Cinderella, Pretty Woman and Feminism

“Oh, fairytales, where desperate, naïve girls sacrifice everything for their so-called prince charming”. The realities of these childhood classics are controversial, sexist, and dark, yet, it’s also adored by millions of young girls around the world. Cinderella, an often sugar-coated story, is a great example on how sexism and gender stereotypes prevail in literature. The Grimm Brothers touch on a variety of devices, from characterization to symbolism, all revealing the inequality in not only fictional literature but our real-life society as well. A feminist literary critic will interpret these controversial themes and apply their beliefs of equal rights into the study of the Grimm Brother’s Cinderella.

“A sex symbol's currency lies in her youth, her curves, in the suggestion that a sexual encounter lurks around the next corner.” (Sharon Krum, The Guardian) The media is one of the easiest ways to exemplify the power struggles between genders. In today’s society, celebrities, especially women, are judged largely on their appearance and sex appeal because it is critical for them to stay in the spotlight. This is a clear example of the inequality between the male and female, and what their roles are intended to be in society. Three Girls by Joyce Carol Oates is a story about a lesbian couple, and their observation of the behavior of a disguised Marilyn Monroe who, surprisingly to the narrator and her companion, wants to be seen as nothing more than a common person. During the progression of the story, the author provides perspective on the gender roles women faced in 1956 New York, and gives the reader insight into the thoughts and reservations of a lesbian couple in this time period. Through both implicit and explicit expression, Oates implements feminist and marxist ideas of power struggle into Three Girls in order to establish themes of imbalance and subordination by women in society.

> After a night of sex, Vivian is ready to leave in the morning. It is perfunctory for her to have sex then leave, but she has a nice breakfast that awaits her. She is not used to being treated as a person. Edward, ever concerned with work, needs a “date” for the upcoming week for the sake of appearances. He wishes to employ Vivian for the next week as his “date.” He says that he is paying her three thousand dollars “be at [Edward’s] beck and call.” Here he is treating Julia like a prostitute. The nature of their relationship is pendulous, moments of a nascent love to moments of business and concupiscence. Vivian needs new clothes to replace her questionable and inappropriate attire in order to ensconce in the upper class. She is shopping on Rodeo Drive, the Mecca of haut-couture, but while at a store she encounters women that will not wait on her because of the way she is dressed. Because of the prejudice she

In her novel, Cinderella Ate My Daughter (2011), Peggy Orenstein describes that in today's society, young children are exposed to feeling obligated to be the best girl (or boy) they can be in society. They are not free to be themselves. She discusses this topic by first address the issue of “Disney Princesses” and how they can play a major role in what a girl chooses to do in their life. Next, she talks about how it’s not the children who choose the specific lifestyle, the parents play a major role as well. Finally, Orenstein expresses the idea of children and the internet. Her purpose is to explain that there is a major separation between the two genders and how it plays a major role in how people act during their day to day life. The audience consists of mothers who want to learn how to let their children be themselves and feminists.

A fairytale that almost everyone knows is Cinderella. Cinderella is about a young girl whose father decides to remarry after her mother dies. The women who he remarries is evil with two evil daughters. As Cinderella's father is out of town for various things the evil step-mom makes Cinderella do all the chores. They treat her like a servant rather than someone apart of the family. Since Cinderella has no friends she becomes friends with animals who help her complete her daily chores. One day they receive an invitation to a ball. Cinderella is allowed to go if she completes a set of chores but Cinderella ends up staying home while her stepmother and stepsisters go to the ball. Cinderella's fairy godmother shows up and makes her beautiful (changes her dress, etc) but says she has to be home at midnight because her beautiful dress will disappear and she'll go back to her old self. She goes to the ball and the prince falls in love with her but she has to leave at the strike of midnight. As she is running out of the ball she loses one of her glass slippers. The prince searches town for Cinderella. He then finally finds her and they live happily ever after.

What people see is not necessarily all they get; there are more significant aspects that encompass what people use, hear, or see, besides the obvious messages employed throughout popular culture. It is not uncommon to find hidden messages within our culture today, especially in the context of movies. One movie in particular, the newest Cinderella, is full of these hidden messages. Besides the common message that is employed throughout Cinderella over and over again, the message to “have courage and be kind”, there are several hidden meanings that are often not discovered by viewers. These messages include “being a light” when surrounded on all sides by darkness, believing in the unbelievable, recognizing the fact that parent’s greatly influence their children, and seeing that it is okay to want a happily ever after kind of love.

