Cinderella Told Through The Centuries : Reshaping Gender Stereotypes Essay

I argue that the movie, A Cinderella Story shows one of the kinds of stereotypes that many black women face in using the mammy figure that Melissa Harris-Perry discussed broadly in her book. A Cinderella story does this by having a black woman character named Rhonda who acts as the caretaker and worker under the main character, who is a wealthy white woman. Ultimately, A Cinderella Story creates this mammy figure by having Rhonda work underneath a rich white woman and her three daughters. Melissa Harris-Perry says, “Unlike the bad black woman who was aggressively sexual, Mammy had no personal needs or desires. She was a trusted adviser and confidante whose skills were used exclusively in the service of the white families to which she was

Cinderella should be thankful for the compelling cast it gathered, because they are the only reason why the film is barely tolerable. Not only does the shockingly cowardly film fail to distance itself from over a dozen predecessors, but its continual sympathy for Cinderella and use of language to establish Lady Tremaine’s hegemony shows Disney’s desperation to fit into the crowd, despite representing the upper class themselves. Prominent literary theorist Terry Eagleton defines hegemony as “ways in which a governing power wins consent to its rule from those it subjugates”. To put these wise words in layman’s terms, hegemony is the leadership or dominance of one group over others, typically exercised subtly through education and suggestion. In addition to alienating Cinderella, the hegemony of Lady Tremaine promoted a class-based system (capitalism), which diminished any existing equality in the household. Irony could not be stronger as Disney attempts to promote communism, yet is part of the superior within the hierarchy of classes.

Jane Yolen discusses the variations in Cinderella throughout history in America’s “Cinderella” Yolen began a career in publications as an editor and later became a professional writer, winning numerous awards and publishing over seventy novels. Yolen observes that the European Cinderella and the Asian Cinderella possess more strength than the helpless modern Cinderella. She attributes this evolution to cultural incorporations and mass market’s reproductions of the tale. American interpretations of Cinderella result in a lasting change to a dependent heroine. Yolen reveals many people are familiar with the changed Cinderella and not the former Cinderella. In Jane Yolen’s essay, America’s “Cinderella”, she denounces the debasement of women in today’s society by comparing the past Cinderella to modern Cinderella, characterizing Cinderella as reliant, and criticizing the example of Walt Disney’s Cinderella.

Many have said that the traditional tale, Cinderella, embodies patriarchal views and shows little respect for women unless they are being portrayed as princesses. "Glass," a modern retelling of Cinderella, by Francesca Lia Block, sees the old tale of Cinderella from a new feminist light whilst not challenging the original structure of the story. Feminist retellings of old tales try to turn misogynistic messages around. The article, "Feminist Frauds on the Fairies? Didacticism and Liberation in Recent Retellings of Cinderella," by Karlyn Crowley and John Pennington, sheds light on to the fact that sexism in fairy tales needs to be addressed and fixed. The authors of the article state that feminist critics are worried about the way women are portrayed and how gender is analyzed in fairytales. However, some feminists use fairytales as texts to help discuss gender. They retell these tales to liberate women from the passiveness of traditional fairytales. Feminist tales "are agents of a new socialization" and are being used to create discussion on social choices, gender roles, and gender equality (Crowley and Pennington 299). This article discusses multiple modern retellings of Cinderella including the fairy tale, "Glass." Another article that addresses gender roles in fairy tales is "A Wave of the Magic Wand: Fairy Godmothers in Contemporary American Media" by Jeana Jorgensen. This article focuses on how helpers, donors, and fairy godmothers aid in helping heroines at various

For example a poster from the most seemingly innocent children’s movie, Walt Disney’s Cinderella: The Glass Slipper (1955), promotes a cynical message to its audience which speaks a thousand words, that women are subservient beings and men are strong, handsome, dominant and heroic saviours. From the first glance the audience scans over the image and sees a typical children’s princess movie. But displayed on the poster of the movie advertisers have represented the severity of the subjective gender roles. In the poster’s image Cinderella is placed in the foreground of the image holding hands with her prince charming which seems innocent.

From dressing up on Halloween to hopeful wishing during “When I Grow up” career days, the desire of having magical powers, finding true love, and attaining princess-hood is the dream of many young girls. However, without the knowledge of many, Cinderella has become a story that allows women to believe that dependency is acceptable. Women constantly fight for total gender equality, yet still many fairy tales craft the main character as submissive and defenseless. Looking at the classic Walt Disney version of Cinderella (1950), the protagonist requires help from magical mice and birds to reach her fate. Through the recreations there stands a necessary balance found between a fairy tale level and a feminist level.

