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Gender role stereotypes in fairy tales
Gender role stereotypes in fairy tales
Gender role stereotypes in fairy tales
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Research Writing
Though there are many fairy tales that have been created through the years, Cinderella is into our subconscious by stimulating the part of us that sympathizes with the mistreatment of Cinderella. Others say that the theme of a down-and-out poor girl rising up to become rich and happy appeals to any normal person. This theme is the common bond between all the stories. Recently, however, modern versions of the tale have surfaced in an attempt to relate to modern audiences. In the textbook Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum the editors decide to take out a chapter entitled Fairy Tales: A Closer Look at Cinderella. This chapter includes the stories, The politically Correct Cinderella, A feminist View, and America's Cinderella.
The changes were made because the content was outdated and not "true" Cinderella stories. In the politically correct version, the author makes a mockery of today's obsession with correct terminology. Every detail is explained so that no one is offended and pretty much makes a mockery of the story. The Politically Correct Cinderella is merely a satire on the left leaning views that our nation has been taking over the past decade. Excluding this version from the main stories was a good move by the editors because the politically correct issues that were so important years ago are losing steam today.
The editors of the textbook also ousted the feminist orientated version. This feminist criticism was totally unnecessary because there were two of them. Having Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella as well as a segment on the feminist voice is totally redundant and unnecessary. Both segments give the reader what they need to know about femininity and its impact on literature. Karol Kelly in her Pretty Woman piece compares the Perrault version with the Pretty Woman story. She explains the changes that have occurred because of the women's movement especially the impact on information. We now have a lot more information that has led to societal changes. The feminist criticism that was omitted hit on several feminine issues in the actual variations of the Cinderella story.
"The slipper, the central icon in the story, is a symbol of sexual bondage and imprisonment in a stereotype."
The author then explains how this small slipper idea originates from the ancient Chinese act of foot-binding eventually leading to the mutilation of their foot. She hits on many other feminine aspects in the Cinderella stories.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
Imagine a hockey playing who can hold records, make it to the hall of fame, and be considered one of the best hockey players of all time, that would be Gordie Howe. Gordie Howe started playing hockey when he was 7 years old. He started playing in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings when he was 18. He played in the NHL for 32 years and played in more than 1,500 games. Gordie Howe is easily one of the greatest if not the greatest hockey player of all time. Howe had a pretty rough childhood, but he overcame that and went to play in the NHL when he was older. To Begin With, “He was one of nine siblings. When Gordie was nine days old, the Howes moved to Saskatoon,where his father worked as a labourer during the Depression. In the summers, Howe would work construction with his father.” (“Gordie Howe.”) Born in a small town called Saskatchewan, Canada on March 31, 1928.
...hough she was brutally mistreated, Cinderella was able to find a solution for her problems and children can to. All they have to do is make the effort, try hard enough and success is possible. Adults should pay attention to this and see if Cinderella can help their children keep a positive attitude toward whatever situation they may be in - exaggerated as it may be. Cinderella doesn't only help show one how to overcome adversity it points out good morals, and sends the message that good always prevails. Both of these messages are crucial in a society that is slowly crumbling. All we can do is watch and hope the messages learned from Cinderella make a difference in the lives of Children all around the world.
STEM, also known as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is the field that is advancing at a rapid rate. Within STEM, there are many occupations across the four fields. As years go on, more and more people start to have a growing interest in STEM, but this can’t be said for women. Women almost take up half of the workforce, but when it comes to STEM, women only take about 24%, almost half of the women aren’t participating in STEM. The numbers continue to get worse. From 2000 - 2009, the numbers have remained at a constant 24%. At this rate, employers could potentially see a decline in women’s representation, but there have been efforts to change this rate (Beede et al par. 6). This could mean disastrous problems in the world as more problems will arise and there’s nothing to be done because companies are non-diverse and
Over centuries of children have been enjoying the classic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault. The fanciful plots and the vivid details allow children to be entranced by characters and adventures that can only be found in these stories. One of the most beloved fairy tales, which both the Perrault and the Grimms have their own separate versions of, is Cinderella. Cinderella is able to show how both versions are able to feed off the same plots while personifying the century and social economic situation in which they have lived.
of the Cinderella story are psychologically harmful to women.” (p648). The fact that Cinderella is a limited character may give the girl an impression that she should be happy with what she has and not have any or aspirations in her life. That is, until her Prince comes to rescue her. Since these comments were made, the Cinderella story has been modified and changed. In order to see how gender roles have changed in fairy tales from the old to the new, let’s compare the classic version of Cinderella by Charles Perrault to a recent version which is a movie that was released in 1998 called “Ever After”which was directed by Andy Tennant.
