She’s not Independent

Fairy tales were a part of everyone’s childhood at some point. As a kid, you believe everything you see and may want to act like certain characters or idolize them. When reading more in-depth into these fairy tales, you will come to view them differently than you did as a child and learn what exactly these tales wanted to teach their audience. Fairy tales reinforce the stereotype of women needing men since fairy tales show that an attractive female character’s passivity is rewarded which is a desirable trait for men and demonstrates to a younger audience that to gain a sense of approval from men they should have desirable and obedient traits. 

Now you may wonder how women and girls are passive in fairytales. The earliest example of passivity may have been seen when you were a child through Disney films such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Sam Higgs, a professor in media and a known member and contributor of the ATOM committee wrote several articles in the Screen Education publication. In his article “Damsels in Development REPRESENTATION, TRANSITION AND THE DISNEY PRINCESS.” he claims that all classical Disney princesses are satisfied with waiting around passively for their savior or prince charming. (64) These princesses have visibly passive roles and each Disney movie has the possibility to teach gender socialization to young girls. This demonstrates that at a young age, girls may start to believe that they should wait for a man to sweep them off their feet and solve all their problems. Maria Tatar, a professor of literature at Harvard University has written multiple books revolving around the topics of folklore and children’s literature. In “Show and Tell: Sleeping Beauty as Verbal Icon and Seductive Story.”, tatar states “he slays the dragons and giants; she is locked in a tower, a palace, a garden, a cave, she is chained to a rock, a captive, sound asleep: she waits (318). Women are frozen, immobile, and comatose” (142-143). Tatar is inferring that women are Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and in their stories, they wait in their castles for the man to show up and rescue them from their misery. Her analysis further reinforces that Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are passive main characters. Jeana Jorgensen is an author with an MA and PhD in folklore who has books that focus on fairy tales and feminist theory. In “Quantifying the Grimm Corpus Transgressive and Transformative Bodies in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales.”, Jorgensen (2014) conducted a study to find out how women and men are described through nouns and adjectives. It was discovered that in fairy tales, violence, and death is more prevalent in men’s bodies in the Brothers Grimms stories. This is due to the aggressive and conflicting actions they face. Although her study does not directly state that women are passive, it can be inferred that they are since characters in a passive state do not engage in violence, and according to Tatar and Higgs, are usually waiting for their savior locked away. All three authors engage with the claim that women are passive and Jorgensen’s study further supports that claim. However, Higgs does mention that the women in Disney’s retellings such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are passive due to the time of era that they were created in. 

In fairy tales, it is often seen that the beautiful princesses or female characters thrive at the end or are likely rewarded. Lori Baker-Sperry and Liz Grauerholz, who are sociology professors, each have multiple publications relating to their expertise. According to their article “The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales, ” those with a high degree of attractiveness are rewarded psychologically and socially. Those who are not attractive will receive a punishment (712 – 713) Attractiveness is a trait that men have always sought from women and continues to do so in the present day. In fairytales, being unattractive will always lead to some sort of punishment, while in society being unattractive comes with a similar repercussion. The Grimm Brothers who are known worldwide for their publications of fairy tales that after centuries are still retold, demonstrate a great example. The Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella shows how a person’s attractiveness alters the way society thinks of you. When Cinderella’s carriage arrived at the ball, everyone was amazed at how beautiful she was and how her dress shined. Her sisters who were at the ball were jealous and admitted to her being more beautiful than them. (72 – 73) This demonstrates that in a beautiful dress, everyone will adore or envy your beauty in society to the point where the public attention is on you. However, when Cinderella is in rags, the stepsisters call her ugly and have her put to work around the house like a maid. The Grimm Brothers give an ending where the pigeons peck the sister’s eyes out. As the sisters walk into the church for Cinderella’s wedding, one eye is pecked from each of them. As they walk out, their other eye is pecked leaving them both blind (1812) The step-sisters are depicted as ugly, and at the end of Cinderella’s happily ever after, the step-sisters are then punished for their wickedness which can be tied to their ugliness. Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz’s claim is supported by The Brother Grimm’s writing of Cinderella which reinforces the fact that beauty leads to being rewarded while unattractiveness brings in some form of punishment. In the 21st century, society would not pluck out any eyes, instead, they would engage in some sort of psychological punishment on the internet. This form of punishment is mainly seen on social media which is then seen by young audiences that will follow up with them learning the behavior to degrade others based on their appearances. 

