ner Coleman
Amanda Caleb
ENG 151
November 19, 2014
Patriarchy Social Norms in “The Tiger Bride”
“The Tiger Bride,” written by Angela Carter, is a fairy tale about the objectification of women and false social structures. Angela Carter identifies distinct gender divisions and patriarchy norms through symbolization and showing a strong connection to animals. The tale begins immediately with an arranged marriage of the daughter to a beast because of the father losing in a game of cards. From there the daughter is mostly objectified. There is empowerment, however the focus is more on the objectification. Patriarchal objectification of women and gender divisions are portrayed in “The Tiger Bride” to show females they are growing up in a male’s world
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that is socially normed acceptable. The objectification of women can be prominently seen in the symbolization throughout the tale. From the get-go Carter shows a gambling addiction of the father which in turn results in the daughter being treated like a poker chip rather than a human being. Using her as a wager clearly shows how insignificant women’s social status and worth is compared to the males. Once the daughter arrives at the beast’s place, most of the symbolization occurs from there. Besides, the tiger itself and the valet, objects are used by Carter to show strong objectification of women such as her cell and soubrette. Other symbolization is used such as the physical appearance and power of the tiger. Carter really hits home with the insignificance of a women’s value by use of the soubrette in the Fairy Tale.
The soubrette is a doll that needs winding like mechanical toys that work like clockwork to complete tasks like powdering her cheeks and doing other simple like tasks that a women would do in a patriarchy society. The daughter too powders her cheeks. A similarity and connection is made by Carter here. She symbolizes the narcissism that illustrate society's impression of a woman. The soubrette needs someone to wind her up so that she can perform tasks. Women are thought of as incompetent and that they require someone to “wind them up” or help them. The cell she has symbolizes her being locked up and controlled. This is a part of the tale that makes a strong connection to animals being domesticated. Women are treated like animals and domesticated just like them. However, animals don’t differentiate from gender. There is no false social structures set up with animals. Carter is getting the point across that if women are being treated like animals by so called “human” males, when in reality they’re more of animals, then why do they differentiate and have such false social structures? Animals domesticating animals does not make any sense. Carter by accident or on purpose, shows the hypocrisy that is so apparent in society with these Patriarchy …show more content…
norms. The tiger’s physical appearance objectifies the girl with his deception. In the tale he is described as such, “he wears a mask with a man’s face painted most beautifully on it... and gloves of blond kid that are yet so huge and clumsy they do not seem to cover hands.” (Carter 53). The power of tiger also comes into play with his use of the valet as a translator. He cannot communicate like a human or appear naturally as a human so therefore he must go to the extents of deceiving her in a costume and the valet speaking for him. The point being made here is that men are not what they appear to be and that they take advantage of women. The objectification in this part of the tale simply is that it is making out to be that the girl cannot tell that it’s a tiger even though she really can. It is similar to the soubrette because women are made out to be stupid. While on one hand Carter uses a lot of objectification of women, she also uses some empowerment symbolization to show how women don’t simply just roll over and let men just own them like a poker chip or a pet animal.
The key part of empowerment in the tale is her nakedness when she sheds her external self. In other words, she goes from being a so called lamb to becoming a tiger. Other things like earrings, her tears, the rose, and even the soubrette empower her also. The earrings represent wealth and power which in a way can show how her social status should be or feed her self-esteem. The soubrette although objectifies her greatly, she sends it back to her father showing that she can think for herself along with the fact that she isn’t going to go home and submit to the female stereotypes. The doll is a creation of femininity and she gets rid of it. When it comes to the rose, she takes it and pricks her finger with it. She covers the white rose with her blood, turning it red, and gives it to her father which means that her blood is on his hands. Carter empowers her by rather than letting the girl do nothing and take the blame for it, she puts it all on her
father. Through all of this symbolization Carter shows how women’s rights haven’t and still are not what they should be. She guns after Patriarchy as the key component to all of the problem. Patriarchy has objectified women and created false social structure with gender divisions that are not morally acceptable. The patriarchal social norms influence has continued even throughout the end of patriarchy. Only throughout tales like “The Tiger Bride,” has the lesson started to be told. This Fairy Tale’s significance is a driving force behind the start of women rights movements and young girls coming to an understanding of what they are growing up into. Carter shows through the tale that women must break free of their frail, “doll-like” social identities and in turn embrace the parts of them that are strong. In other words, the lamb must learn how to run with the tigers. The point is not that women must learn to be tigers, rather it is that they are originally tigers but are made out to be everything that embodies a lamb. Such as weak, incompetent, not fit to survive in the world, and the tiger’s pray. In the end, the daughter has always been a tiger underneath her “skin.”