Faye is the owner of a brothel and almost immediately takes in a new girl, Cathy, as her daughter. “There’s plenty for both of us, Kate. I could give you as much as you make and more, and you’d be worth it.” (301) Faye wants to give Cathy (who changed her name to Kate) more than she gives herself, which is not something any other woman who owns a business would do, especially with a girl that she has not known for more than a year. “Faye didn’t feel very good that Saturday night and about ten o’clock Kate persuaded her to go to bed.” (326) Faye had taken a medicine Cathy had given her and suddenly feels a change

When reflecting on Frankenberg opinion and arguments it is seen that she holds the ideas of third-wave feminism. It is through Frankenberg’s main focus on race, with less emphasis on women’s rights and women’s reflection of a sexist structure of power, that leads one to believe that Frankenberg’s is a third-wave feminist. Not to mention that she also comments on this book being in the process of making it in the 1980’s when the second-wave feminists only lasted till the 1980’s.

Once upon a time in little town called Cape Granite, Wyoming there was a young girl by the name of Cinderella, she was a little on the heavy side. She didn't become this way until her dad passed away unexpectedly. A year before he died he remarried a young woman named Elara. Elara has two daughters named Jacelyn and Kiana, they were around the same age as Cinderella. After Cinderella’s father died she became very depressed and she ate her feelings by eating when she felt sad and upset. Eating was like a comfort thing for her. Before her father died Elara and her daughters were very nice to Cinderella but as soon as he died their true colors came out. They became very mean to her, telling her to do these ridiculous chores around the house.

As Third Wave feminism is currently unfolding before us, and its aims encompass a wide array of complex issues, it is often hard to describe what Third Wave feminism is. The feminist theories, mainly associated with First and Second Wave feminism attempt to describe the power imbalances that are found in society, and while doing so expose other oppressions, such as discrimination based on race or sexual orientation. As this essay attempts to place a clear definition to Third Wave feminism, feminists are concurrently trying to deconstruct old definitions and open it up for women to determine what feminism means to them. In other words, no clear definition on what is meant to be a feminist is sufficient, as the Third Wave is about

There were three major “waves” of feminist action that took place in the 1900’s. The most recent and most closely resembling the film is the “third wave” taking place in the early 1990’s. The “third wave” feminist mainly focused on micro politics but also sought after negotiating a space within feminist thought for deliberation of race-related subjectivities. In the film, a woman was brutally beaten by a man for laughing at his small penis. The girl’s friends found out what happened and sought to acquire revenge on the two men that committed this hurtful crime. The gang of vengeful women manage to scavenge one thousand dollars of their own savings as a reward for anyone who kills the two men. The gang of women acts as the feminist movement in the 1990’s but there is

In order to properly view a story from a feminist perspective, it is important that the reader fully understands what the feminist perspective entails. “There are many feminist perspectives, and each perspective uses different approaches to analyze and interpret texts. One is that gender is “socially constructed” and another is that power is distributed unequally on the basis of sex, race, and ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, ability, sexuality, and economic class status” (South University Online, 2011, para. 1). The story “Girl” is an outline of the things young girls

As the novel progresses, Vivian reveals more of her complex character and distinctive ability. Vivian’s plots are complexly woven, and her lies have a direct purpose: to protect Carmen. She even has a strong sense of fairness, holding up her end of Eddie Mars’s deal and upholding Marlowe’s moral standards. Later on in the novel, Vivian maintains her initial struggle for independence, but begins to succumb to Marlowe’s overpowering strength and ability.

The best description for the movie came from Ellie Woodward when she described this movie as the “PRETTY WOMAN follows the love story of a hooker with a heart of gold, Vivian (Julia Roberts), and a stoic, detached, wealthy business mogul, Edward (Richard Gere), who treats all facets of life like a business merger. Vivian is a charismatic, "innocent" prostitute looking to make ends meet. Driving along the Hollywood strip one night, Edward stops and asks Vivian for directions. She drives him back to his hotel and stays the night. Bemused by her company, Edward hires her for the week at a rate of $3,000. Predictably, their relationship develops into more than that of employer/employee.” (Woodward) This predictable story could have been different if Vivian had been like her prostitute friends and had been hooked on drugs when Edward picked her up.

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