But sex-segregation does not really explain the overall gender wage gap. Women’s average educational attainment now exceeds that of men’s and as a result, women have been entering previously considered to be “masculine” occupational fields at growing rates. Even in the STEM fields, women are no longer underrepresented except for in computer sciences and engineering. However, gender wage gap is present at every level of the career ladder in every field. How and why does this
Throughout different periods in history, people with various backgrounds immigrated to the United States. Beginning around 1500, African slaves were forced into slavery through the triangular trade route. Starting in the 19th century, Mexican immigrants came to America because of labor demands. European immigration began with Christopher Columbus in 1492. Immigration has contributed so much to American society that it has been named as the melting pot. If minorities have such a core role in American history, why are minorities being targeted and harassed in schools? Education is what shapes America’s future, which is why schools need to be protected as a safe space for all minorities.
It is more obvious in this tale than others, but some of these aspects are the nickname of Cinderella, the evil stepfamily, the three balls, and the beautiful slipper. However, Perrault and the brothers Grimm made some parts of the story very different. In the Grimm’s version, Cinderella’s mother was very important to her and she was very important to her father, while in Perrault’s her mother is not even mentioned and her father is more attached to his new wife than he is to his daughter. Perrault described the stepsister’s as less beautiful than Cinderella, while the brothers Grimm described them as just as beautiful but with bad personalities. Another major difference was Cinderella’s magic helper. In Perrault’s story Cinderella had a fairy godmother that gave her horses, a carriage, footmen to escort her, and new beautiful clothes, and in Grimm’s story her magic helper was birds that only provided clothes. A main difference that a lot of people would notice is the fact that in the Grimm’s tale Cinderella’s slipper was made of gold, and in Perrault’s it was glass which is what most people are familiar with. The endings of the stories also differed. The Grimm’s version ended in a much darker way. Both stepsisters got their eyes pecked out and were doomed to live a life of blindness, which was clearly not a very child friendly way to end a story. In
Gender inequities in the fields of math and science are well researched and the results are shocking. Women compromise 45% of the work force, they hold jobs concentrated in clerical, service, and professional fields such as teaching and nursing, rather than in mathematics, science, or engineering (Levin & Matthews, 1997). Gender inequities start in school due to teacher interaction, language, role models, gender expectations, and the method in which the curriculum will be taught.
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale.
In “Cinderella” by the Grimm Brothers, the moral is that one should never lie or be wicked to others. In the story, Cinderella’s mother passed away and a year later her father gets remarried to an evil woman who has two daughters. The wife and daughters torment Cinderella, making her complete tedious chores. Eventually, Cinderella attends a ball for the Prince and they fall in love. However, she runs away every night and he cannot find her. The Prince finally takes one of her slippers and sets out to find the love of his life. He then goes to her household and asks all the sisters to try the slipper on. The stepsisters try to deceive the Prince but “the blood was streaming from” their feet and they are eventually caught. When Cinderella tries on the shoe it fits perfectly and the two get married. At the reception, two birds peck out the stepsisters’ eyes, punishing them “with blindness as long as they lived.” The archetypes in the story are Cinderella who is the damsel in distress, the Prince who saves her and the evil stepsisters and mother who are the villains. A convention is that true love always...
However, why aren’t many women getting technology jobs? Why it is that STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) jobs are overpowered mostly by men? Again, women are as highly educated as men, so there is no reason why these jobs should be dominated by men. Also, many women are interested in these fields, so it would be a poor answer by saying that mostly men are interested in STEM jobs. For instance, I would love to have a job in the IT field. However, this entire situation seems unfair, because it seems as though society favor men more for these positions than women. If you ask me, I’ll say this is a prime example of
The origins of the Cinderella story date back around the beginning of the first century, or as far back as oral stories have been told. Many variations