Women Studies: Little Snow White by Grimm Brothers

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Recommended: Gender roles constructed in society

Societies in the past and present follow a set of rules in order to interact with people within the community in a common and unified manner. Society has generated social norms and has adjusted them over time to fit the transforming world. People use these customs as guidelines to help live accordingly within a given community. Thus, failure to follow these guidelines causes a person to suffer exclusion and loneliness. Due to its extreme diversity, social norms of cultures across the world differ from one another in many ways. Despite their differences, many cultures have some similar norms. Ultimately, these established norms determine gender roles by creating a division between males and females.

Gender roles directly affect the relationship between men and women in society. Generated and legitimized by society, social norms reinforce the behaviors and attitudes that men and women should follow. Thereby, bolstering the idea of gender roles in society. Over time, these repetitive standards for each gender become habitual. Thus, it will be an automatic response for generations to abide by such standards. Stories that people hear while growing up greatly affect the way they view the roles of each gender. In Lecture 4 power-point, it states “the stories that we tell, that we hear growing up, construct our identities as humans, but also as gendered humans.” This conveys that stories function not only for entertainment, but also for the purpose of telling the listener who they are and how they should act in society. Stories portray men to be masculine and portray women to be gentle and delicate. An example that illustrates this difference between men and women is the story of “Little Snow White,” written by the Grimm ...

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...s and living happily ever after. Stories that are presented to children do not cross the line of same sex marriage, thus, emphasizing heteronormativity. Also the legalization of gay marriages is not accepted in every state. This conveys that people are still enforcing relationships between a man and a woman instead of homosexual relationships. Institutionalized representational practice such as storytelling enforces heteronormativity in society because the stories are being passed on from generations to generations.

Social norms coexist with heteronormativity. In the early years of their life, people are exposed different social norms that shape their gender. Males are advertised to as being masculine and strong while females are displayed to be soft. Because these norms are emphasized greatly over the centuries, the roles of men and women are established.

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