent woman will not give them a happy ending in life will keep this stereotype alive and well. Also, teaching young girls that love is most important and beauty is the only way of achieving true love will hurt their self-esteem and needs to be stopped.
References:
Dutta, Ritam. "The Making of a Woman: Gender Stereotypes in Cinderella and
Aschenputtel." Academia.edu. Academia, 2014. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. http://www.academia.edu/246014/The_Making_of_a_Woman_Gender_stereotypes_in_Cinderella_and_Aschenputtel/.
Gonzalez, M., & Rodriguez-Martin, M. (2009). Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking
Behind Female Independence. At the Interface/ Probing the Boundaries, 57199-
209. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~samhurl/References.html/
Hintz, Carrie, and Eric L. Tribunella. Reading Children's Literature: A Critical
Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Zipes, Jack, ed. The Oxford Companion to Fairytales. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.
Scribd. Scribd Inc., 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. http://www.scribd.com/doc/64830809/Jack-Zipes-The-Oxford-Companion-to-Fairy-Tales-Oxford-University-Press-2000.