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We can read Angela Carter as both entertaining and a critique of constructions and presentations of power, gender, sexuality and construction of gendered identities. First we will consider the oppressive and destructive power of patriarchy which is the social system in which men are regarded as the authority within the family and society. Afterwards in the next chapter we will investigate how Carter's heroines succeed in constructing their femininity and their gendered identities.
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Taylor is young girl who leaves her home state Kentucky and ends up living in Arizona with a woman Lou Ann, but alongside her travels, she was given an Indian child she named Turtle. Lou Ann has a child of her own and together the two women learn and adjust their way of living, excluding male figures. She makes the girls fend for themselves and build strength confidence within them throughout the proceedings of the book. For instance, when Taylor first arrives in Tucson with Turtle she is clueless and helpless because she knows no one. However, during her journey she formed a family including various women: Lou Ann, Mattie, Esperanza, Edna, and Virgie. They all aid or support each other with whatever they do. Virgie and Edna take care of the children for Lou Ann and Taylor when they go to work and Mattie gave Taylor a job when she was in dire need. Even though Kingsolver is trying to show how the women are independently strong, she still demonstrates how defenseless they can be and how the women have no control over it. This feeling is shown in this excerpt when Taylor says, “How can I just be upset about Turtle, about a grown man hurting a baby, when the whole way of the world is to pick on people that can’t fight back?” (Kingsolver 229) Through this Kingsolver is trying to convey that women in the world can be helpless when compared to male figures because some men wrongfully hurt women. She goes on to explain how they are not taught how to respectfully treat a woman. The 21st century world has a peculiar way of enforcing standards on the genders, and in today’s society those standards are definitely not the same for each other and Kingsolver shows this through her
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The Paper Bag Princess is a counter point to traditional fairy tales about Princes and Princesses as it displays characters in altered roles. Princess Elizabeth challenges the modern view of the masculinity of a hero by reversing gender roles when she chooses to save Prince Ronald herself. By taking on the fire breathing dragon and outsmarting him, Princess Elizabeth defies typical princess roles and fairytale plots. Although lacking Cinderella elegance, Elizabeth's determination, self-confidence and awareness of her inner be...
In conclusion, the development of the folktales leads to the obtaining of ideas about gender. In many ways our society supports the idea that women seem underestimated as well as physically and mentally weak in comparison with the men who is portrayed as intelligent and superior. This can be shown in many ways in the different versions of this folktale through the concepts of symbolic characters, plot and narrative perspective.
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
Angela Carter utilizes her interpretation of “Puss in Boots” to convey a notion pertaining to gender roles within society; notions particularly pertaining to women’s place in the eyes of the populace. Through the character dynamic, and the perception of Puss, Carter is able to impress her ideas pertaining to women’s role within society upon the reader in a commendable manner.
Carter believes that women are strong individuals who should protect their virginity from male predators (wolves) seeking to tempt their purity. The gender claim that Carter is trying to make in in the story is accurately described in the following quote from an article: “...the stories in The Bloody Chamber rework the imagery of classic fairy tales in such a way as to reverse the traditional message that female fulfilment can only be found in submission to the authority of males.” (Stableford). This quote describes the way that Carter uses the plot and sequence of events in her stories to indirectly display her views and claims on the gender inequality issue. Carter claims here that females are only capable of being servant-like towards males. This was a very prevalent issue during her time (1940-1992), and it should be even more closely examined in today's
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.
The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.
Throughout literature, authors employ a variety of strategies to highlight the central message being conveyed to the audience. Analyzing pieces of literature through the gender critics lens accentuates what the author believes to be masculine or feminine and that society and culture determines the gender responsibility of an individual. In the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the gender strategies appear through the typical fragile women of the mother and the grandmother, the heartless and clever male wolf, and the naïve and vulnerable girl as little red riding hood.