In art historian, Bonnie Cullen’s, “The Rise of Perrault’s ‘Cinderella’”, Cullen evaluated different versions of the common Cinderella tale. Charles Perrault, an influential french author wrote the Cinderella story that is known today. Cullen writes to an audience that look for the relationships between common themes and culture, often in fairy tales. Perrault’s version has been remembered. Cultures have progressively changed, Perrault’s story is popular due to its ability to fit into recent cultures and themes of women's independence and femininity.

Whether it is the protagonist herself or the journey from ashes to glory, the fairytale of Cinderella has stolen the hearts of many. However, the role of Cinderella in this fantasy is in question. Is she a worthless victim waiting to be rescued by a handsome hero? Or is she an abused heroine who overcomes her obstacles by taking the situation into her own hands? Madonna Kolbenschlag, a feminist critic, and Bruno Bettelheim, a Freudian psychologist and educator, answer these questions differently. In “A Feminist’s View of ‘Cinderella,” Kolbenschlag argues that Cinderella, in her degraded state, assumes the roles of traditional female socialization: worthless beings in need of rescuing. On the other hand, Bettelheim’s article “Cinderella: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts” disputes that Cinderella’s actions – being complacent with her mistreatment, but eventually rising from her predicament – are commendable. Even though these articles have a different focus, both authors are certain that the character of Cinderella has made a lasting impact on its readers.

In Charles Perrault’s “French Cinderella” an important theme is beauty can be found in everybody. In the story Cinderella’s stepsisters would make fun of her and make her work in their home. When the ball came and Cinderella wanted to go with her stepsisters, all they did was laugh and say that someone could not go to a ball if they were a servant girl. The sisters said it would make people laugh to see Cinderella there. After the ball was over, and Cinderella’s stepsisters realized that Cinderella was the beautiful girl at the ball, they were shocked and apologized for the bad way they had treated her. They realized that she was just as beautiful as they were, even though, she worked for them. This shows that any girl or boy can be beautiful

Though “Little Snow-White” focuses the most out of all the Grimm fairy tales around the competitive nature of women and beauty during the nineteenth century, the theme was fairly common in most of the Grimm brothers’ tales, especially in their version of the classic story of Cinderella. The Grimms’ “Cinderella” focuses on a young woman who is neglected and abused by her father and step-family following her mother’s death. When Cinderella meets and falls in love with a prince, a search sets out to find her through the use of her shoe. It is during the shoe fittings of her stepsisters that the idea of competing for beauty is stressed. In order to marry the prince, Cinderella's stepsisters conform to the beauty standards of their time and cut

Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White are stories that have been loved by generations of young girls and women, but the female representation in these and other fairytales do not accurately demonstrate how women are in reality. Stories like these have a huge effect on pop culture and what is viewed as an acceptable way to exist as a woman. They affect the way that young girls view themselves, and they set an unrealistic standard of what being good or bad means. Women have never been as one dimensional as these stories are making them out to be and there is no reason that this should be accepted. It is important to have diverse female characters so that people of all ages and genders have more than one idea of how a woman should act.

Many children know fairy tales as something from Disney or something to be read before going to bed, a nice happy ending before sleeping, but fairy tales have not always been this way. Fairy tales were originally written to provide moral instruction for young children and women, don’t be selfish or greedy, and be good and kind and so on. When these fairy tales were originally written society held very different values and as such, the stories written reflect many of these patriarchal views and morals. When these stories are read to young children they slowly influence the developing identity of the young child listening, creating a societal control from the stories. I will be deconstructing the stories of Cinderella as written, collected

The mutilation of the stepsister’s feet in Cinderella also presents the notion that women will go to great lengths in order to undermine each other. This sends a message to girls that they cannot trust other girls. “In assigning value to women in a vertical hierarchy according to a culturally imposed physical standard, it is an expression of power relations in which women must unnaturally compete for resources…” (Wolf 12). The fairytale

A staple in many children?s lives across the world is the telling of fairytales. All across the world little girls look up to princess and boys look up to heroes. Yet, do these fairy tales portray love and women differently than how we see these topics in modern day? The presentation of women in these fairy tales changes the way little girls understand their gender, their role in society, and more importantly what qualities of women are looked upon highly by society. The story of Cinderella, a classic fairy tale, is the tale of a girl named Ella who is left with her evil stepmother and sisters after her father passes. Her stepmother and sisters treat her as a servant and make her do all the chores. When news of a ball

In the 1950’s women were expected to be stay at home, flawless mothers and obedient wives. Cinderella represents to young kids a princess stuck between a constant need of nurturing from family and her self-desire for independence, which can only be achieved with the companionship of a man. The nurturing comes from her Fairy God Mother, or saving grace, in the way she helps Cinderella overcome all of her struggles with her evil stepmother and the stepsisters. Her sense of independence,