Analysis Of Onceuponatime By Andrea Dworkin

In the article, Feminism and Fairy Tales, Karen Rowe focuses on the impact that fairy tales have on relationships and expectations for women today. One may wonder why it is love that is so prominent in fairy tales, rather than something else. However, Rowe provides the answer in her writing by saying, “…marriage is an estate long sanctioned by culture and theoretically attainable by all women” (356). Rowe suggests that many women dream of some day meeting their own Prince Charming and essentially writing their own fairy tale. Where, in order to do so, fairy tales have led them to believe that there is such thing as a perfect love, that marriage saves a woman from the harsh realities in life, and that life only truly begins with marriage.

Conventional gender roles are embedded into our stories creating the idea of “princess culture”. This “princess culture” creates the idea that girls have to become both Cinderella and Supergirl. This concept also brings “happily ever after” into the mix, creating the masculine prince who saves the princess or is arm candy at the end of the fairytale. While this format is much beloved by many including myself, there are many lesser known fairy tales which make important breaks in these gender norms. By looking under the surface one sees that The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer breaks the “princess culture” gender roles, having strong women defying the rules as well as the “prince” undermining the classic notion of a hero in the princess narrative.

Andrea Dworkin explains women are characterized by beauty, passivity, and innocence. She argues that fairy tales creates stereotypic roles.

The fairytale canon is chock full of beautiful princesses, fairies, mermaids, and its fair share of witches. Even though there is a collected presence of what seem like leading women, fairytales are anything but feminist stories. The only individuals who make decisions and actively encourage plot development are the male characters. Females are solely valued for their inferiority, passivity and beauty. Fairytales brutally strip female main characters of their voices and use love as an excuse for women to become submissive to their male counterparts.

“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.

Snow White is a fairy-tale known by many generations; it is a beloved Disney movie, and a princess favoured by many kids. But did you know the fairy-tale was made to teach young children, especially little girls, their duties in life? It also values beauty over knowledge, portrays women to be naive and incompetent, and assumes that women cannot understand anything other than common household chores. Throughout this criticism, I will be using the feminist lens to analyze the fairy-tale, Snow White, through the perspective of a feminist.

Every day young children are read beautiful fairy tales that showcase the man saving the damsel in distress. These stories can warp children’s minds to believe based on their specific gender they have to act a certain way or do certain things. Girls begin to believe that they have to know their place but they are known as emotional and not ready for the outside world. Boys are taught that they have to be the savior, they can’t cry, and they have to be the one to all the working. This image perverts the minds of young men and women altering their self-confidence and causing people are different to be ostracized and castaway. Some stories that showcase the idea of gender roles are, “Snowdrop and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and

Cinderella Frozen in Time: Why Cinderella continues be portrayed as a victim in the era of feminism

In both “Cinderella Is Traditional and Straightforward, but Plenty Charming,” by Richard Lawson, and Madonna Kolbenschlag’s “A Feminist’s View of Cinderella,” the popular fairytale of a girl becoming a princess is discussed. Lessons of identity, rivalry, and grief are displayed through both the tale of Cinderella herself and the film. Even though both Lawson and Kolbenschlag address the lessons taught by the story of Cinderella, the extent as to which each author elaborates on if the morals of the story are convoluted or simply modest differ drastically.     Both pieces agree that Cinderella conveys moral lessons to children. Lawson expresses the belief that Cinderella emits simple and straightforward messages to both young girls and boys.

Fairy tales are passed down through the generations. However, fairytales are embedded with gender dichotomies which stem from a dominant social ideology of patriarchy which put men above women. Traditional fairytales encourages women to be passive, gentle, eager to marry and have children, if they get in trouble and need help, they have to have self-restraint and wait for a handsome strong prince to rescue her. Although in modern adaptations of fairytales, women have a more equitable social positioning, being able to think and do things for themselves, whilst the expectations of men have lowered, and that men too can possess feminine qualities.

In Westland’s article, she discusses the study she conducted amongst a group of schoolchildren to determine if the feminist hypothesis in which traditional fairy tales reinforce the traditional values of women and the patriarchy vitality to society. She then conducts the experiment consisting of children hearing traditional fairy tales and depicting their favorite character, stating if they would want to be a princess or prince, and lastly writing their own fairytales. She unveils the results of the children responses in the first stage of the experiment the boys and girls had different responses; majority of the girls portrayed a beautiful princess, on the other hand, majority of boys depicted a masculine figure. Concluding the first stage of the experiment Westland states “feminist fears of the harmful influence of fairy tales would be vindicated” (Westland 241). This conclusion, however, develops a different perspective when she hears the children's responses when they answer the question if they would be a prince or princess; the majority of girls state they would not due to the lack of independence while the boys would be princes due to the wealth and power. When the children wrote their stories majority of girls developed a tomboy independent protagonist, however, there were still girls who preferred the more feminine protagonist, and on the other hand, the boys

Gender roles and stereotypes play a huge role in society, and literature expresses these ideas. Fairy tales are the first type of literature introduced to children at a young age. They become the basis of what a child believes to be true. However, fairy tales imprint a single story of gender roles and stereotypes that influence the child for the rest of his or her life. The fairy tale Cinderella teaches young girls and boys that a woman’s place is in the home, that her main goal in life is to get married, and that others value looks over personality.

The “Paper Bag princess” by Robert Munsch reverses the classic roles that are normally found in a children’s book. For decades, women were labeled as passive, unassertive ladies. Robert Munsch decides to prove otherwise through his story. Differing from the average fairy tale, this story addresses issues such as women empowerment, self-discovery, and stereotypical labels; influencing how children associate feminism and independence.

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

Some things about fairy tales we know to be true. They begin with "once upon a time." They end with "happily ever after." And somewhere in between the prince rescues the damsel in distress. Of course, this is not actually the case. Many fairytales omit these essential words. But few fairytales in the Western tradition indeed fail to have a beautiful, passive maiden rescued by a vibrant man, usually her superior in either social rank or in moral standing. Indeed, it is precisely the passivity of the women in fairy tales that has led so many progressive parents to wonder whether their children should be exposed to them. Can any girl ever really believe that she can grow up to be president or CEO or an