These tales may seem like they teach a simple moral lesson such as being kind to others, following and listening to your parents, and being forgiving to everyone no matter what. When you look in-depth into what children, specifically young girls learn, it is shocking. Young audiences are shown that being independent is a magnet that attracts danger and is often unwanted in society. This can be seen through fairy tales such as The Little Red Riding Hood. Jack Zipes, a professor and author is well known for his books and edited many others revolving around folklore. In one of Zipes’s edited books, “A Second Gaze at Little Red Riding Hood’s Trials and Tribulations Jack Zipes.”, he compares and contrasts different reactions to the fairy tale while also analyzing them. According to Zipes, the feminine Little Red Riding Hood is off to the woods to visit her grandmother. The wolf who is in the woods is hungry and ends up eating them both since they are defenseless. After she is saved she vows to never go alone into the woods. (Zipes 82) This shows that after attempting to go on a journey and then encountering danger, the lesson is to never go on a journey alone again. Young girls who interact with some form of the fairy tale will then be afraid to venture out into the world on their own. Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz claim that “normative control guarantees to those women who comply with its demands safe passage in the world and that women who do not comply are somehow punished” (712). While Zipes adds his analysis of “Little Red Riding Hood” and shows an example of how independence attracts danger, Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz’s claim resonates with multiple popular fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. In most fairy tales, passive characters are afraid to enter the woods and usually need some form of guidance from a male figure. In Higgs article, he mentions “Unlike the demure princesses who personify the values of wholesome monogamy, the woman who can make her own decisions without a man is reckless, uncontrollable and evil.” (65). He is implying that women who are independent from men are seen as undesirable by society. In the present day with the rise of young children having access to social media, they may encounter other young women facing conflicts where society calls them out for being too independent. This can alter girl’s perception of independence and make them rethink that they need to comply with men’s expectations to feel safe and accepted in society.

Fairy tales are pieces of literature that can be retold in different ways and have been throughout many centuries. Each retelling has its own difference from the original story. In one version of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”, we can come to notice that she is more active compared to the other versions. In other versions, she is either eaten alive, raped, or saved by the brave hunter in the woods. Angela Carter is a writer who engages in writing about retellings of fairy tales with her own changes and is well-known by others from her book “The Bloody Chamber”. Her retelling, “The Werewolf” is the usual Little Red Riding Hood story, but it has distinct differences and more feminist ideas. The girl is told to go to her grandmother’s and grab her hunting knife to use for protection which was never heard of in other versions. The girl then “made a great swipe at it with her father’s knife and slashed off its right forepaw” (Carter 1979) to protect herself from the big bad wolf.  This shows that instead of playing her usual role of giving up and submitting to the wolf, she confronts him and defends herself with the hunting knife. She plays a more active role rather than a passive one where she ends up being eaten or saved by a man. Carter’s “Little Red Riding Hood” depicts a more feminist view that not all female protagonists wait for a man to save them or accept their fate at death if none arrives. This is contrary to what Jorgensen, Tatar, Baker-Sperry, and Grauerholz claim about passivity, the female protagonist takes matters into their own hands instead and fights off violence with violence rather than waiting for a savior. 

Fairy tales are introduced to audiences at a very young age, and they may learn a thing or two by simply watching or reading them. At first, it may seem like what they learned can do no harm when in reality it can set women back. The original classical Disney princesses are prime examples of being passive and are usually the princesses that are introduced to children for the first time. It is proven through a study of nouns and adjectives that men are more likely to be in violent interactions which implies that they are not passive and are in those interactions for the sake of saving the woman. Throughout the Cinderella fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers, we can see how Cinderella is treated based on her attractiveness. Her treatment is then further analyzed and supported by professors. These fairy tales are capable of teaching younger audiences not only moral lessons but also traits that men find attractive and desirable. It instills fear in young girls about going out into the real world without a man holding their hand. Fairy tales are pieces of literature that may seem to entertain audiences but also reinforces the stereotype of women needing men.

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