Stereotypes Of Snow White

Few people can grow up within today's society without knowing the tale of Snow White. From the Grimm Brothers to Disney, it has been told and retold to children throughout the ages. However, what is often overlooked are the true meanings within the story. Fairytales typically have underlying messages that can be found written between the lines, generally in terms of the key themes. Snow White discusses the themes of envy and beauty, and shows how humans' obsessions can lead to their own downfall as well as the harm of others. When focusing on the relationship between Snow White and her step-mother the Queen, it is evident that the combination of these two themes results in a power struggle in which beauty

The old version of Snow White contains dark and violent stories and harsh elements that were not proper for kids. However, the Snow White that is familiar today is very friendly and well adapted for children. The original story of Snow White is written by the Grimm Brothers in the 19th century at German. In several of the Grimms’ stories, it contains various odd scenes and violent parts. According to the Disney version of Snow White the queen tells the huntsmen to bring the heart of Snow in order to check whether she is dead or not. However, in the Grimm version of Snow White, the queen, which is the witch, sells a corset to Snow and makes her try on the corset and squeeze her by tightening it. Also, in the original version, it is not the prince’s

Though this could be explained away by luck or coincidence seems magical since most cannot simply request a child possess specific features. Then when the dear child is seven years old she begins to outshine the beauty of her stepmother who employs a hunter to kill the child. This huntsman though reluctant almost kills the young girl until she speaks; overcome by her beauty and innocence the huntsman cannot kill her and lets her escape (84). This again could be explained away as him simply having a soft spot for the beautiful child. Next she meets the seven dwarfs whose house she invades, whose food she steals, and whose beds she uninvited sleeps in, yet after seeing her face they invite to live with and by supported by them in exchange for some simple housework (85). Finally, after being poisoned by an apple and lane to rest in a glass coffin, Snow White is spotted by a traveling prince who is so enchanted by her beauty that he convinces the dwarfs to let him take her with him so that he might look upon her face always. And when the apple is jostled from her throat he professes his love to a girl he has only ever seen (89). Not only is her birth enchanted but her beauty appears to be as well. The older she gets the more people follow and obey her simply by looking at her. She enchants them. Her beauty is so magical that she, maybe unintentionally, controls the actions of those around her. This means that she not only saves herself from the

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.

Snow White’s predominant attributes are her dark hair, big brown eyes, red lips and slim body. Her signature dress with blue top and yellow skirt underlines her graceful movements while walking and dancing. The bright red hair ribbon and the puffed sleeves match her wide-eyed look and point out her innocence. Moreover, this innocent look, gentleness and immaturity become apparent in every scene of the film. The timbre of her voice is fairly high-pitched and stressing and inflection are those of a young child. This stands in contrast to her romantic longings for the prince when they first meet. Allan finds that Snow White’s sexuality can be seen as “ambiguous because although she is seen as a child … she also has sexually longings for the prince” (39). Evidence can be found in the queen’s envious and jealous reaction when she learns of the first meeting between the prince and Snow White.

Reading fairy tales or seeing them represented has become part of an everyday routine for children. As Baker-Sperry states, “Through interaction that occurs within everyday routines (Corsaro 1997), children are able to learn the rules of the social group in which they are a part” (Baker-Sperry 717-718). For example, through Red Riding Hood, children learn to listen to their parents and to be wary of strangers. Some of these messages are harmful though; not all girls have to be naive and weak while boys are predacious wolves. Not everyone has to play the role that society assigns them.

The original story Little Snow White uses the stereotypical idea that women cannot go out and make money for their families. For example, in the story when the dwarfs first find Snow White living in their home, they make a deal with her in return for her to be able to stay with them: “If you will keep the house for us, and cook, sew, make beds, wash, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay here.” This agreement isn’t fair. They go out and make money while she does the chores. The stereotype they have shown is that all women can do is stay home and clean. Snow White is forced to stay home and clean the entire house everyday while the men go out into the world and make money. This is how Little Snow White incorporates gender roles and labels into the personality of the female protagonist.

Despite being the protagonist, Snow White is never given a chance to lead her own life. From the very beginning of the film, she is always owned by someone else. First her stepmother controls her life, then the huntsman orders her to leave, then it is the dwarfs (sic) who control and care for her well-being, and then it is the prince. Never once does she resist or attempt to go out on her own. By the end of the film, she does not even protest a near stranger kissing her as she sleeps. In fact, she figures that 's reason enough to run away with him!

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

Could it be true love or infatuation which Snow White is experiencing? The answer seems to depend on her age because, again, children cannot know about true love. Disney seems to give the answer and solution to the Prince because it is his act of true love that wakes up Snow White from

Snow White is a naive person and is willing to trust people immediately. This can often put her in very dangerous situations. This comes to light when the Queen disguises herself as an old woman and Snow White accepts her gifts which ends up causing her demise. However her naivety also allowed her to trust the huntsman and the prince when she first meets them. And if it was not for the dwarfs, she would not have had a place to live. Snow White’s naivety allowed her to not fear the people who helped her but also costed her life.

It is in this decision, that Snow White may turn her life around with one simple decision: becoming a nun. Snow White had realized that her “male” (38) epitomized her sin and the only way for her to truly rid herself of the two was to run away to live a truly holy life of a

Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their

“Magic mirrored on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). This statement has become one of the most famous classic villain's lines of the Disney movie industry. Being the first Disney animated film and introduction to the first princess, Disney portrays what women like during the 1930s. The film portrayed feminism as traditional gender role idealized.

In the films "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Dumbo" children can observe the role given to women in the house and racial discrimination. According to Mishkat de Ram (2016), the first film mentioned shows the role of women because the princess works as a servant for seven men (par.3). The role of the princess establishes in children a prototype about how women should act in the home. In Dumbo, the film does not show the faces of the black characters. These are portrayed as people who can not read and write. In the film, they live only to work (par.3). These are examples of how Disney films portray racial and sexual stereotypes.